Assistant General Manager /Bench Assistant Patrao - DC

Nando’s • Arlington, VA

11h • Onsite

About The Position

Being an Assistant Patrão at Nando’s means stepping into the restaurant each day with Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity, and Family at your core. You bring energy, fun, and focus to every shift—firing up Nandocas, supporting your Patrão, and helping deliver brilliant shifts that make our restaurants feel alive. You lead shoulder‑to‑shoulder, shaping the atmosphere, coaching in real time, and inspiring belief and confidence across your team. You are a culture carrier, a coach, and a catalyst for growth—helping Nandocas become their best selves, both inside and outside of Nando’s.

As Assistant Patrão, you are the second‑in‑command—the operational engine that keeps the rhythm of the restaurant strong week after week. You bring the vision of the restaurant to life, running brilliant shifts, developing Nandocas, improving KPIs, and protecting Nando’s experience. You support your Patrão in all aspects of people, brand, commercial performance, and Changing Lives—ensuring the restaurant delivers 14 Brilliant Shifts consistently.

You operate with a weekly horizon while supporting elements of the annual plan. You oversee deployment, rotate ownership, training cadence, coaching rhythms, and the day‑to‑day people processes that set the team up for success. You lead shift excellence across all channels, elevate brand execution, and help convert weekly goals into real results.

Requirements

• 3-5 years of restaurant experience with shift leadership responsibilities; strong ER process executives
• Demonstrated ability to run peak shifts with pace and accuracy
• Experience supporting hiring, onboarding, and training of Nandocas
• Proven ability to maintain food safety, prep, and line checks
• Experience managing deployment, breaks, and shift routines
• Documented examples of supporting inventory, ordering, or scheduling
• Experience handling guest recovery and basic conflict resolution
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Serv Safe Manager required
• Allergen Awareness and Alcohol Safety certifications where applicable

Responsibilities

• Grow, Inspire, and Lead the Restaurant Family: Bring Nando’s values to life across every shift. Coach, motivate, and ignite Nandocas—connecting them to the restaurant vision and KPIs. Support your Patrão in hiring, onboarding, and developing capable Nandocas; spotting potential early; and growing individuals into future Shift Leaders and managers. Foster belonging, fairness, psychological safety, and team wellbeing—ensuring everyone feels welcome, supported, and empowered to shine.
• Deliver a Fired‑Up Nando’s Experience: Role‑model hospitality excellence and coach Nandocas to create memorable customer experiences. Ensure the full customer journey is delivered brilliantly—whether in‑restaurant, takeaway, or delivery—protecting the primacy of the eat‑in experience. Maintain consistency of standards, complete quality checks, support customer recovery, and bring local and national marketing plans to life.
• Fuel Weekly Performance: Bring commercial KPIs to life on shift—managing labor to forecast, reducing waste, adjusting levers to protect speed and quality, and supporting your Patrão to drive sustainable sales. Make smart, informed decisions that balance cost control and customer experience, helping grow the restaurant in a way that delights guests, uplifts Nandocas, and improves the bottom line.
• Make a Difference Every Day: Help create daily moments that change lives—building confidence, nurturing belonging, and giving opportunities to individuals others might overlook. Support scheduling fairness, support wellbeing conversations, champion community partnerships, and help the restaurant deliver on sustainability goals such as reducing waste, recycling, and energy usage.
• Lead multiple shifts each week and make operational decisions around deployment, cross‑training, customer recovery, and stock adjustments.
• Escalate complex ER, safety, or financial issues to your Patrão and support the execution of corrective actions and weekly plans.
• Uphold daily food safety; H&S, and audit routines—ensuring logs, checks, and compliance activities are consistently completed.
• Support people compliance: Right to Work, contracts, training completions, and safe operations—helping protect the Nando’s brand and legal posture.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED