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Restaurant & Food Service Manager

Hospitality & Tourism

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages.

You can enter this career straight after SPM. A degree is optional, not required.

Hospitality & Tourism

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Monitor employee and patron activities to ensure liquor regulations are obeyed.
  2. 2Greet guests, escort them to their seats, and present them with menus and wine lists.
  3. 3Count money and make bank deposits.
  4. 4Establish standards for personnel performance and customer service.
  5. 5Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies.
  6. 6Schedule staff hours and assign duties.
  7. 7Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
  8. 8Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records.
  9. 9Perform some food preparation or service tasks, such as cooking, clearing tables, and serving food and drinks when necessary.
  10. 10Monitor budgets and payroll records, and review financial transactions to ensure that expenditures are authorized and budgeted.
  11. 11Schedule and receive food and beverage deliveries, checking delivery contents to verify product quality and quantity.
  12. 12Coordinate assignments of cooking personnel to ensure economical use of food and timely preparation.
  13. 13Organize and direct worker training programs, resolve personnel problems, hire new staff, and evaluate employee performance in dining and lodging facilities.
  14. 14Assess staffing needs and recruit staff, using methods such as newspaper advertisements or attendance at job fairs.
  15. 15Estimate food, liquor, wine, and other beverage consumption to anticipate amounts to be purchased or requisitioned.
  16. 16Monitor food preparation methods, portion sizes, and garnishing and presentation of food to ensure that food is prepared and presented in an acceptable manner.
  17. 17Monitor compliance with health and fire regulations regarding food preparation and serving, and building maintenance in lodging and dining facilities.
  18. 18Test cooked food by tasting and smelling it to ensure palatability and flavor conformity.
  19. 19Order and purchase equipment and supplies.
  20. 20Review work procedures and operational problems to determine ways to improve service, performance, or safety.
  21. 21Arrange for equipment maintenance and repairs, and coordinate a variety of services, such as waste removal and pest control.
  22. 22Record the number, type, and cost of items sold to determine which items may be unpopular or less profitable.
  23. 23Plan menus and food utilization, based on anticipated number of guests, nutritional value, palatability, popularity, and costs.
  24. 24Review menus and analyze recipes to determine labor and overhead costs, and assign prices to menu items.
  25. 25Take dining reservations.
  26. 26Create specialty dishes and develop recipes to be used in dining facilities.
  27. 27Schedule use of facilities or catering services for events such as banquets or receptions, and negotiate details of arrangements with clients.
  28. 28Establish and enforce nutritional standards for dining establishments, based on accepted industry standards.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • GM
  • CDM
  • CFPP
  • Food GM
  • FOH Manager
  • Chef Manager
  • Cook Manager
  • Deli Manager
  • Menu Planner
  • Restaurateur

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. Typical entry

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. 5

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationHigh school diploma

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

BusinessDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EconomicsDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
AgricultureDraws directly on Food Production — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Home Science (SRT)Draws directly on Food Production — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Customer and Personal Service91%
  • Administration and Management81%

    BusinessEconomics

  • Food Production79%

    AgricultureHome Science (SRT)

  • English Language71%

    English

  • Personnel and Human Resources70%

    Business

  • Sales and Marketing69%

    BusinessEconomics

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Leading or coordinating othersVery high
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentAlmost never
  • Time spent sittingA little

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points — not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

19%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023 — already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

0.10%

Of Malaysian Claude conversations, about this kind of work

Measures how much people use Claude for this work, not how many Malaysians do this job — and more AI use can mean people relying on it, not that it's replacing them.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

Pay in Malaysia

We don't have a sourced Malaysian salary range for this job yet, and we'd rather show nothing than a number we can't stand behind.

Where to check:

  • JobStreet and Hiredly job ads for this title
  • DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey
  • SSPA scheme tables, if you're aiming for a government post
See pay for a related career: Hotel & Tourism Manager

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Asasi / Foundation

One-year runway into a specific university: public via UPU or private direct entry.

12 months

Diploma

Skill-first qualification. Work after, or enter degree Year 2. Polytechnics keep it affordable.

2.5–3 years

Related careers

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About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Food Service Managers

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Public universities (UPU)

Private institutions (MQA-accredited)

Search the programme catalogue