About Arena Hall
Arena Hall is a private members club opening in Austin in early 2027 — a space built for founders, operators, and high-caliber thinkers who show up not just to discuss the future but to build it together. A twenty-two-thousand-square-foot restored church on a fifty-thousand-square-foot campus, full member dining and bar service, an ambitious events programme, and a membership of people doing serious work in the world.
The food and beverage programme is central to the club's identity — not as a dining room bolted onto a workspace, but as social infrastructure. A farm-to-table approach built on a clear philosophy: conscious, local, organic, and genuine.
The Role
The F&B Director owns the food and beverage operation of Arena Hall from concept to execution. They lead the Head Chef, Bar Lead, and the full F&B service team. They are responsible for the quality, consistency, and philosophy of everything that comes out of the kitchen and the bar — and for the way it is presented, timed, and experienced by members.
This is a creative and operational role in equal measure; comfortable developing a cocktail menu as managing food cost, as invested in the training of a floor host as in the sourcing of a new supplier.
The F&B Director reports to the GM and works in close daily partnership with the Head Chef.
What You Will Own
Programme & Concept
- The F&B philosophy — ensuring every menu decision, sourcing choice, and service standard reflects the club's F&B philosophy
- Menu development in partnership with the Head Chef
- The bar programme and all-day light bites menu
- Saturday brunch concept and execution
- Seasonal menu evolution
Operations
- Kitchen and bar operational management — flow, timing, quality, consistency
- Supplier relationships
- Kitchen equipment specification — signed off with Head Chef before procurement
- Food cost management — within agreed targets without compromising quality
- Upstairs prep kitchen and main kitchen coordination — smart workflow across two levels
- POS and ordering systems — F&B configuration and accuracy
Team
- Leading, developing, and evaluating the Head Chef, Bar Lead, and F&B service team
- F&B training programme — product knowledge, service rhythm, food philosophy, storytelling
- Pre-shift F&B briefings — daily menu notes, allergen flags, service focuses, learnings
- Creating a kitchen and bar culture aligned to the club's values
Member Experience
- Ensuring F&B service reflects the hosting philosophy
- Day-to-night transition — how the bar and food offer shifts across the day
- Private dining and event F&B — coordinating bespoke menus and service for hosted events
- Member dietary preferences — ensuring the kitchen knows and remembers what matters
What We Are Looking For
Experience
- Eight or more years in premium food and beverage, across kitchen and floor
- Demonstrated experience as an F&B Director, Restaurant Director, or equivalent senior role
- Deep knowledge or genuine belief in conscious, organic, healthy food principles
- Experience with organic wine — buying, listing, and communicating
- Experience developing a cocktail and bar programme
- Experience opening a food and beverage operation strongly preferred
- Knowledge of the Austin food and producer landscape an advantage
Character
- Passionate about food as a philosophy, not just a product
- Equally comfortable in the kitchen, behind the bar, and on the floor
- Strong communicator — can translate complex food principles into language the team and members can use naturally
- Operationally disciplined
- Collaborative — works with the chef as a partner, not a subordinate
- Warm and member-facing — present in the room, known to the membership
What does not fit this role
- Someone whose primary frame is cost and margin over experience and quality
- Someone who cannot articulate a clear food philosophy of their own
- Someone who has worked exclusively in high-volume, conventional hospitality
- Someone who treats the bar programme as secondary to the kitchen
Timing & the Refurbishment
Arena Hall began a major structural and design refurbishment in July 2026, transforming the existing space into the environment described above — member dining and bar service, a prep kitchen, and event spaces across 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, with a target opening of February 2027.
This role will be involved in the tail end of that process and is expected to be in place by Autumn 2026 at the latest — early enough to review and sign off on kitchen equipment specification, operational flow between kitchen levels, front-of-house layout, and service infrastructure before construction is locked.
Beyond the build, the role will lead the pre-opening preparation in full: supplier sourcing, team hiring, menu development, staff training, dry runs, and the founding member experience that launches the club. Candidates who are energised by the process of building something from the ground up will thrive here.