General Manager

General Manager

Senior Leadership | Full-Time | Bucktown, Chicago, IL

Compensation & Perks: Base Salary, Benefits, Equity/Cash Bonus Options Eligible, Continuing Education Allowance

About Us

Friends & Neighbors is a neighborhood wine bar, community space, and retail bottle shop built on one simple idea: great wine should be accessible, approachable, and educational.

Founded by two women of color rooted in Bucktown, F&N was created for the people who live here, drink here, and call this neighborhood home. We believe every guest who walks through our door deserves to leave knowing a little more, drinking a little better, and feeling genuinely welcome.

We are not an intimidating wine destination. We're a place where regulars bring their neighbors, where curiosity is always rewarded, and where the person behind the bar actually wants to talk to you. Our community space will host our own events and be affordable or free to reserve for private events, neighborhood clubs, or meetings. Our bottle shop is an extension of that same philosophy a carefully curated selection designed to help every guest discover something new to bring home.

We specialize in sparkling wine and our broader wine program will be built with producers that reflect our values : inclusive, unpretentious, and genuinely diverse in style. We celebrate the full spectrum of what wine can be.

The Role

We're looking for a General Manager who thinks like a founder because that's exactly what you'll be.

This is a senior leadership role with real autonomy. You'll own the wine program, run the bottle shop, lead and develop our floor team, and manage the purchasing and vendor relationships that keep it all moving.

Fit matters deeply to us. Our GM will join Friends & Neighbors as a Founding Partner, and the experience, perspective, and creativity you bring will have a direct and lasting impact on what this place becomes. We're looking for someone who is dynamic, collaborative, and genuinely open to doing things differently. We're not approaching this with a traditional hospitality mindset. We're building something new, together, and we want someone who is energized by that, not unsettled by it, and feels that they can add significant value & creativity to the mission.

What You ll Own

Wine Program

• Curate, build, and continuously evolve our by-the-glass and bottle list, along with monthly wine club subscription, with a deep focus on sparkling wines across all styles, regions, and accessible price points
  
• Develop with the Founders seasonal pours, featured flights, and staff education programming
  
• Stay current on producers, regions, and trends and bring that knowledge to life for guests and staff alike
  
• Ensure our list reflects our identity: approachable, curious, and genuinely exciting
  

Bottle Shop

• Manage the full retail floor: curation, merchandising, inventory, and pricing strategy
  
• Create a retail experience that feels like a conversation, not a transaction
  
• Turn wine bar guests into bottle shop regulars or wine club members and vice versa
  
• Ensure compliance with applicable retail alcohol licensing and regulations
  

Buying & Vendor Relations

• Own the purchasing relationship with distributors and importers negotiate, taste, and purchase with intention
  
• Manage par levels, minimize waste, and optimize inventory across both on-premise and retail
  
• Use sales data to drive smart, decisive buying decisions
  
• Champion small and independent producers where it makes sense while keeping an eye on what actually moves
  

Team Leadership

• Hire, train, schedule, and directly manage our floor team of servers and barstaff
  
• Build a genuine wine education culture one that's fun, not intimidating
  
• Hold the team to high service standards without losing the warmth that makes us us
  
• Be the kind of leader your team wants to stay & grow with
  

Operations & Business

• Manage scheduling to balance cost efficiency with genuine hospitality
  
• Identify, curate and act on revenue opportunities: events, pairings, private pours, retail promotions
  
• Operate with autonomy and bring ideas to ownership proactively, not reactively
  
• Present in weekly check-ins with the Founders covering P&L, operational updates, and strategic decisions contributing directly to the business narrative we bring to investors and partners
  

What We re Looking For

Required

• 10+ years of restaurant or bar experience, including 5+ years of experience in restaurant or bar management, with meaningful time in a wine-focused environment
  
• Deep, demonstrable knowledge of wine regions, producers, styles, and service
  
• WSET Level 2+, Court of Master Sommeliers certification, or equivalent wine education
  
• Proven experience building or significantly evolving a wine program
  
• Direct experience managing and training servers and floor staff
  
• Hands-on buying and distributor relationship experience
  
• Financial literacy: understanding P&L management, budgeting, labor and COGS control
  
• Proficiency with POS and inventory management systems
  

Strongly Preferred

• Experience managing a retail bottle shop or wine retail environment
  
• Existing relationships with distributors and importers in the Chicago market
  
• WSET Diploma or Sommelier certification Level 2+
  
• Experience working with significant autonomy in an entrepreneurial or owner-operated environment
  
• A genuine point of view on wine one you can defend and one that can evolve
  
• Creative writing skills
  

Sound like you?

We d love to hear from you. Send your resume, a brief note about your wine philosophy, and one bottle you d put on our opening list and why. Email

friends & neighbors is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome everyone to our table.