About Us
Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate factory in San Francisco’s Mission District. We make chocolate from only two ingredients, cocoa beans and cane sugar, and travel to origins as often as we can to build good, trusting relationships with the producers who grow and ferment our beans. Our business is built upon trust and partnership, and now we’re looking for a seasoned manager who will run our brick-and-mortar shop in San Francisco’s bustling Ferry Building corridor along the waterfront.
About You
Our ideal Ferry Building Retail Manager is an independent self-starter with an eye for excellence. You will oversee the Dandelion Chocolate shop in the iconic Ferry Building. You will determine how future locations communicate with each other, develop systems for tracking deliveries and inventories, and continuously test new concepts to raise the bar for how visitors interact with bean-to-bar chocolate.
We are known for having friendly staff that wants to share our mission. This dynamic position requires a lot of face time with team members, guests, the CEO, and other Dandelion Chocolate departmental heads. Our Ferry Building Manager is vital to our team and the company overall. The right person for this job will have a passion for connecting consumers with quality handmade products. We like to see that you have been able to work on projects within a team and produce measurable results.
About the Job
Your day might start by checking in with other teams to review any events, tours, or special requests for the day. You give your team a morning daily report so they know, for example, how to greet an out-of-state chocolate maker or when to have extra samples ready for a large afternoon tour group. In the afternoon, you look at your list of potential projects, create a 3-4 week plan with deliverables and metrics, and double-check that your top priorities feel right with the executive team. Later, you talk to your team about a new bussing cart design project and then get to work developing requirements, plans, and milestones. On your way out for the day, you bring hot chocolate and cookies to your kind neighbors who loaned you their ladder yesterday and to the Ferry Building management office who loves our oatmeal nib chocolate chip cookies. Tonight your team is experimenting with extended hours and you’re looking forward to seeing those numbers and hearing their report in the morning.
Responsibilities
- Work with execs to understand annual goals and set a compelling vision that inspires the team to raise the bar each year.
- Hire, train, schedule, and foster a 6-8 person team that values excellence and proactively makes a customer’s experience better without prescriptive guidelines.
- Regularly research tools and develop systems to ensure that merchandise is in stock, that the workspace is clean, that the retail shelves reflect a thoughtful, exquisite experience, and that orders are timely and accurate.
- Monitor, track, and analyze sales data.
- Proactively develop ideas to improve retail displays, experiment with menu items, and develop more authentic, thoughtful visitor experiences that lead to a deeper connection with bean-to-bar chocolate.
- Develop authentic rapport and working relationships with other managers, neighbors, and Ferry Building office management so that others feel comfortable approaching you with problems, suggestions, personnel issues, or to coordinate potential projects together.
- Report quarterly goals and projects to the company, Director, VP, and CEO.
- Other duties as needed.
Requirements
- Proven ability to manage, train, and motivate small groups of people. You’ve made long-lasting impact in previous team members’ professional careers.
- Technical know-how including Google Docs, spreadsheets, and the ability to track and report purchases, inventory, and cash reports with bookkeeping tools on a weekly basis.
- Phenomenal soft people skills. You can work with the most irate, irrational customer to ensure that they feel heard, understood, and will want to visit Dandelion Chocolate again (and again and again).
- Proven ability to connect bigger company goals to the performance of a team using measurable metrics. When a new location opens in one to two years, you have the documentation and systems ready to help a new manager get up-to-speed quickly and avoid the pitfalls you once encountered.
- The agility to think quickly on your feet and deal with each day’s inevitable surprises.
- Two years minimum management experience in a food service or service-related establishment.
Benefits
Dandelion Chocolate constantly invests in its people and culture. We offer excellent perks including paid vacation and sick days, subsidized medical, dental, and vision benefits, and the option to enroll in our 401k program. Our team members also enjoy commuter benefits, local gym discounts, and lots of chocolate tasting opportunities.
How to Apply
Dandelion is growing and we are invested in employees who take ownership over their role and are interested in contributing in a bigger way. You'll stand out from the crowd if you send your resume as well as a cover letter detailing your management style, your most rewarding service experience, and why you’d be a great addition to our team. We do our best to respond to all serious candidates within 7-14 days.