General Manager

About nutbar  

nutbar is a superfood café and smoothie bar built for life on the go. We obsess over every ingredient, sourcing 100% organic and local whenever we can, to make food and drinks that are as nutrient-dense as they are delicious. Our secret is our luxurious housemade nutmilk, the base of every smoothie, latte and drink we serve. We started with one Toronto café and now have six, with our first U.S. locations on the way. We're growing, and we want the people who grow with us.

The role

You'll open nutbar's first U.S. location and run it as if it were your own. Reporting to our COO and CEO working closely with our marketing team, you'll take a store from build-out to opening day and then to a thriving neighbourhood café. That means hiring and training the full team, setting up the systems, suppliers and routines a new market needs, and owning the store's results once the doors open.

What you'll do

Open nutbar New York

• Lead the opening. Work with the COO on the pre-opening timeline. Take over the space from build-out and get the store from empty room to opening day on schedule.
• Get licensed and inspection-ready. Coordinate health inspections, and make sure the store meets every New York City requirement before opening.
• Build on the supply chain. Onboard U.S. suppliers and service providers, especially organic and local partners, and confirm every ingredient meets nutbar standards.
• Protect the recipe. Work with leadership to make sure our nutmilk, smoothies and menu taste exactly as they do in Toronto, using U.S. ingredients and equipment.
• Build the systems. Set up POS, scheduling, inventory, ordering, cash management and delivery-app accounts for the U.S. business. Document everything as you go.
• Launch with marketing. Work with our marketing team on pre-opening activations, soft opening, opening day and the first months of neighbourhood growth.

Run the numbers

• Own your store's results. Take responsibility for the P&L, including revenue, gross margin, cost of goods, food and packaging cost, labour, and controllable expenses against budget. Know your numbers daily and act on them.
• Drive sales. Grow average check, transaction volume and product mix through coaching, merchandising, catering and local partnerships.
• Schedule smart. Build schedules that match staffing to traffic, protect the guest experience, and stay within your labour target.
• Control inventory and waste. Set pars, oversee ordering, receiving, counts and rotation, and keep inventory variance and waste tight.
• Report and adjust. Review weekly and monthly results, flag variances early, and bring corrective action plans to the COO.
• Safeguard cash. Oversee cash handling, deposits, POS reconciliation and loss prevention.

Lead the floor and the guest experience

• Be the standard. Work the floor during peak periods across every station. Show the team what excellent service, speed and consistency look like.
• Introduce New York to nutbar. Explain the brand, the menu and our nutmilk with confidence to guests who've never heard of us, and turn first visits into regulars.
• Build a culture of making someone's day. Coach your team to notice the moments when a small, personal gesture turns an ordinary visit into a memorable one, and recognize them when they do.
• Own the guest experience. Resolve feedback and complaints with warmth and good judgment, and recover well enough that the guest leaves happier than they came in.
• Protect your reputation online. Monitor and respond to Google and delivery-app reviews, and keep ratings, menu availability and order accuracy strong from day one.
• Become part of the neighbourhood. Build local partnerships, catering relationships and community ties that make nutbar a Greenwich Village fixture.

Build the team

• Hire the opening team. Recruit, interview and hire every role from scratch, including your Assistant Store Manager, baristas and kitchen team.
• Train to nutbar standards. Run opening training with support from our Toronto team, so every new hire can work every station on day one.
• Coach constantly. Give real-time feedback, hold regular one-on-ones, and run formal performance reviews.
• Have the hard conversations. Address performance and conduct issues promptly, fairly and respectfully, and document them properly.
• Develop leaders. Grow your ASM and team members into the leaders who will help open the next U.S. stores.
• Keep people. Build a store where people want to stay by being fair with schedules, consistent with standards and clear about growth.
• Stay compliant. Make sure the store meets New York City and New York State employment, scheduling, pay and workplace requirements.

Keep the store running

• Hold food standards. Make sure every item is made to recipe, and run regular food and consistency spot checks.
• Own health and safety. Keep the store inspection-ready at all times, and enforce food safety, allergen and cleanliness standards on every shift.
• Maintain the space. Act as the first point of contact for maintenance and service providers, make sure preventative maintenance is never missed, and fix equipment issues quickly.
• Improve continuously. Look for ways to improve speed of service, workflow and productivity, and share what works with the wider company.

Partner with leadership

• Bring strategy to the store. Work closely with the COO and leadership team to turn company goals into store-level execution.
• Communicate clearly. Report on performance, opportunities and risks honestly and early, and bring solutions, not just problems.
• Think like an owner. Keep your commitments on process, budgets and deadlines, and run the store as if it were your own.

Your first 90 days

• Pre-opening: Learn every station, recipe and system, including time training with our Toronto team. Lock in suppliers, permits and systems, hire and train your opening team, and launch with marketing.
• Days 1–30 after opening: Stabilize operations. Hit service and quality standards every day, and fix what the first weeks reveal.
• Days 31–60: Take full ownership of forecasting, scheduling, ordering and reporting. Start regular one-on-ones and set clear expectations.
• Days 61–90: Deliver against your sales and labour targets, document the U.S. playbook, and put a development plan in place for your ASM and leads.

How success is measured

• Financial: revenue vs. budget, gross margin, COGS/food cost, labour %, controllable expenses, store-level profitability
• Operational: inventory variance, waste, speed of service, food quality, cleanliness, health and safety compliance
• Guest: guest satisfaction, complaint recovery, repeat business, new guest growth
• People: retention, training completion, performance management, leadership development, scheduling effectiveness
• Opening: on-time opening, systems and suppliers in place, opening team hired and trained

Your impact

You'll be the person who brings nutbar to New York. Every hire you make, every system you build and every guest you win over sets the standard for what nutbar becomes in the U.S. When this store succeeds, it opens the door to the next one, and the leaders you develop will help run them. This role suits someone who wants to build something, not just inherit it.

What you'll bring

• 4+ years of management experience in a café, restaurant or hospitality setting, ideally high-volume fast-casual or quick-service, including 2+ years running a store as a GM or Store Manager
• Experience opening a new location, or launching a concept in a new market (strongly preferred)
• A track record of owning a store-level P&L and hitting revenue, margin and labour targets
• A strong grasp of gross margin, COGS, labour, inventory, waste and controllable expenses, and comfort using data to make daily decisions
• Experience hiring, training and developing teams from the ground up
• Experience setting up systems and processes where none existed
• Knowledge of New York City food service, health and employment requirements
• Comfort with POS and scheduling systems (Square, Psuch), delivery platforms and spreadsheets
• Calm, clear decision-making under pressure, and an eye for detail that won't compromise on product, cleanliness or guest experience
• A real passion for food, wellness and hospitality
• Availability for varied days and hours, including weekends, with on-call coverage during operating hours
• NYC Food Protection Certificate (required, or obtained before opening)
• Ability to travel to Toronto for up to a month of paid training before opening, with a valid passport and any travel documents required to enter Canada, or the ability to get them before training

What we offer

• $90,000–$100,000/year + performance bonus
• Health, dental and vision benefits
• Discount on nutbar food and retail
• The rare chance to open a brand's first U.S. location and shape how it grows
• A path to Area Manager role(s) as nutbar expands across the U.S.

How to apply

Apply with your resume and answer the screening questions. If your resume moves forward, we'll ask you to record a short video answering a few questions. Our leadership team reviews every video personally. Shortlisted candidates are then invited to interview with the COO.

nutbar is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds to apply. 

Pay: $90,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Application Question(s):

• Are you to travel to Toronto for up to a month of paid training before opening, with a valid passport and any travel documents required to enter Canada, or the ability to get them before training?
• Have you been part of opening a new café, restaurant or store?

Experience:

• Restaurant management: 3 years (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• New York, NY 10011 (Required)
• Work Location: In person