VP, People & Culture

At Mo’ Bettahs, we value Kuleana (Responsibility), Ho’okipa (Hospitality and Aloha), Ho’okuku (Competitiveness), Mo’omeheu (Culture), Miki’oi (Fine Craftsmanship), and Pono (Righteousness). These values reflect the qualities of an ideal team player: hunger, kindness, energy, humility, and selflessness. We believe in taking responsibility for our actions, celebrating our unique Hawaiian culture, providing personable service, striving for excellence, and paying attention to detail.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Mo’ Bettahs is a Hawaiian style food company started in 2008 by brothers Kimo and Kalani Mack, who grew up on Oahu and wanted to share the Hawai’i they actually knew. We run 80+ restaurants across Utah, Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Nevada, Minnesota, Indiana, and Arizona.

Reporting to the CEO and sitting on the executive team, the VP, People & Culture owns how we hire, train, pay, develop, and take care of our roughly 2,200 Team Members, in our restaurants and at our Support Center. You will lead the People & Culture team.

Our mission is Be Aloha, and six values carry it: Pono, Ho’okipa, Mo’omeheu, Kuleana, Miki’oi, and Ho’okuku. Your job is to make sure those words still mean the same thing in restaurant 86 that they meant in restaurant 6.

This position is in office in Lehi, UT. Travel to our restaurants is approximately 25 percent.

 

 

WHAT YOU’LL DO: 

Culture and Team Member experience 

• Keep Be Aloha and our six values real as we grow, in onboarding, recognition, internal communication, and the daily habits of restaurant and Support Center teams. 

• Own how we listen to Team Members and turn what we hear into changes people can actually see. 

• Build recognition that names specific behavior and ties it to a value or a Team Player virtue, rather than generic praise. 

Talent and staffing 

• Lead hiring at every level, from hourly restaurant Team Members through Support Center leadership. 

• Build a hiring engine that keeps nearly 80+ restaurants staffed and gets every New Restaurant Opening fully crewed and trained before the doors open. 

• Own time to fill, quality of hire, and the depth of our General Manager and District Manager bench. 

• Work with Operations and Development on workforce planning so hiring keeps pace with the pipeline of new restaurants. 

Leadership development  

• Grow leaders through the Operations Growth Ladder so we promote from within more often than we hire from outside. 

• Run succession planning for restaurant leadership and for the executive team. 

Total rewards and people operations 

• Own pay structure, bonus plans, and benefits, and keep them competitive for both hourly and salaried roles across multiple states. 

• Own payroll, HRIS, and the people data that Operations and Finance rely on, and make sure the numbers hold up. 

• Report on the people metrics that move the business, including Team Member an
• d General Manager turnover, and use them to decide what to change next. 

Compliance and risk 

• Keep us compliant with employment law in every state we operate in, including wage and hour, work authorization, leave, and accommodation. 

• Own Team Member relations and workplace investigations and handle them quickly and consistently. 

• Own workers’ compensation and safety, and the training that keeps injury rates down. 

• Make hiring and promotion decisions consistent and defensible through structured interviews, clear job-related criteria, and documented decisions, so every qualified applicant gets a real look and we hire on merit. 

Executive partnership 

• Advise the CEO and the executive team on org design, people risk, and how we grow without losing what makes this company work. 

• Build and lead the People & Culture team and grow the people on it. 

• Prepare people reporting for executive and board review. 

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: 

• 10+ years in human resources, including 5+ leading the function or a major part of it. 

• Multi-unit experience in restaurants, retail, hospitality, or another field-based business with hourly teams spread across many locations. This is the qualification we weigh most heavily. 

• A track record hiring and keeping hourly teams at volume and building leaders from within rather than buying them. 

• Working knowledge of multi-state employment law, wage and hour, and the practical compliance that comes with operating in several states at once. 

• Hands-on ownership of pay, benefits, payroll, and HRIS, rather than only directing people who do that work. 

• Real comfort with data. You use people metrics to decide things, and you can defend the numbers when someone pushes back. 

• Credibility with operators. You have earned trust from the people who actually run restaurants or stores. 

• Bachelor’s degree preferred. Equivalent experience counts. 

PREFERRED: 

• Fast casual or QSR experience at scale. 

• Experience through a period of fast unit growth, roughly 50 to 150 locations. 

• Workday or a comparable HRIS. 

• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.