Job description

La Cocina ("The Kitchen") is a nonprofit full-service, shared use commercial kitchen (2200 Sq. feet) and business incubator. The goal of La Cocina is to assist low-income, primarily women, entrepreneurs in becoming economically self-sufficient by providing: (1) a fully approved and equipped commercial kitchen they can use for the development and ongoing preparation of their business; (2) professional food industry technical assistance designed to improve their business operations, market penetration, profit, economic scale and sustainability; and (3) access to new markets.

Position Summary

Oversee and manage the growth of La Cocina's revenue generating retail streams, including our kiosk retail space at the Ferry Plaza, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market sales, our online gift basket program, merchandise sales at all events including the San Francisco Street Food Festival, and our catering program. Discover, determine and implement business opportunities for growth of new ventures and ideas that will generate revenue for both La Cocina and the businesses in our incubator program. The office for this position runs out of the La Cocina kiosk at the Ferry Building.

Essential Functions The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:
• Order all products for retail sales ensure minimal product waste.
• Ensure proper quantities of product and provide transportation of product between storage and store, store and market, storage and events, storage into boxes and then to the mail, etc.
• Manage inventory, sales and sales reporting for all retail locations and events, online sales, and catering.
• Supervise, hire, train and terminate employees for the Retail department.
• Manage staff and volunteers who work in sales outlets or at events. Create and communicate schedules with all employees and volunteers.
• Ensure that anyone (staff or volunteer) who is selling is trained on how to effectively tell La Cocina's story, the story of the business or products they are selling and knows how to keep proper record of sales and inventory.
• Work closely with Marketing and Communications team on outreach campaigns related to sales (ie: during events or for online gift basket sales).
• Maintain marketing presence and messaging for La Cocina businesses through effective storytelling around products and catering.
• Generate new sales through constant outreach to our target market in each sales category.
• Run online gift box sales -- ensure products are effectively showcased online and in marketing materials, push sales, take and fill orders, ensure boxes are shipped and received. In 2011, over the holiday season, we sold about $50,000 of gift boxes. Our goal is to double that number.
• Manage merchandise sales at all events. The San Francisco Street Food Festival brings 70,000 people to the Mission District -- this position manages sale and delivery of passports to the event, and all merchandise (t-shirts, bags, maps, etc) sales on the day of.
• Take catering requests and effectively communicate client expectations and selected menus with participant businesses.
• Communicate with staff and program participants to execute catering events with applicable operating policies and procedures.
• Provide on-site support for catering and other events as needed.
• Communicate kindly and effectively with all staff.
• Ensure all inquiries are addressed in an efficient and customer-service oriented manner with quick turnaround time.
• Attend managerial related meetings and/or trainings as requested.
• Uphold accounts with confidentiality and calculate fees for invoice purposes if applicable.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)
• High School diploma or GED required; 2-4 year college degree in business management or related field a plus.
• 2-4 years relevant work experience in the food industry or retail environment managing sales. Non-profit and staff management experience a plus.
• Familiarity with food systems (culinary) and a general understanding of health and safety protocols for restaurant/food industry.
• Flexible and adaptable in order to maintain a competitive market position. • Basic math skills (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing).
• Familiarity with using software programs including MS Office (MS Word, Excel) and QuickBooks.
• Ability to effectively use a POS system such as TapViva or Square.
• Ability to effectively manage and fill orders through eCommerce sites such as Google Checkout.
• Ability to operate a computer and office equipment.
• Excellent communication skills both in written and verbal format.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Bi-lingual in Spanish a plus.
• Punctual, reliable, organized, and industrious.
• Valid CA Driver's license with clean and safe driving record.

Compensation

this position is:

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline