Director of operations interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Show the real week: time in [two or three] restaurants a day across [your region], nights and weekends, and on call when a restaurant has to close, someone is hurt or a GM quits.
• Say what the director decides and what stays with [the COO or owner]: GM hiring and firing, repair spending above [the GM's limit], and changes to the systems.
• Tell finalists about the driving record and background checks that come with this job, and when they run. A report from a screening company needs a stand-alone notice and the candidate's written permission first. Fair-chance laws in some states and cities also control when criminal history can come up.
• Tell them where things stand: how many GMs are new or struggling and what's opening next, so they see the real starting point.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Technical · Reading the P&L

   Two restaurants of the same concept have about the same sales, but one runs prime cost [four points] higher. Walk me through how you'd track down the difference.

   It shows whether they take a P&L apart line by line or go straight to telling the GM to cut labor.

   Follow-ups

   • Which line do you open first, and why?
   • What would make you suspect the books, not the restaurant?
   • What do you ask the GM to change this week?

   5Strong

   Splits prime cost into food, beverage and labor, then labor into hourly, management, overtime and taxes. Checks actual against theoretical food cost, vendor prices, comps and voids, and clocked hours against covers by daypart. Rules out one-offs like a counting error or a training week, then visits during service.

   3Mixed

   Splits food and labor correctly and finds a likely cause, but stops at the P&L without ruling out one-offs or seeing the restaurant.

   1Weak

   Tells the GM to cut hours, or blames the GM, without looking past the bottom line.

2. Behavioral · Reading the P&L

   Tell me about a restaurant you took over that was losing money or slipping. What did you change first, and what happened to the P&L?

   A turnaround shows what they look at first and whether their changes moved the numbers.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you leave alone, and why?
   • How long until the numbers moved?
   • What would you do differently?

   5Strong

   Names the problem in numbers and the cause underneath it, often a person or a missing system. Made a few changes in a clear order, can give the results over the following months, and says what didn't work.

   3Mixed

   Has a real turnaround, but describes it mostly as hard work, with results like "much better" and no numbers.

   1Weak

   Has no numbers, or blames the last GM or director for everything.

3. Situational · Holding GMs accountable

   Your highest-sales GM has the worst audit scores in the group, and [four] servers and the sous chef quit there this quarter. The COO loves this GM's numbers. What do you do?

   Sales can hide a restaurant that's wearing out its people and cutting corners. This shows whether they hold a GM to the whole standard.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you look at on your first visit?
   • What do you tell the COO?
   • What would make you start planning a replacement?

   5Strong

   Visits unannounced during service, reads the audit details and learns why people left, then sets a written plan with dates. Checks it weekly, tells the COO the facts and the risk, holds the GM to the plan regardless of sales, and quietly plans cover in case it fails.

   3Mixed

   Sets a written plan and tells the COO, but checks it only at the next quarterly review, so months pass before anyone knows whether it worked.

   1Weak

   Lets it slide because the sales are strong, or fires the GM on the spot.

4. Behavioral · Holding GMs accountable

   Tell me about the last time you replaced a general manager. Walk me through it, from when you first saw the problem to the new GM's first month.

   Waiting too long costs staff and guests, and acting without a record invites a claim. Look for a documented process and a restaurant that kept running.

   Follow-ups

   • How long from the first written plan to the decision, and why that long?
   • Who ran the restaurant in between?
   • What did you tell the staff?

   5Strong

   Set expectations with dates, documented the coaching, brought in HR, made the call when the plan failed, held a private and respectful exit, had the assistant GM or themselves running the restaurant the next day, and gave the new GM a plan for the first month.

   3Mixed

   Made the right call fairly, but waited longer than the plan said, or had no cover ready and the restaurant slipped.

   1Weak

   Fired without warning or notes, or kept a failing GM for most of a year.

5. Behavioral · Developing GMs

   Tell me about a manager you developed into a general manager. What did they need to learn, and how did you teach it?

   A director who builds GMs on purpose has someone ready for the next opening, or for the next GM who quits.

   Follow-ups

   • What was the first part of the business you let them own?
   • Where did they struggle in their first months as GM?
   • How is their restaurant doing now?

   5Strong

   Names the gaps, like the P&L, hiring or hard conversations. Gave ownership step by step, like the weekly P&L review or a week running the restaurant alone, coached on a set rhythm, and the person succeeded as GM, shown in that restaurant's results.

   3Mixed

   Promoted a strong performer with some coaching, but the development was informal and the gaps showed afterward.

   1Weak

   Claims the promotion but can't name one thing they taught, or has never developed a GM.

6. Situational · Developing GMs

   On a Tuesday visit you find the GM in the office building next week's schedule while lunch backs up and no one is at the host stand. Walk me through the next hour.

   Directors coach most during visits. This shows whether they build the GM's judgment or just fix the shift themselves.

   Follow-ups

   • When would you step in yourself?
   • What do you say to the GM, and where?
   • What do you check on your next visit?

   5Strong

   Gets the GM to the floor quietly, not in front of staff, and covers the stand only if guests are waiting. Afterward asks why scheduling happens at lunch, agrees on a fix like set office hours or a trained assistant, and checks it next visit.

   3Mixed

   Runs the floor and saves lunch personally, but never talks with the GM about why it happened.

   1Weak

   Adds it to the fix list and leaves, or criticizes the GM in front of the staff.

7. Technical · Audits and systems

   Walk me through an unannounced visit to one of your restaurants, from the parking lot to the written fix list.

   The routine shows whether audits find real problems or just confirm the paperwork.

   Follow-ups

   • What gets fixed before you leave?
   • How do you tell whether the logs are real?
   • What happens to the list next week?

   5Strong

   Covers the outside and the greeting, then probes food temperatures against the logs, checks labels, handwashing sinks and sanitizer, bar IDs and pours, cash and the comps report, the manager log and staffing. Fixes health hazards on the spot and leaves a signed list with owners and dates.

   3Mixed

   Checks the right things and has health hazards fixed before leaving, but leaves no written list with owners and dates, so the rest depends on memory.

   1Weak

   Has a meal and a talk with the GM, and nothing gets written down.

8. Situational · Audits and systems

   On a visit you see the GM's name on the tip pool sheet along with the servers and bussers. The GM says the team agreed to it. What do you do?

   Federal rules don't let a GM or any other manager keep a share of employees' tips. The answer shows whether they act on it and fix the past, not just the future.

   Follow-ups

   • Who do you bring in first?
   • What about the weeks already paid out?
   • How do you find out whether it's happening anywhere else?

   5Strong

   Takes the GM out of the pool that day and explains why, brings in HR, payroll and counsel to work out what's owed and pay it back, checks the other restaurants' pool sheets, and makes sure the tip policy and GM training cover it.

   3Mixed

   Takes the GM out of the pool that day and has HR and payroll pay back what's owed, but doesn't check the other restaurants' sheets or change GM training.

   1Weak

   Leaves it because the team agreed, or tells the GM to keep it quiet.

9. Situational · Guest experience

   One restaurant's average online rating has slid from [4.5] to [4.1] over [three] months, while its sales and audit scores held steady. What do you do?

   A rating slide with steady sales is easy to wave off. This shows whether they treat it as an early warning and find the cause.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you look for in the reviews themselves?
   • What would you check in the POS?
   • How will you know the fix worked?

   5Strong

   Reads the low reviews and sorts them by theme, day and daypart. Checks ticket times, comps and the complaint log for the same shifts, visits and eats at those times, fixes the specific cause with the GM, and tracks the rating monthly.

   3Mixed

   Has the GM reply to every review and retrains the staff on service in general, without finding a cause.

   1Weak

   Ignores online reviews, or blames the reviewers.

10. Behavioral · Opening restaurants

    Tell me about a restaurant you helped open. What went wrong in the first month?

    Every opening has problems. A director who learned from them plans the next one better.

    Follow-ups

    • What was your part in the opening plan?
    • How did you staff and train before the first service?
    • How did the permits and the opening inspection go?

    5Strong

    Names their own role and the timeline, a specific problem like staffing, kitchen flow or a permit delay, how they fixed it, and a habit they now use, like starting plan review early, mock services before opening or borrowing trainers from other restaurants.

    3Mixed

    Was there and describes it well, but owned only one piece and can't describe the opening plan as a whole.

    1Weak

    Has no specifics, or says nothing went wrong.

Work exercise: find the problems in three P&Ls

Give finalists made-up weekly P&Ls for [three] restaurants of one concept, with last year's numbers, labor by daypart, comps and voids, and each restaurant's latest audit score. Plant a different problem in each: overtime from an open manager job, a food cost gap with flat sales, or a strong P&L with a failing audit. Allow [40] minutes to find them and write a [30]-day plan for the restaurant they'd fix first, then [15] minutes to present it.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• Which GMs did they hire or develop, and where are those GMs now?
• Tell me about a GM they replaced. How long did they wait, and how did the restaurant do afterward?
• How did their restaurants' prime cost and audit scores move while they ran them?
• Would you put them over your restaurants again, and what would you watch for?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipAll that driving and late nights: how's your health?

  AskRead every candidate the same description: [daily driving between restaurants, and nights and weekends on site]. Ask whether they can do it, with or without reasonable accommodation, and whether they hold a valid driver's license.

• SkipWhat's your base and bonus now?

  AskAsk how their pay was built, like base, bonus measures and a car allowance, without asking amounts. Then share [your salary range, bonus and car allowance] and ask whether that works for them.

• SkipWhen are you planning to retire?

  AskTell them the plan for the job, like [two openings in the next eighteen months], and ask how they'd approach it. The federal age discrimination law protects workers forty and older.

Common mistakes when hiring a director of operations

• Promoting your best GM without testing the bigger job

  A great GM fixes problems by being there. A director has to fix them through other GMs, with a few hours a week in each restaurant. Give internal candidates the same P&L exercise and the questions on developing and replacing GMs.

• Hiring someone who ran systems others built

  In a large chain, a training team may run openings, a support office writes the systems and HR handles exits. Ask which decisions were the candidate's own, and confirm with a reference.

• Only calling the candidate's boss

  Former GMs who reported to the candidate know how they coach and how fair they are. Ask the candidate for one as a reference, alongside a former boss.

Director of operations interview FAQ