Company description
The ecco/project is a Baltimore hospitality company that is rewriting the future of “local food.”
By drawing inspiration from the flavors and traditions of celebrated global cuisines and delivering unparalleled food and hospitality experiences, Ecco gets more produce, meat, fish, and shellfish directly from nearby regenerative farms and food producers onto guests’ plates and more dollars into farmers’ pockets.
Ecco was born out of chef-restaurateur Spike Gjerde’s trailblazing model developed at Woodberry Kitchen beginning in 2007. In 2015, Spike became the only chef in Baltimore’s history to take home a James Beard Award for “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.”
After a founding year of rapid growth, the ecco/ restaurants include: Woodberry Kitchen (celebrating 20 years!), La Jetée, Bar Dali, & cafe Terracotta. These four restaurants will go through their first seasons in 2026, with three more sister food projects opening in 2027.
Job description
The Director of Operations is responsible for leading daily operations, service, and beverage across our properties, helping to create and maintain a busy restaurant group that works to high standards, respects and retains its employees, and returns value to growers.
The right candidate is someone who is:
• skilled in delighting guests with exceptional service... from fine dining to retail
• an inspiring, energetic leader who wants a hands-on role building a company
• passionate about a better food system
Responsibilities:
Daily Operations
-Spend focused time working in each business, each week. Work to ensure managers, teams, spaces, and products are at their best every day. Have a presence on the floor, at pre-shift meetings, and closings as needed. Manage important events, guest-of-note dinners, and high-touch services.
Front of House Team & Guest Experience Management
-Work with leadership to understand the vision for service and our success metrics for managers. Build systems and training manuals that execute that vision and measure and track team performance.
-Hire, train, and provide ongoing coaching and development for team members.
-Drive staff education, including knowledge of our menus, sourcing practices, the local food system, food and beverage, and service mechanics.
-Challenge the team to continuously improve.
-Perform corrective and disciplinary action as needed in compliance with company HR policies.
-Advocate for the business in employment issues and ensure compliance with employment laws.
Systems & Facilities
Work with managers at each property to:
–Ensure restaurants are well-functioning, clean, and organized places to work and dine.
–Define organizational systems for each Front of House area in the restaurant, communicate them to teams, and enforce them.
-Manage equipment maintenance and repairs on appropriate dining room facilities.
-Manage digital systems including menu printing, online menus, online ordering, Toast menus, reservation platforms, tripleseat/BEO management, and others.
Business Improvement & Growth
-Affect positive change on our top-line sales through the development of well-trained teams and service mechanics, exceptional offerings that satisfy demand and reflect our sourcing, and identifying and capturing opportunities for sales.
-Use an understanding of business metrics including Sales, COGS, Labor Cost, and Expenses to drive profitability at each location. Work with leadership to manage the financial success of each location.
Required Experience:
-3+ years in management/director positions
-Strong written and verbal communication skills
-Experience managing diverse teams including junior managers
-Understanding of financial metrics in F&B businesses
-Strong beverage & service knowledge
-Bachelor’s degree preferred
-Multi-unit experience preferred
Must be based in Baltimore
Compensation
this position is: salaried, $75,000 - $100,000
Application instructions
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Deadline
September 15, 2026