The UK National Careers Service profile for a restaurant manager lists a 42 to 44 hour week, with evenings, weekends and bank holidays on split shifts, and a salary range of £26,000 at the start to £40,000 for experienced managers. A recruiter reading your CV is checking one thing: can this person run that rota, and the team on it, without drama?
These eight restaurant manager CV examples are written for the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, the Gulf and Australia, from graduate trainee to area manager. If you are applying to a US employer, use the restaurant manager resume examples instead.
Restaurant Manager CV Examples by Market and Level
Each example is shaped around what employers in that market ask for. Numbers shown are illustrative, so replace them with your own.
Graduate Restaurant Manager Trainee CV
For a hospitality or business graduate applying to a management scheme. Education comes first, with the placement year and part-time restaurant work set out as real responsibility: covering shifts, training new starters, handling cash and complaints.
A short profile states the type of venue wanted and the willingness to relocate, which graduate recruiters look for.
Pub and Gastropub Manager CV with Personal Licence
Most UK businesses selling alcohol need a designated premises supervisor, and that person must hold a personal licence. This CV puts that status in the profile, then splits results into wet and dry sales, cellar management and food GP.
Licensing history sits in a short line near the top, before any soft skills.
Assistant Restaurant Manager CV
A step-up CV for a supervisor or senior team leader. It shows the weekly rota you built, the supplier orders you placed, and the allergen and food hygiene procedures you enforced during service.
Named achievements, such as cutting wastage or running a new-starter induction, are listed under each role so the reader sees initiative rather than a list of duties.
Hotel Restaurant Manager CV (Gulf)
Hotel food and beverage outlets in the Gulf hire managers who can lead teams drawn from many countries and serve guests in several languages. The CV leads with the brand level of the hotel, outlet covers, and the nationalities and languages the manager works in.
- Brand standards: audits and mystery-guest results from the hotel group.
- Languages sit in the top third of the page, not buried at the end.
- Nationality, visa status and notice period are stated plainly where the employer asks for them.
Restaurant Manager CV
The core mid-level CV most UK and European postings are written for. A short personal profile, then roles in reverse order with covers per week, team size, gross profit or GP percentage, and a guest satisfaction score where one exists.
- Covers and team size set the scale in the first line of each role.
- GP and wage cost show commercial awareness, not just service skill.
- Hygiene rating from the most recent inspection is named.
Fine Dining Restaurant Manager CV (Europe)
Fine dining CVs are judged on service craft. This one lists the restaurants worked in with their recognition, wine qualifications held, and the tasting-menu format served, followed by guest relations: regulars, private dining, and handling dietary requests with precision.
Languages and the cities worked in are shown, since many of these roles recruit across borders.
Area Manager CV for a Restaurant Group
Written for someone responsible for several sites: number of restaurants, combined turnover, results against budget, and the general managers developed. It devotes space to openings, turnarounds and how often site visits and audits were done.
Includes a short list of the group’s systems rolled out, such as a new rota or stock tool, which owners read as evidence of change management.
Restaurant Manager CV for Australia
Rules on alcohol service and food safety supervision vary by state and territory, so the compliance details belong on the page. This version lists the responsible service of alcohol and food safety supervisor certificates with the state that issued them, then venue trading results, roster management and licence compliance.
A line on work rights and availability is included up front, so the reader doesn’t have to hunt for it.
How to Structure a Restaurant Manager CV Outside the US
A restaurant manager CV usually runs to two pages, with the strongest material on page one. A reliable order:
- Personal profile: three or four lines with your concept, scale, and one headline result
- Key skills: a compact two-column list of the terms in the advert
- Work history: reverse order, with covers, team size, and results under each role
- Qualifications and licences: food hygiene, allergen, licensing, and any apprenticeship or degree
- Languages and references: “available on request” is fine
Photo, age and marital status practices differ by market: typically left off in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and more common in some parts of Europe and the Middle East. Look at CVs from your target country, or follow the employer’s own instructions.
Should a restaurant manager CV include a photo?
Only when the country or employer expects one. When in doubt, leave it out, and use the space for an extra result. Our guide to CV vs resume explains how conventions differ.
Copy These Restaurant Manager CV Profiles and Achievements
Adapt the structure rather than the numbers, and write in the first person without using “I”.
A profile for an experienced restaurant manager
Suits a manager with several years running a single restaurant who is moving to a larger or better-known venue.
Restaurant manager with 8 years in busy independent and group restaurants, most recently running a 120-cover site with 35 staff and £2.1M annual turnover. Improved gross profit by 2.5 points and raised guest ratings from 4.2 to 4.6 in 12 months. Personal licence holder with Level 3 food safety and strong rota and cost control.
A rota and wage-cost achievement
Wage cost is the line owners watch weekly. Show the method, not only the percentage.
Rebuilt weekly rotas around booking forecasts, reducing wage cost from 34% to 30% of turnover over six months without any drop in review scores.
A compliance achievement
For a manager whose site had a hygiene or allergen weakness to fix.
Raised the site from a food hygiene rating of 3 to 5 in four months by introducing opening and closing checks, temperature logs, and a documented allergen procedure for every dish.
Key Skills and a Work-History Entry Worth Copying
Pick the terms that the advert you are answering uses, in its wording:
- Commercial: gross profit (GP), wage cost control, stock control and ordering, budgeting, supplier negotiation
- Service and compliance: food hygiene, allergen management, health and safety, licensing, guest complaint handling
- Leadership: rota planning, recruitment, induction, training and coaching, performance reviews
- Systems: the EPOS, booking and rota tools you have actually used, named exactly
Under each job, give the scale first and then two or three results. This is a full entry you can adapt:
Restaurant Manager | [Venue name], [City] | [Month Year] to [Month Year]
Ran a [number]-cover restaurant with a team of [number] and annual turnover of [amount].
– Reduced wage cost from [before]% to [after]% of turnover by [specific change].
– Raised the average guest rating from [before] to [after] in [time frame] through [specific change].
– Achieved a food hygiene rating of [score] and zero allergen incidents across [time frame].
Licences and Compliance to Put on a UK CV
- Personal licence. GOV.UK says a designated premises supervisor, who has day-to-day responsibility for the business, must hold one; applicants need a recognised licensing qualification such as the BIIAB Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.
- Allergen competence. The Food Standards Agency says businesses serving non-prepacked food must provide allergen information on the 14 major allergens.
- Food safety training at the level your employer requires, with the date it was completed.
The National Careers Service names the Level 3 Hospitality Supervisor advanced apprenticeship and the Level 4 Hospitality Manager higher apprenticeship as routes into management. List either exactly as titled, together with the awarding body.
What Changes in Dubai, Europe and Australia
Core content stays the same: scale, results and compliance. What shifts is the order and the extras.
- Gulf hotels: brand and star level, languages, and notice period near the top
- Continental Europe: language levels, and in some countries a photo and date of birth are customary
- Australia: state alcohol and food safety certificates, with issuing state and expiry, plus work rights
Start from a layout in our CV templates, or build one in the CV maker.
Restaurant Manager CV Checklist Before You Send
Check before sending your restaurant manager CV
- Scale stated: covers, turnover, and team size
- At least one cost line with a before and after
- Licences and certificates named with dates
- Languages listed where relevant
- Keywords matched to the advert’s wording
- Two pages at most
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Restaurant Manager CV FAQ
How long should a restaurant manager CV be?
Two pages is standard for most managers. Graduate trainees and assistant managers can often fit on one.
What should I put in the personal profile?
Your concept, the scale of your last venue, and one headline result. Keep it to three or four lines and leave out generic adjectives.
Do I need a personal licence to be a restaurant manager in the UK?
Not for every role, but the designated premises supervisor of a venue selling alcohol must hold one, so it helps for pub and bar-led jobs. Check the details on GOV.UK alcohol licensing.
What qualifications help a restaurant manager CV?
Food safety and allergen training, a personal licence where relevant, and hospitality apprenticeships or degrees. Wine qualifications help at fine dining venues.
Should I add a cover letter?
Often yes, especially for group roles. Our guide to writing a cover letter covers the format.
What does a restaurant manager earn in the UK?
The National Careers Service lists a range of £26,000 for starters to £40,000 for experienced managers, with a working week of 42 to 44 hours. Pay varies by region, venue type and employer.
How should I describe seasonal or short contracts?
Group them under one heading with the dates, and name your results from each, so the CV reads as continuous experience rather than a string of short jobs.
Looking at other management roles? See our general manager and operations manager CV examples.
Need a resume instead of a CV? See our Resume example for Restaurant Manager.
