Studio Area Manager

alts| Alteration Specialists + LABEL•New York, NY

50d•$90,000 - $100,000•Onsite

About The Position

At Alts, we're building a new model for modern tailoring by bringing together exceptional craftsmanship, an elevated client experience, strong leadership, and operational discipline. The Studio Area Manager leads a cluster of 3–5 Alts studios and owns the overall performance, leadership, and operational health of the district. This is a leader-of-leaders and business ownership role. Each studio operates through two key areas of ownership: the Shop Experience Manager, who owns the client experience and front-of-house business, and the Tailoring Shop Manager (TSM), who owns craftsmanship, production, and the tailoring team. The Studio Area Manager does not replace either leader. Instead, they ensure both sides are aligned, accountable, and operating as one team while maintaining clear ownership of their respective functions. Beyond leadership development, the Studio Area Manager is accountable for the business performance of the district — including client experience, production ratio, productivity, labor cost, quality, staffing, profitability, and operational execution. The Studio Area Manager must know what is happening across their district, understand why it is happening, and determine what action is required. As Alts continues to grow, this role is also a critical change leader — translating company strategy into field execution and ensuring new expectations, processes, and ways of working are understood, adopted, and sustained. The goal is not for the Studio Area Manager to run every studio. The goal is to build strong leaders who run strong businesses.

Requirements

3+ years of multi-unit leadership experience in a service, hospitality, retail, or operational business, or significant senior single-unit leadership experience
Experience directly managing and developing managers
Demonstrated ability to coach leaders while maintaining strong accountability for results
Experience managing labor, productivity, staffing, and operational performance
Strong understanding of business and client experience metrics
Proven ability to analyze KPIs and translate data into actionable plans
Strong communication, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills
Experience successfully leading teams through operational or organizational change
Comfortable making decisions and serving as a tie-breaker when leadership priorities conflict
Ability to travel regularly between assigned studios
Strong organizational skills and ability to operate independently

Nice To Haves

Tailoring or fashion experience is not required; an appreciation for craftsmanship, quality, and exceptional client experiences is essential

Responsibilities

Own the overall performance of a cluster of 3–5 Alts studios.
Own district performance across NPS, retention, production, labor cost, quality, profitability, and operational execution
Regularly review studio and district performance to identify trends, opportunities, and gaps
Understand the relationship between client experience, staffing, productivity, quality, and financial performance
Identify underperforming locations or operational areas early
Develop clear action plans with measurable expectations and timelines
Follow through until improvement is demonstrated and sustained
Use data, field observations, and business judgment to determine where your attention will have the greatest impact
Allocate time across the district based on performance, complexity, leadership capability, and business need
Provide senior leadership with clear visibility into performance, risks, opportunities, and actions
Own production performance across the district while partnering closely with TSM leadership.
Own and improve Production Ratio / Productivity
Monitor production capacity against current and forecasted volume
Ensure staffing and production capacity are aligned with business demand
Identify bottlenecks before they impact turnaround time or the client experience
Partner with TSMs to understand individual and team productivity
Identify shops or teams operating below expected productivity levels
Develop corrective plans when production performance is off target
Support cross-shop production solutions when appropriate
Protect production speed while maintaining craftsmanship and quality
Identify recurring production inefficiencies and address the root cause
Own labor performance across the district and ensure resources are being used responsibly.
Own Labor Cost performance
Ensure schedules reflect volume, production needs, appointments, and business demand
Identify overstaffing and understaffing early
Challenge unnecessary labor and additional hours
Monitor overtime and staffing efficiency
Anticipate seasonal labor needs
Understand the connection between revenue, volume, productivity, staffing, and labor cost
Partner with Recruiting on current and future staffing needs
Ensure existing talent is being effectively utilized before adding labor
Adjust staffing plans when business performance changes
Coach and develop Shop Experience Managers into strong, independent owners of their studios.
Set clear expectations and accountability
Conduct regular 1:1s, performance conversations, business reviews, and development planning
Hold managers accountable for their studio's performance and commitments
Help managers understand the connection between their decisions and business results
Coach rather than automatically solving problems for them
Give timely, direct, fact-based feedback
Identify strengths, development opportunities, and high-potential talent
Build individualized development plans
Recognize and retain high-performing leaders
Address underperformance with urgency and consistency
Build a strong leadership bench and develop future Store Managers and Studio Area Managers
Serve as the leadership partner and tie-breaker between the Shop Experience Manager and TSM.
Ensure both leaders understand and respect their respective areas of ownership
Create alignment between client experience, operational needs, production, and craftsmanship
Ensure the two leaders operate as one leadership team
Resolve ownership or priority conflicts quickly
Coach both leaders on communication, collaboration, accountability, and conflict resolution
Identify recurring partnership issues and address the underlying cause
Step in when leadership alignment breaks down
Make the final call when a decision cannot be resolved at the studio level
Own district-level client experience performance while maintaining clear studio-level ownership with the Shop Experience Manager.
Drive district NPS toward the company target of 70
Monitor resolution, retention, returning-client share, client issues, and other key indicators
Identify patterns across studios
Coach managers on opportunities to improve the client journey
Review significant escalations and support managers when additional leadership is required
Ensure client issues are resolved in a timely, professional manner
Identify operational causes behind repeated client issues
Share successful practices across the district
Ensure recurring issues do not become systemic problems
Own district-level visibility and accountability around quality in partnership with TSM leadership.
Monitor RFA and QC trends
Identify recurring defects or operational breakdowns
Partner with TSMs to understand root causes
Ensure corrective action plans are established and followed through
Identify upstream issues contributing to recurring quality problems
Track progress and escalate systemic issues when necessary
Ensure QC standards are consistently followed
Protect craftsmanship while balancing productivity and client expectations
Lead teams through change, including company priorities, operational processes, technology, leadership structure, staffing, performance expectations, policies, training, and new studio openings or transitions.
Understand the purpose and expected outcome of the change.
Clearly communicate the why.
Translate company direction into specific actions for studio leadership.
Identify resistance, confusion, or execution gaps.
Coach leaders through transitions.
Follow up to ensure adoption.
Surface relevant field feedback to senior leadership.
Hold teams accountable for moving forward once direction has been established.
Maintain a strong and intentional presence across assigned studios.
Conduct meaningful studio visits focused on performance, coaching, and leadership development.
Understand each studio beyond what is visible through reporting.
Identify operational or leadership issues through direct observation.
Determine where your physical presence will have the greatest impact.
Support studios through transitions, staffing challenges, performance improvement, and significant business changes.
Partner with Central Office teams to solve recurring field challenges.
Operate beyond the needs of one individual studio and identify patterns across the district.
Identify root causes rather than treating symptoms.
Distinguish isolated issues from systemic problems.
Prioritize the issues with the greatest business impact.
Develop practical, measurable solutions.
Test and adjust approaches when necessary.
Escalate appropriately without simply passing problems upward.
Bring recommendations — not only problems — to senior leadership.
Replicate successful practices across studios.