General Manager

Description & Requirements

A General Manager (GM) is responsible for the overall operations, customer experience, sales performance and execution of brand excellence in a resort. The General Manager is responsible for maximizing the sales and profits of the site. The General Manager must maintain an exceptional level of customer service by developing strong Resort Managers, Shift Leads and Team Members. While leading and creating a resort culture based on Servant Leadership, high quality guest/pet care, and exceptional customer service for our internal and external customers.

Company Overview

Based in Greater Los Angeles, National Veterinary Associates (“NVA”) is the largest private owner of freestanding veterinary hospitals and pet resorts in North America, with 700 companion animal veterinary hospitals and pet resort locations.

NVA has grown rapidly over its history and continues to aggressively execute its growth plans via a combination of acquisition, new resort and same-store initiatives. NVA’s pet resorts business line competes in an $8 billion industry that has grown over 5% year over year since 2015. As of 2019 over 67% of US households have a pet; industry growth has benefitted from the trends towards humanization of pets and demand for premium/luxury offerings in the animal care and goods space.

Responsibilities

General

• Understands and communicates the companies' mission, values, and objectives.
• Provides the direction, leadership and communication necessary to achieve sales results and operating plan goals for the site. Ensures the Resort Manager and Shift Managers provide the same to the resort team members. 
• Creates a plan to drive and achieve resort quantitative objectives including: sales, labor, cost of goods sold and expense management.
• Communicates all shift issues, concerns and needs to the Market Leader and/or the Regional Leader dependent on market.
• Responsible for maintaining operational excellence within their resort.
• Responds to directives in an accurate and timely manner and ensures the same compliance of the resort team.
• Recognizes and rewards outstanding performance of resort team members
• Demonstrates exceptional leadership behaviors
• Other duties as assigned.

Customer Service

• Strives for the ultimate in resort customer service experiences and impressions. Maintain excellent customer service metrics.
• Ensures sites have adequate shift coverage at all times, while adhering to scheduling and labor guidelines.
• Oversees the recruiting, hiring and training practices to ensure quality of resort staff.
• Train resort management teams to successfully handle service issues and intervenes when necessary.
• Motivates and mentors team members on providing customers with product suggestions and information.
• Educate and engage the community and resort customers on all of companies’ products and services.

Operations

• Adheres to and has knowledge of all company policies and procedures.
• Creates a plan to drive revenue, labor management, and controllable expenses.
• Maintains impeccable standards concerning resort maintenance, cleanliness and inventory.
• Regulates the ordering of inventory in a timely and cost effective manner.
• Coach, counsel and direct Team Members. Lead the team in the execution of company standards through the NVA Pet Resort values to create an excellent customer experience. Provide performance feedback to Team Members.
• Lead and manage shifts while acting as manager in charge of resort. Determine business demands and make necessary staffing decisions.
• Communicate clearly, concisely and accurately in order to ensure effective shift operations and the overall operations of the resort.
• Follow all OSHA, cash handling and operations procedures and policies and ensure that resort team members are in compliance.
• Ensure that all team members have mastered the resort tasks/positions, meeting the company operating standards.
• Owns action plan for hot spot management and drives resort level actions.
• Other duties and projects as assigned

Team Management

• Responsible for the selection, development and performance of subordinate managers and all other site team.
• Train and on-board new Team Members and Shift Managers on both front- and back-of-house procedures.
• Manages team performance through consistent feedback up to and including corrective action.
• Recruit and maintain a pipeline of qualified team members to meet the resort operation’s needs.
• Creates a culture of engagement by addressing team member concerns in a timely manner.

Business/Financial Management

• Creates a resort plan that supports the execution of regional and company initiatives to achieve both operational excellence and business results. Follow up consistently to ensure accountability to plans.
• Utilize financial tools and analyzes financial reports to identify and address trends and issues in sales and performance.
• Executes any corporate marketing plans and creates and implements local market plans for marketing.
• Provides the direction and communication necessary to achieve sales results and site operating plan goals.
• Possess expert knowledge of the resort market area and the community. Engage and educate the community and the market area on company customer value proposition.
• Analyzes financial data to build on strengths, support weak areas and note any unusual occurrences. Trains Shift Managers in recognizing and influencing their business by understanding financial reports and acting on the knowledge. Ensures that all productivity numbers, sales and budgets are consistently met.

Work Environment

• Move throughout the resort for extended periods of time (up to 10-12 hours per day).
• Move 50 lbs. for distances of up to 10 feet.
• Balance and move up to 25 lbs. for distances of up to 50 feet.
• Understand and respond to team members’ and guests’ requests in a loud environment.
• Perform basic math and understand finances and cost management.
• Bend, stoop, and reach in order to run and load dogs/cats, serve customers, and clean the resort.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands and fingers to handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Qualifications

As a General Manager with Pet Resorts, you must possess excellent written, verbal and hands-on employee management skills. Our ideal General Manager is an enthusiastic animal lover, brand ambassador with a vested interest in the community. The general manager should possess a commitment to personal development and an interest in learning about business operations, developing people, and driving revenue. You must be able to influence the direction of your resort, initiate community outreach through marketing and special events and drive superb customer satisfaction metrics.

Additional requirements for the General Manager include:

• High school degree or equivalent required; Bachelor's degree equivalent education and experience.
• Minimum 3 - 5-year management experience, including Profit and Loss management.
• Availability to work up to 45-50 hours per week including evenings and weekends.
• Ability to drive and manage/influence workplace change.
• Strong Profit and Loss management abilities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and point of sale software.
• Comfortable working in front of house and back of house roles within the resort.
• Access to reliable transportation.
• Restaurant management, retail management, veterinary management/experience and/or hospitality experience preferred.
• Bilingual skills a plus.

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of the company to afford equal opportunities to all applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, non-disqualifying disability or status as a disabled or Vietnam era veteran.