Operations Manager | Chicago

Blank Street • Chicago, IL

2d • $100,000 - $130,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As an Operations Manager at Blank Street, you are the ultimate leader of an entire area of 5+ stores and the General Managers who lead them. Your greatest responsibility is growing people. You will hire, coach and develop an A team of GMs, helping them become confident leaders who build engaged, high-performing teams across our stores. You are also the strategic mind behind your stores: you will own your area's PnL and decide how to plan, prioritize and follow through, so your stores get better day by day. In a fast-moving and constantly evolving business, you will create clarity, build capability, and foster a culture of accountability, hospitality and continuous improvement. You'll report to the Director of Operations and work closely with the rest of our Field Leadership team. Together, you'll help scale the next generation of leaders while driving an exceptional experience for both our teams and our customers.

Requirements

• 5+ years of leadership experience in hospitality, retail, or another fast-growing consumer business.
• Experience leading multiple locations (3-10) and developing the managers who run them.
• Passionate about hospitality and creating exceptional customer and employee experiences.
• Strong operational and financial judgment; ability to read data (P&L, KPI dashboards) and act on it.
• Proven ability to develop managers, hire an A team, coach, make decisions, and lead through change.
• Strategic planning skills; ability to plan a quarter ahead and translate priorities into actionable plans for GMs.
• Excellent communication skills, both written (Slack, Notion, email) and verbal (area meetings, workshops).

Responsibilities

• Coach GMs to build systems, behaviors, and processes that maintain high hospitality standards.
• Conduct regular store visits and review data to ensure standards are met and hold GMs accountable for closing gaps.
• Take an active role in turning around struggling stores and launching new stores.
• Translate quarterly sales forecasts from HQ into store-specific plans and communicate them to GMs.
• Set labor targets a quarter out, including headcount and transfers, and coach GMs to build rotas against them.
• Help GMs calibrate inventory to forecast demand and set guardrails to prevent overstocking or shortages.
• Develop GMs into future leaders through training, 1:1s, and direct feedback.
• Calibrate hiring and promotion decisions across the area and set succession targets.
• Foster an area-wide culture where stores function as one team, sharing best practices and supporting each other.
• Master stores' KPIs and PnL, and set clear weekly and quarterly priorities for the area.
• Work with each GM to build and execute store-specific plans to drive performance.
• Roll out new initiatives, including menu launches and tech tools, ensuring clear communication, training, and adoption tracking.

Benefits

• $100,000–$130,000 annual base salary
• 15 days of paid annual leave (on top of company-observed holidays and sick time)
• Three health plan options, with full coverage available for two employee-only tiers.
• Commuter benefits
• Parental leave
• Bereavement leave
• Exclusive access to our coveted Regulars program - yes, that means free coffee, matcha and more!
• Regular social outings with the team
• Free Blank Street swag

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed