What does a Night Shift Manager do?

A night shift manager is an executive professional who is responsible for supervising night shift production to ensure that optimal customer services and cost objectives are met. Night shift managers must ensure that federal safety standards and environmental disposal protocols are followed by their employees. They are required to train new employees on all job functions such as inventory management, customer service, and maintenance. Night shift managers must also complete audits of inventory, bank deposits, and withdrawals.
Night shift manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real night shift manager resumes:
- Manage FOH to insure all guests are happy and well taken care of.
- Maintain all databases, and POS systems, ensuring that they are up-to-date.
- Operate POS and clean and maintain all areas of restaurant to promote a clean image.
- Check all time sheets make sure all personal, vacation, and holiday are included before going to payroll.
- Stock shelves and cooler as facings deplete, handle monetary transactions, and maintain store cleanliness when no customers are present.
- Demonstrate strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.
- Gather payroll information, enter information into a database and maintain payroll records.
- Provide leadership by engendering excitement, enthusiasm, a positive mental attitude and commitment to company objectives.
- Implement quality service procedures to provide best in industry beverages while maintaining superior and comfortable experience for Starbucks patrons.
- Fire suppression includes large volume water movement, petroleum firefighting, oil platform facility services, and search and rescue.
- Complete all post-event recaps and communicate with management to evaluate the event and troubleshoot any issues that are presented or foreseeable.
Night shift manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Night Shift Managers are proficient in Cleanliness, Food Safety, and Safety Standards. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Listening skills, and Business skills.
We break down the percentage of Night Shift Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 18%
Maintain cleanliness in accordance with National Restaurant Association standards.
- Food Safety, 14%
Trained new employees to uphold company standards in cleaning and food safety, as well as boosting team morale.
- Safety Standards, 14%
Supervised the closing of the store and ensured that all safety standards were followed.
- Safety Procedures, 8%
Follow all the safety procedures require in the store by the state of Florida.
- PET, 7%
Assist at adoption functions by educating potential pet parents by providing necessary instructions and information.
- Work Ethic, 5%
Received constant compliment of work ethic from customers who have been service during shifts.
Most night shift managers use their skills in "cleanliness," "food safety," and "safety standards" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential night shift manager responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a night shift manager to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "lodging managers interact regularly with many different people." Additionally, a night shift manager resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "leveraged excellent communication and interpersonal skills in providing customer service. "
Listening skills. Many night shift manager duties rely on listening skills. "lodging managers must have excellent listening skills for attending to the needs of guests and maintaining a good working relationship with staff.," so a night shift manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways night shift manager responsibilities rely on listening skills: "communicated with other departments and management to resolve problems and expedite work. "
Business skills. This is an important skill for night shift managers to perform their duties. For an example of how night shift manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "lodging managers need to operate a facility that is profitable." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a night shift manager: "generated repeat business through exceptional customer service. ".
Customer-service skills. For certain night shift manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "customer-service skills." The day-to-day duties of a night shift manager rely on this skill, as "lodging managers must have excellent customer-service skills." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what night shift managers do: "completed financial reports and collected customer payments. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for night shift manager responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of night shift managers all the time, as "lodging managers need to keep track of many different schedules, budgets, and people at once." An excerpt from a real night shift manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a night shift manager does: "cut labor costs by average of 5% through new organizational setup and work schedule. "
Leadership skills. Another skill commonly found on night shift manager job descriptions is "leadership skills." It can come up quite often in night shift manager duties, since "lodging managers must establish a productive work environment, which may involve motivating personnel, resolving conflicts, and handling guests’ complaints." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day night shift manager responsibilities: "team leadership guest services report processing general cleaning food service cash handling inventory & stock"
The three companies that hire the most night shift managers are:
- McDonald's66 night shift managers jobs
- Chewy66 night shift managers jobs
- Carrols Restaurant Group29 night shift managers jobs
Compare different night shift managers
Night shift manager vs. Manager on duty
A manager on duty's role is to oversee operations in a store or a particular department, ensuring efficient workflow and workforce performance. They mainly evaluate and delegate tasks among employees, arrange schedules, set goals and budget, handle issues and concerns, and impose disciplinary actions. Moreover, a manager on duty may also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports, processing paperwork, maintaining an inventory of supplies, reporting to supervisors, coordinating with other managers, and implementing the company's policies and standards.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a night shift manager are more likely to require skills like "cleanliness," "food safety," "safety standards," and "pet." On the other hand, a job as a manager on duty requires skills like "guest service," "front desk operations," "guest satisfaction," and "incident reports." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Managers on duty earn the highest salaries when working in the retail industry, with an average yearly salary of $36,308. On the other hand, night shift managers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $34,347.managers on duty tend to reach similar levels of education than night shift managers. In fact, managers on duty are 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Night shift manager vs. Shift supervisor
Shift supervisors are responsible for the employees assigned to the shift that they are handling. Shift supervisors ensure that the employees who were expected to report to work at the specific shift came in. They also ensure that the employees are doing their jobs while at work. Shift supervisors are expected to ensure that employees are really working during working hours and properly delegate work. Shift supervisors ensure that the employees are productive and efficient in their jobs. They are expected to provide coaching and guidance so that the employees will be able to reach the goals assigned to the work team.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that night shift manager responsibilities requires skills like "strong work ethic," "hr," "night shifts," and "quality products." But a shift supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "cash handling," "store management," "cash flow," and "punctuality."
Shift supervisors earn a higher average salary than night shift managers. But shift supervisors earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $39,059. Additionally, night shift managers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $34,347 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Shift supervisors tend to reach similar levels of education than night shift managers. In fact, they're 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Night shift manager vs. Assistant shift supervisor
An assistant shift supervisor helps shift supervisors maintain smooth operations and provide optimal services to clients. Their tasks often include handling calls and correspondence, preparing documentation and presentations, conducting reviews and assessments, coordinating with different teams, managing staff, and overseeing schedules. There are also times when they participate in setting goals, establishing timelines and guidelines, liaising with external business partners, and addressing issues and concerns. Moreover, in the absence of the shift supervisor, an assistant shift supervisor may assume their duties to maintain the smooth workflow of the establishment.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a night shift manager is likely to be skilled in "cleanliness," "pet," "work ethic," and "strong work ethic," while a typical assistant shift supervisor is skilled in "criminal justice," "direct supervision," "legal rights," and "personnel issues."
Assistant shift supervisors earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $44,547. Night shift managers earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $34,347.assistant shift supervisors typically earn similar educational levels compared to night shift managers. Specifically, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Night shift manager vs. Floor manager
A floor manager is responsible for supervising the general operations of a specific department in an organization. Floor manager tasks include assisting customers, ensuring prompt resolution of clients' inquiries, distributing tasks to the staff, and monitoring the employees' performance. A floor manager will be in charge of checking inventories and report inadequate supplies, identifying business opportunities to increase the company's sales and profitability, developing strategic procedures to maintain customer satisfaction, and managing disputes from the customers and employees. A floor manager must have excellent leadership and communication skills to address specific concerns and process customers' requests as needed.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between night shift managers and floor managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a night shift manager might have more use for skills like "food safety," "safety procedures," "pet," and "work ethic." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of floor managers require skills like "pallets," "flyers," "product knowledge," and "fine dining. "
The telecommunication industry tends to pay the highest salaries for floor managers, with average annual pay of $44,098. Comparatively, the highest night shift manager annual salary comes from the technology industry.floor managers reach similar levels of education compared to night shift managers, in general. The difference is that they're 1.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of night shift manager
Updated January 8, 2025