Melissa Tamara Buys Email & Phone Number

Dubai, Ae

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS & RESPONSIBILITIESo As the Restaurant Manager I was responsible for the overall operations of the restaurant and ensured a consistent and outstanding guest experience, including maintaining strong relations with local celebrities that frequented the restaurant often.o I oversaw all areas of service within the restaurant, including but not limited to, training, motivating and retention of the team, food cost, labor cost, P&L responsibility, staffing plans, safety, and hygiene, all whilst adhering to all company policies and procedures while also maintaining brand guidelines.o Worked closely with the head chef to discuss and develop the menu based on guest feedback and fast-moving items whilst maintaining a healthy product margin.o Ensured the highest levels of food safety was always followed, resulting in maintaining an ‘A’ grade with Dubai Municipality Food Control.o Worked very closely with Marketing to make sure we were always offering something new to keep our regular guests excited and to attract new business. I ensured our cake display was always full of the freshest, most delicious, and Instagramable cakes.o Implemented revised operating policies and procedures which included a new policy which monitored annual maintenance contracts covering; equipment servicing, pest control, and deep cleaning to mention a few. An immediate improvement was observed for kitchen equipment not breaking down and disturbing service which immediately improved top line sales and profits. o As having a flag ship store, I worked closely with HR to recruit and train new employees for all locations within the company. This involved screening CV’s, holding Interviews, inducting new hires, managing training plans, holding regular training evaluation meetings, and signing off on completed trainees.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS & RESPONSIBILITIESo Joined Virgin Izakaya as a pre-opening Restaurant Manager to help open their first location in the UAE.o Worked with the local and international pre-opening teams to create UAE specific policies for the brand, including staff training plans, service standards, food safety manuals, customer service standards, cash handling policies, and operating checklists for daily, weekly, and monthly use.o With support from HR, I created job descriptions which led to screening and hiring a 25 strong front of house team, with hired positions including Supervisors, Hosts, Servers, Bartenders and Runners.o Had the responsibility of training all new hires for front of house operations. This entailed inducting and onboarding new hires and conducting on and off-site trainings as per training plans. Under my management all preopening hires passed their training plans. Also managed mandatary local municipality training bookings with third party companies which included First Aid Training, Fire Safety Training, Person in charge, and Basic Food Service Training.o Successfully opened the Restaurant on the grand opening without any service issues resulting in happy guests and team all around.

United Arab Emirates

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS & RESPONSIBILITIESo Joined Inkognito as an Operations Manager to transform what was a pop up located in Alserkal, Dubai, into a full-fledged dine in restaurant. o Managed the recruitment drive for both brands, including manpower planning (for service and P&L), screening CV’s, Interviewing, and working with the restaurants Managers to onboard and train new recruits.o Working closely with the Restaurant Manager we successfully opened Inkognito’s first flagship location. I was then approached by the group CEO to overlook the pre-opening of a new concept called Moby.o Across both brands I successfully created and implemented purchasing and stock management tools including policies. Also working closely with the Culinary Director to select and negotiate with suppliers for all aspects of purchasing.o Created and implemented operating policies and procedures for use throughout the business. These insured we remained compliant with all local authorities including Food Control, Ministry of Labour, Dubai Economic Department, and Dubai Civil Defence.o Negotiated and appointed all AMC’s, including AC & Ecology, grease trap maintenance, pest control, fire safety, kitchen equipment preventive maintenance and deep cleaning.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS & RESPONSIBILITIESo Joined as an Assistant Restaurant Manager in their first location which opened one month prior to my joining.o My responsibilities included front and back of house operations, monitoring daily checklists, engaging with guests, cash management and banking policies were followed, ensuring only the freshest ingredients were always used, developing staff career paths in the company. o Some key achievements included maintaining an ‘A’ grade with Dubai Municipality Food and a 4.8 rating on Google reviews and Trip Advisor while also achieving sales 20% above budget for two consecutive years. o Promoted to Restaurant General Manager within my first year of employment. Looked after the brands flagship store located on Jumeriah Beach Road.o The company proceeded to open eight further locations within the UAE, I held a key role in supporting the recruitment drive for these locations and handled all new hires onboarding and trainings in my restaurant before they were allocated permanent working locations. o Managed seasonal events including a four month pop up on Kite Beach, Beach Canteen, Multiple concerts such as Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Take That, Mother of the Nations and many more.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Assistant Events Manager - Sales & Events Jun 2015 – Apr 2017o Worked closely with clients to plan their special occasions. Prepared proposals and site visits accordingly.o Overlooked events from start to finish. This included working with other departments within Jumeriah Group.Restaurant Manager - Villa Beach Lounge Jan 2015 – Jun 2015o Pre-opening Restaurant Manager. Opened the outlet with a team of 15.o Responsible for day-to-day operations, including surpassing guest’s expectations and making sure service and offerings were always of the highest standards in line with Jumeirah Group expectations.Restaurant Assistant Manager - Bahri bar & Zheng He’s Jan 2014 – Jan 2015o Managed full front of house team, including hosts desk and reservations team.o Established strong customer relations resulting in returning guests and improved Trip Advisor ratings.Restaurant Assistant Manager - Toscana Italian Apr 2012 – Jan 2014o Worked closely with my General Manager to deliver great customer service and high sales.Through my various roles with Jumeriah Group I was able to a develop deep insight into UAE legislation and regulatory requirements that subsequently underpinned success in future career roles.

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa