Job Description

Assistant General Manager

Location: Chicago, IL (Fulton Market)

Employment Type: Full-Time (30+ hours)

About OMAKAI

OMAKAI is a traditional sushi restaurant with one aim: to be known for blowing people's minds. Everything we do rests on three guarantees: warm rice for contrast, crispy nori for texture, and kind service. Every guest, every visit.

We serve high-quality traditional sushi at an accessible price, and we are growing across South Florida and expanding to other cities nationally with our full-service restaurants and hand roll bars. We aim to hold ourselves to a five-star hotel standard in a casual dining room, which means the details matter here more than they do in most restaurants.

We treat every guest with genuine kindness and focus heavily on execution. Our team runs on accountability, reliability, and doing what we say we will do.

Position Overview

We are seeking an exceptional Assistant General Manager with at least three years of restaurant experience, including at least one year leading a front-of-house team. Japanese or sushi restaurant experience is a plus but not required.

The Assistant General Manager is the second in command of the restaurant and the senior manager on duty whenever the General Manager is away. You will help lead, manage, and hold the entire team accountable, run the dining room in real time, own a defined set of Areas of Responsibility (AORs) assigned by your General Manager, and support the General Manager on inventory and new hire training. We are looking for someone who leads by example rather than by title, spots problems early and arrives with solutions, and knows what excellence looks like on a busy floor.

Responsibilities

Leadership and Team Accountability

• Lead, manage, and hold the entire team accountable, including Floor Managers, every shift
• Lead by example on the floor, jumping in to bus, run food, or take a table when the team needs it
• Coach in the moment and deliver correction respectfully and to the point, rather than barking orders
• Recognize talent, delegate clearly, and develop your strongest people toward their next seat
• Communicate concerns and operational issues to the General Manager openly and early

Floor and Service Oversight

• Monitor front-of-house operations in real time, including expo, seating, food running, and pacing, and keep those functions coordinated
• Maintain visibility across the dining room throughout service and step in to resolve guest issues
• Re-balance sections, adjust staffing, and reset the pace of service when volume shifts
• Hold the room to standard, catching a wobbly table, misaligned chairs, or a slow section before a guest notices

Senior Manager on Duty and General Manager Support

• Step in as the highest-ranking manager on duty when the General Manager is absent, holding standards and accountability across the shift
• Own a defined set of Areas of Responsibility (AORs) assigned by your General Manager, which may include the hostess team, a specific daypart, or a department-level initiative
• Identify operational gaps early and bring the General Manager practical, ready-to-execute solutions instead of problems
• Handle cash, comps, and daily disciplinary decisions in line with company procedures and General Manager guidelines

Standards and Policy Enforcement

• Enforce company staff policies, dress code, and service standards on every shift
• Address violations promptly, document recurring issues, and follow up with the General Manager
• Confront performance issues directly to uphold standards, especially when the General Manager is away

Inventory and Vendor Support

• Assist with inventory counts, tracking, and reporting as directed by the General Manager
• Ensure accuracy of stock levels and flag discrepancies or shortages in a timely manner
• Receive deliveries, verify orders against invoices, and place vendor orders on assigned days

Training and Onboarding

• Onboard new hires by following training schedules, assigning shadow shifts, and tracking checklist completion
• Support new team members through the full training process and relay performance concerns to the General Manager for review

Qualifications

• Three years of restaurant experience required, including at least one year in a front-of-house management or shift lead role
• Experience leading, coaching, and holding a service team accountable during peak volume
• Manager, alcohol serving, and sexual harassment prevention certifications required, and all can be obtained during training. We cover the cost of all three certificates once you pass the 90-day probation mark
• Japanese cuisine or sushi restaurant knowledge is a plus but not required
• Full open availability, including nights, weekends, and holidays
• Able to learn and memorize the entire menu in detail, including ingredients, preparation, presentation, and pairings
• Comfortable with scheduling, labor and inventory tracking, cash handling, and a point-of-sale system, including basic math under pressure
• Communicates clearly and calmly with guests, teammates, and upper management, even during a rush
• High school diploma or equivalent preferred but not required
• Reliable transportation to and from the restaurant
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States

Working Conditions

• Indoor dining room environment in a restaurant that handles fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, wheat products, rice, dry seaweed, sauces, and many other food and beverage products
• Candidates with food allergies must inform management during the application process
• Noise levels vary depending on how busy the restaurant is
• Standing and walking the floor for long periods, with some bending and kneeling to reach items such as plates, spoons, sauces, and beverages
• Moderate tray handling and lifting, up to 30 pounds, including receiving and moving deliveries
• Pre-bussing and bussing tables, running food, and resetting the dining room when the team needs support
• Maneuvering between tables and corners in a full dining room
• Time split between the floor and administrative work such as scheduling, inventory, and reporting

Characteristics We Value

• Genuinely kind, with humility that shows in how you coach and correct
• Reliable without exception, stepping in as senior manager on duty fully prepared
• Detail-oriented, catching the small misses in alignment, cleanliness, and pacing before guests do
• Composed under pressure, calm and positive through the busiest turns
• Resourceful, arriving with ready-to-execute solutions rather than problems
• Honest and accountable, including about your own misses
• Ambitious, eager to own more and grow toward a General Manager seat
• Team first, developing your people and giving credit where it belongs

Core Values

• Hospitality from the heart, applied to your team as much as your guests. You back up the General Manager with humility, coach the team kindly, and keep the guest experience front of mind while running the floor.
• Be Reliable.You step in as senior manager on duty fully prepared, with sections set and checklists started, and you own your assigned AORs. When the team falls short, you take accountability instead of passing blame.
• Blowing Minds.A five-star hotel mentality in a casual room, where mediocrity bothers you. You hold service standards with a sharp eye, fixing misaligned chairs, wobbly tables, or slow sections before a guest ever notices.
• Make It Happen.Three layers of solutions before you escalate. When the General Manager is away and something breaks, you take charge, work the problem, and come back with options that are ready to execute.
• No Drama.You keep the floor calm and positive under pressure and shut down gossip at the source. You deliver corrections respectfully and to the point, and the best idea wins no matter who it comes from.
• Build Trust.You communicate problems to the General Manager openly and early, and you are honest about your own misses rather than covering them. You hold the team to standards without playing favorites.

This May Not Be the Right Fit If

• You see this seat as a shift babysitter, clocking manager hours without owning the team
• You are comfortable staying a senior staffer and would rather not be pulled into leadership, inventory, discipline, or training
• You treat guest issues, staff coaching, and policy enforcement as annoyances
• You lead by authority rather than motivation, or you let ego get in the way of the team
• You hold problems back from your General Manager instead of raising them early
• You bring negativity, gossip, or dark energy onto the floor, or tolerate it from others
• You are reliable on one station but get overwhelmed leading the team, the floor, and inventory at once

Compensation & Benefits

• $72,000 to $76,000 base depending on experience
• Quarterly bonuses depending on performance and hitting store targets
• Paid time off
• Sick days
• Additional personal unpaid time off
• Medical and other insurance reimbursements
• Daily meal when working
• $300 monthly credits for personal use at any of our locations
• 50% meal discount if credits run out
• Paid manager, alcohol serving, and sexual harassment prevention trainings after passing 90-day probation period
• Free parking
• Flexible scheduling
• A dedicated onboarding and training program

Equal Opportunity Employer

OMAKAI is an equal opportunity employer. This employer must notify all applicants of their rights under federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.