Director of Retail

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title:  Director of Retail
Hours:     40 hours/ week, including evenings, weekends and holidays
Department:  Retail
Report to:    COO
Wage:   Salary, starting at $115k/year

Director of Retail

About Us
Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate company based 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 Director of Retail to lead our growing café and retail operations. 

About the Job
Heading into 2026, your success will be measured on three strategic priorities: 1) position Dandelion as the premier destination for craft chocolate (e.g. retail training, strategic merchandising, sampling program, etc), 2) streamline operations so that our in-store experiences reflect the thoughtfulness and care in our products (e.g. hospitality training, product knowledge, consistent café service, cleanliness, checklists), and 3) cultivate a performative team aligned with the organization that can continue to scale to Dandelion’s growth and with a potential bench for future leadership (e.g. achieving sales and contribution budgets, managing labor budgets, developing career opportunities, implementing ongoing education /training).

Specifically, this role is responsible for operating the West Coast operations (e.g. SF and  Las Vegas), but not Japan. In the future, if we open in other states or countries, we’ll work together to figure out the right structure to manage those areas. In addition, this role is not tasked with designing and building new locations or pop-ups, but will be responsible for their daily operations within their region. This full-time, salary exempt position starts at $115,000 annually. 

A Day in the Life
As the Director of Retail, no two days will be the same, and we are especially excited about candidates who find energy from a role with variety. Your morning may start by meeting with our Product Managers to go over our new product roll-out process before reviewing the end-of-quarter financial reports with the finance and leadership teams. You get a calendar reminder to schedule a holiday planning meeting -- the holidays will be here before you know it! Luckily, your retail holiday playbook will make this year the smoothest season yet. After lunch, you sit down with your retail managers to discuss changes to our training and leveling programs. You would like to implement more concrete hospitality standards into our new hire training program so you solicit their ideas and input. After your meeting, you head over to the Valencia Street Café to interview a potential new Assistant Manager candidate. As the interview wraps up, you get a call from our Operations Team about a new product launch that has gotten pushed up. As you reconfigure the timeline and make a note to notify your managers, you end your day by sending out your weekly status report to the team, ready to do it all over again tomorrow. 

About You 
You are an operations-minded planner and people person with a high EQ. You are equally comfortable creating robust reports in a spreadsheet as you are developing merchandising guidelines to help our products look their best on the shelves. Your been-there-done-that experience provides guidance and mentorship to our retail teams, and your unflappable zen keeps your teams focused and motivated even on the busiest and most stressful days. Ideally you have worked in a retail leadership role before and understand the importance of warm hospitality and consistently made drinks. This is not a desk job -- our ideal candidate is operational, hands-on, and someone the team can rely on to get the things done.

Responsibilities

• Lead Retail Operations -- Lead and expand upon our retail operations including hiring, building out scalable training and leveling programs, visual merchandising, inventory management, and instilling world-class hospitality standards.
• Guest Happiness -- Develop systems and training protocols designed to reinforce and improve our hospitality and retail service standards. Ensure that guests feel welcome and part of the story of craft chocolate and Dandelion’s place in the industry, constantly striving to raise the bar for guest service.
• Financial Monitoring --  Track and hit revenue goals, labor costs, and contribution targets, while maintaining positive reviews and a happy team with appropriate retention rates. 
• Standardize Operations and Procedures -- Create systems and processes to ensure that each café is operating at its best, even when management is not present. Whether a guest walks into our Las Vegas café or our Ferry Building shop, your behind-the-scenes work ensures that they will receive the same level of warm hospitality and the same perfectly made hot chocolate. 
• Develop Training and Leveling Programs -- Use feedback and company input to develop and roll out effective and comprehensive training programs for all new team members.
• Team Management and Health -- Retention, being available for first-line managers, fostering a sense of high EQ belonging within cafes. Have clear advancement paths and plans for retail staff.
• Merchandising Optimization -- Create playbooks and guidelines for merchandising that can be adapted for each location’s specific needs. 
• Inventory Management & Forecasting -- Help build revenue targets and scenarios, labor forecasts, and capex/opex plans.
• Visit locations -- This is a hands-on role: regularly visit and check in on assigned locations in order to identify issues early, coach in real time, and foster a strong, consistent retail culture.
• Optimize existing business & day-to-day operations --  Continually improve and standardize systems to build a strong foundation for continued future expansion.
• Internal Communication -- Your weekly reports to the leadership team keep everyone updated on current trends, forecasts, and any potential bumps in the road. You meet regularly with each retail manager to stay informed about the inner workings of their teams. 
• Other tasks as necessary

Requirements 

• People Management -- You have managed teams before and know how to coach, motivate, and strengthen Managers, Leads, and Associates as retail operators and business owners.
• Schedule and Availability -- Our stores are open 7 days per week and most holidays, so some nonstandard working hours will be required such as evenings, weekends and holidays.
• Café and/or Retail Know-how -- You have an excellent understanding of how premium retail outlets and/or cafes operate with 3+ years of experience in a management role. Whether it’s a new way to merchandise a product or a more holistic approach to training, you are always looking for ways to raise the bar. 
• Tech Skills -- You have no problem learning new systems, can easily understand sales data in Square, and can create a revenue forecast spreadsheet. You’re very familiar with Google Suite and can use VLOOKUP/INDEX/MATCH in your sleep. 
• Financial Acumen -- While you don’t have to have a degree in Accounting, you understand the basics and can work seamlessly with our finance team to create revenue forecasts and labor plans that adjust to the seasonal nature of our business.  
• Soft Skills -- Our culture is a positive, can-do, servant-oriented culture that takes active listening to an entirely new level. You can eloquently distill and communicate complex topics broadly to the exec team, individual team members, and everyone in-between.

Benefits
The benefits and perks continue beyond a robust chocolate education. Dandelion Chocolate invests in our people and culture. Team members receive medical, vision, and dental benefits as well as the option to enroll in our 401k program, and paid sick time. This role is eligible for untracked PTO. In addition, our team members enjoy commuter benefits, FSA, chocolate tasting opportunities, and a range of opportunities to grow and develop within the company.

How to Apply
If you are interested in applying, please email your resume and a cover letter to View email address on ziprecruiter.com. In your cover letter, please include a couple of sentences about the best team you’ve worked with and why it worked so well. 

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