Job Description

🌟 About Us

Drury Heritage Cafe Lounge is a lifestyle destination in the heart of KL’s Chinatown, combining modern Malaysian cafe culture with rich heritage aesthetics. Housed in a beautifully restored heritage building, we serve curated local and Western beverages, ready to serve food, and selected retail items. As we prepare to open door, we’re looking for a capable and hands-on Operations Lead to be part of the founding team, someone who thrives on converting vision into execution, ensuring both the launch and day to day café operations run with precision, care and efficiency.

🪴 Role Summary
The Operations Lead will serve as the primary execution arm of the founder and leadership team. The role will involve full-spectrum business operationalization, from cafe setup to day-to-day operations post-launch. This is not just a routine management role — you will be central to ensuring the business runs smoothly across licensing, procurement, staff onboarding, supplier management, SOP implementation, and front-to-back operations. You won’t be doing this alone — but you will be expected to drive timelines, identify gaps, and own execution while reporting progress to leadership.

💼 Key Responsibilities

⚙️ Pre-Launch Setup & Execution

Develop, monitor, and manage execution plan for opening timeline.

Coordinate cafe layout, kitchen flow design, utilities setup, and site readiness with contractors.

Consolidate and complete equipment and supply lists; engage vendors; coordinate deliveries and installations.

👨‍🍳 Staffing Operations

Develop manpower plan, job scopes, recruitment ads, and onboarding SOPs.

Coordinate interviews and shortlist candidates

Collaborate with the management on hiring decisions and issuance of offers and employment documentation.

Implement staff orientation, training, uniform issuance, and performance tracking.

📑 Licensing & Regulatory Compliance

Handle submissions and follow-ups for DBKL premise licensing, Bomba, CCC, food handling certs, pest control, grease trap registration, etc.

Maintain regulatory folders and timelines, including renewals and audit readiness.

🧾 Procurement & Vendor Management

Source and secure suppliers for food, beverages, packaging, cleaning supplies, uniforms, kitchen ware, utensils, small tools, signage, and cafe retail items.

Negotiate pricing, terms, and service levels. Track POs, deliveries, and supplier performance.

☕ Operational Systems Setup

Implement POS and inventory systems; schedule and rota system; logbooks and checklists.

Establish SOPs for hygiene, cleanliness, food safety, handling of customer complaints, and equipment maintenance.

🏪 Post-Launch Cafe Operations

Run day-to-day floor operations including stock counts, vendor deliveries, team deployment, and customer service.

Monitor operating cash flow, daily sales, and cost controls.

Coordinate stock reordering, petty cash, shift closing, and staff rosters.

Job Requirements

Experience : 3–5 years in a similar F&B / retail operations role, with at least 1 full setup or launch experience. Café/lounge/bar experience preferred.

Education : Diploma or Degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, or equivalent experience.

Project Skills : Must be experienced in managing timelines, tracking task completions, preparing reports, and following through on multiple concurrent initiatives.

Licensing Knowledge : Familiarity with local authority regulations for DBKL, Bomba, Health Dept, etc.

People Management : Experience hiring and supervising front-of-house and back-of-house staff.

Technical Proficiency : Comfortable with POS systems, HR portals, Excel, Google Sheets, and basic reporting tools.

Personal Traits : Self-starter, highly organized, calm under pressure, high integrity, reliable follow-through.

Languages : Fluent in English and Bahasa Malaysia. Mandarin/Cantonese and foreign language is an advantage.

Skills