General Manager — Aditi Chai
Location: Pike Place Market! 1500A Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101 (plus commissary kitchen)
Reports to: Founder & Chef / Co-Owner
Schedule: Full-time. Business operates six days per week (closed Tuesdays). Weekend presence required.
About Us
Aditi Chai is Seattle’s authentic Indian masala chai and Bombay street food company. Founded in 2018 by Dr. Aditi Master, we handcraft small batches of chai using a hundred-year-old, multi-generational family recipe — estate-grown Assamese black tea, locally grown farm-fresh lemongrass, ginger, and mint, and whole spices sourced from farmer-centric cooperatives.
We opened our Pike Place Market storefront after nearly two years of work with the Market Historical Commission. We serve vada pav, bhel, nankhatai, khaman dhokla, and masala chai the way they exist on Bombay streets. We are woman-owned and Seattle Made certified.
We operate on a single principle: Atithi Devo Bhava — treat the guest as if they are divine.
The Role
We are hiring our first General Manager. This is a newly created position, and it exists for a specific reason: our founder currently runs both the kitchen and the entire operation, and she needs to return her time to recipe development, product quality, and our guests.
You will take ownership of everything that makes the business run day to day — the Pike Place storefront, the commissary kitchen, the team, inventory, scheduling, ordering, compliance, and wholesale fulfillment. You will not be handed a management layer beneath you. You will build one.
This is a hands-on role. On a busy Saturday you will be on the line, on the register, and on the floor. On a Wednesday morning you will be counting inventory and building next week’s schedule. If you want a role where you manage from an office, this is not it.
What You Will Own
Operations
- Deliver exceptional customer service by creating positive, engaging customer experiences
- Daily open and close standards across both locations
- Production planning and par levels for the commissary
- Inventory control, ordering, receiving, and waste tracking
- Vendor relationships and reorder cadence
- Equipment maintenance schedules and service coordination
- Fulfillment of wholesale orders and delivery logistics
People
- Direct management of six team members (three full-time, three part-time)
- Scheduling and labor cost management
- Building and training a shift-lead layer so that both locations run without you present
- Onboarding, training to standard, and day-to-day coaching
- Recruiting and interviewing for line and prep roles
Compliance & Safety
- King County food safety compliance and inspection readiness
- Washington State TCS holding and temperature protocols
- Seattle labor law compliance — meal and rest breaks, sick leave, scheduling requirements
- Health department documentation and logs
Systems
- Square POS, Rippling (payroll/HR), Slack (all operational communication)
- Daily and weekly operational reporting to ownership
Decision Authority
You will have real authority from day one within defined limits:
- Purchasing: Independent authority up to $1,500 per order for food, packaging, and supplies against approved par levels. Above that, ownership approval.
- Hiring: Full authority to recruit, interview, and hire line and prep staff within an approved headcount and wage band.
- Scheduling: Complete autonomy over staff scheduling and labor deployment within budget.
- Vendors: Authority to manage existing vendor relationships and negotiate within approved terms. New vendor relationships require approval.
- Operational standards: Authority to set and enforce open/close procedures, cleaning schedules, prep sequences, and station standards.
What You Will Not Own
We want to be direct about this, because it defines the job.
Recipes, menu composition, and product development belong to our founder and chef. She sets the standard for what every dish tastes like, and she will remain the face of the brand and present with guests. Menu pricing, capital purchases, terminations, and brand direction are ownership decisions.
Your job is to execute her standard flawlessly and to run everything around it.
What We’re Looking For
Required
- Three or more years managing a high-volume restaurant, cafe, or food service operation
- Demonstrated ownership of inventory control and par level systems — you should be able to walk us through a system you built or ran
- Strong food safety record and working knowledge of health department requirements
- Ability to work the line as a contributor, not only supervise it
- Meticulous attention to detail. This role involves tracking many small things at once, and the person who succeeds here is the one who does not let them drop.
- Comfort in a small business. Six employees, two owners, no corporate support structure. You will fix the problem yourself.
- Availability across a six-day operating week including weekends
- Washington State Food Worker Card (or ability to obtain before start)
Helpful but not required
- Experience with Square POS, Rippling, or Slack — we will train
- Familiarity with Indian or South Asian cuisine
- Experience with wholesale or production kitchen operations
- Experience opening or scaling a small food business
- We do not require prior experience with Indian food. We require someone who will learn our standard exactly and hold the team to it.
Compensation & Benefits
- $85,000–$95,000 annually, depending on experience
- Performance bonus tied to profitable operation
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Paid time off
Pay: $85,000.00 - $95,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Paid training
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Do you have three or more years managing a high-volume restaurant, cafe, or food service operation?
- Do you possess a strong food safety record and working knowledge of health department requirements?
- Do you have prior demonstrated ownership of inventory control and par level systems?
Ability to Commute:
- Seattle, WA 98101 (Required)
Work Location: In person
