Assistant Cafe and Retail Manager - 16th Street

Dandelion Chocolate•San Francisco, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Dandelion Chocolate is seeking an experienced Assistant Cafe and Retail Manager to support the team and enhance the guest experience at their 16th Street Cafe. This role involves collaborating with the team to create a world-class experience for all guests, from novices to experts. The day-to-day responsibilities include managing cash levels, ensuring team members have the necessary tools, preparing onboarding materials, and troubleshooting operational issues such as low stock or outdated signage. The Assistant Manager acts as a support system for the team, jumping in to help as needed, and works closely with the General Manager to foster a caring, stable, and supportive environment. This full-time position offers a starting wage of $29.50/hour plus tips.

Requirements

Availability and flexibility to work daytime, evening, and weekend shifts as needed for this full-time role.
At least one year of prior assistant management or leadership experience in a food, retail, or hospitality industry where world-class guest service is essential.
Experience dealing with tricky situations and the steady confidence to keep a level head when the team needs you most.
Computer skills to develop checklists and training materials, maintain email filters, and check social media for recent reviews.
Ability to troubleshoot minor mechanical issues (e.g., ice machine, chocolate-warmer) and interface with service professionals.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills for handling guest issues, responding to emails, leading training programs, and building trust across departments.

Nice To Haves

Mature, team-oriented leadership style that balances rigor with empathetic soft skills and collaborative communication.
Experience building long-standing systems like checklists, guidelines, and documentation.
Ability to understand a team member’s long-term motivation and help them map a career path in coffee and chocolate.

Responsibilities

Maintain smooth daily operations by providing tools for team members to continuously improve, ensuring supplies and tools are available, keeping the space neat and organized, periodically auditing checklists, providing the team with daily plans, preparing weekly deposits, assisting with payroll, serving as a double-check on inventory, merchandising, and scheduling, and maintaining food and safety standards for health and safety compliance.
Proactively contribute ideas to optimize the space, work with the team to continually improve guest experiences, and streamline team operations to improve each year. Understand resources, delegate tasks, and work closely with the General Manager to ensure the highest levels of hospitality and minimize surprises. Be comfortable leading guests through chocolate samples, making drinks, or handling escalated guest issues while ensuring orders are placed on time.
Maintain a high level of hospitality and serve as a role model for the team. Continually look for ways to improve the guest experience and delight visitors and team members alike. Work with the team to create systems that could be rolled out to new locations. Create staffing plans that optimize efficiency and hospitality.
Learn to use tools such as When I Work, Square, and SKULabs to track sales, equipment, and purchases to see year-to-year progress and make goals for the year ahead.
Other tasks as necessary