General Manager - Sayf

Company Overview

Launched in Dubai in 2022 and Beirut in 2023, SAYF is where summer never ends — a season, a sensation, and a state of mind. Inspired by the golden warmth of endless summer nights, SAYF captures the spirit of happiness, energy, and celebration in its purest form.

From the moment you step in, music pulses, performances mesmerize, and the night feels infinite. Rooted in Arabian hospitality and driven by high-energy entertainment, SAYF unites the region’s vibrant crowd to dance under the stars and embrace every moment. More than a venue, it’s an experience that turns every night into an endless summer memory.

Role Overview

The General Manager runs Sayf's full operation; P&L, guest experience, compliance, team, and the venue's VVIP and entertainment network. This is a dual-mandate role: strong financial ownership paired with a genuine, personal network in Dubai's nightlife and social scene. The GM is expected to carry that network directly, not delegate it, while remaining fully accountable for the numbers.

Key Responsibilities

• Revenue Management: Owns the full P&L; budgeting, forecasting, monthly reporting, and variance tracking against target, and is accountable for margin and labour cost targets.
• Revenue management covers minimum spend, VIP/table allocation, and bottle service margin, covers and average check.
• Reports performance monthly and puts a corrective plan in place if any metric drifts off target.
• Guest Relations & PR: Builds and actively grows a personal network across Dubai's hospitality, entertainment, and VVIP circles.
• Owns VVIP acquisition and retention, including table strategy and direct relationships with top-spend guests, and signs off on PR and event activity to make sure every activation drives bookings or spend, not just visibility.
• Entertainment Management: Owns the entertainment program end to end; booking DJs and talent, managing production, and setting the calendar around cost and revenue targets.
• Every booking gets weighed against what it's expected to bring back in covers, spend, or VVIP acquisition before it's confirmed.
• Pre-Season Relaunch: During closure, rehires and retrains the team, reconnects with suppliers and renegotiates terms where useful, and rebuilds the VIP and entertainment calendar so the venue reopens in September fully booked and ready.
• Runs licensing and permit checks even though this is a relaunch, not a from-scratch opening.
• Operations & Guest Experience: Runs daily operations; staffing, scheduling, inventory, and service standards, to brand standard, and turns guest feedback into concrete service improvements on an ongoing basis.
• Compliance & Licensing: Keeps the venue compliant with UAE labour law, Dubai Municipality and DTCM requirements, liquor licensing, and entertainment permit terms.
• Runs regular internal audits and escalates any compliance or licensing risk immediately.
• Team Management: Hires, trains, schedules, and manages the team, with succession plans in place for key roles, and runs performance reviews on the standard cycle.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years as a General Manager, ideally in upscale dining or nightlife, with Arabic-concept experience is a must.
• Dubai experience required, with an established, verifiable network in nightlife and VVIP circles.
• Strong financial background;
• P&L ownership, budgeting, forecasting, and cost control.
• Working knowledge of nightlife revenue mechanics; minimum spend, VIP/table allocation, talent and production cost management.
• Arabic and English proficiency required.

Experience with seasonal venues (closure/relaunch cycle) is a plus.

Track record of UAE regulatory compliance in a licensed, entertainment-permitted venue.