Venue Manager - The Scary Canary

Venue Manager – The Scary Canary

Company: Tourism Adventure Group Location: Sydney NSW Salary: $90,000 – $110,000 per year Work type: Full-time Work setting: Onsite

The Scary Canary is seeking an experienced Venue Manager to oversee one of Sydney’s prominent venues catering to backpackers, students, and young travellers. Situated in the Sydney CBD, the venue operates as a food and beverage establishment during the day and transforms into a lively bar and entertainment hub at night. This position requires a skilled hospitality professional adept at managing both facets of the business, including consistent daytime service, food and beverage operations, events, group bookings, and late-night entertainment. It is a hands-on leadership role for an individual with a strong grasp of service, atmosphere, team culture, and commercial outcomes.

About the role

The Venue Manager will be accountable for the venue’s overall performance, encompassing operations, team leadership, guest experience, compliance, events, promotions, and revenue generation. Collaboration with the General Manager and the broader Tourism Adventure Group team will be key to reinforcing The Scary Canary’s standing as a daytime food and beverage destination and a leading nightlife spot for backpackers, students, young locals, and travellers. This role demands a visible leader who is comfortable engaging with patrons on the floor, interacts effectively with people, and can establish the appropriate tone across various trading periods.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, train, and develop the venue team.
• Oversee daytime trade, food service, bar service, events, and late-night operations.
• Uphold high standards in service, presentation, cleanliness, and ambience.
• Drive revenue through food, beverage, events, promotions, partnerships, and group bookings.
• Develop and implement a weekly calendar of events and promotions.
• Cultivate strong relationships with hostels, universities, language schools, travel groups, and local partners.
• Collaborate with marketing teams on content, campaigns, and venue promotions.
• Understand TikTok, Instagram, and content that resonates with an 18–25-year-old demographic.
• Manage rosters, stock, labour, suppliers, and daily venue operations.
• Monitor sales, costs, wages, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and overall venue performance.
• Ensure compliance with Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA), liquor licensing, food safety, security, and other regulatory requirements.
• Identify opportunities for improving trade, guest experience, and profitability.

What we’re looking for

The successful candidate will possess:

• Experience as a Venue Manager, Bar Manager, Food & Beverage Manager, Operations Manager, or a senior hospitality leadership role.
• Experience within a busy bar, restaurant, pub, entertainment venue, or late-night hospitality environment.
• A strong understanding of food and beverage operations.
• A good understanding of the Sydney hospitality scene, nightlife, and customer behaviour.
• Proven ability to lead, coach, and motivate a team.
• Strong commercial awareness concerning sales, wages, stock, and profitability.
• Experience in delivering events, promotions, or activations.
• A sound understanding of social media platforms, particularly TikTok and Instagram.
• Confidence in managing RSA, food safety, security, and late-night venue risks.
• Strong communication, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
• Australian working rights.

You’ll suit this role if you are

• A confident, hands-on hospitality leader.
• Commercially minded and accountable.
• Creative, yet organised and operationally strong.
• Comfortable managing different styles of trade throughout the day and night.
• Skilled at interpreting customer behaviour, team dynamics, and venue atmosphere.
• Willing to work days, nights, weekends, and during peak trading periods.
• Passionate about food, drinks, events, service, and entertainment.
• Motivated by building a strong venue culture and enhancing business performance.

About Tourism Adventure Group

The Scary Canary is part of Tourism Adventure Group, an organisation that operates youth-focused accommodation, bars, and travel experiences across Australia and New Zealand.

Our core values include:

• We are efficient and organised.
• We are focused on our customers.
• We are flexible and embrace change.
• We are all salespeople.

At The Scary Canary, these values inform how we lead, serve, sell, promote, and create memorable guest experiences.