Program Lead – Sushi & Beverage

Location: Southern California, CA
Employment Type: Full-Time
Compensation: $90,000–$100,000 base salary, plus performance bonus
Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package
Travel: Regional travel required; candidates open to travel are strongly preferred
Reporting To: Head of Food Department

Position Overview

Our client, a prominent multi-location multicultural grocery retailer, they are seeking an entrepreneurial and hands-on Program Lead – Sushi & Beverage to build, standardize, and scale its sushi and beverage programs across multiple retail locations.

This role will operate in a fast-paced, early-stage environment and will be responsible for developing the programs from approximately 1 to 10 locations, including product development, store operations, team building, vendor management, compliance, training, inventory, labor management, and overall category performance.

The ideal candidate has experience working for a sushi chain, beverage or tea brand, Asian supermarket, grocery retailer, prepared-food operator, or multi-location foodservice business. This person should be comfortable building programs from the ground up, creating SOPs, training store teams, and eventually supporting new store openings and broader regional expansion.

Key ResponsibilitiesProgram Development and Expansion

Build and scale the sushi and beverage programs from the early stage into standardized, multi-location operations.
Develop short-term and long-term growth strategies for both categories.
Support the launch of new locations, counters, kiosks, and in-store concepts.
Identify opportunities to improve product assortment, customer experience, sales performance, and profitability.
Create scalable operating models that can be replicated across existing and future stores.

Product and Category Management

Lead product development, menu planning, assortment optimization, and product standardization.
Develop and maintain consistent recipes, product specifications, quality standards, packaging, presentation, and pricing guidelines.
Monitor category sales, margin, waste, labor cost, inventory turnover, and overall financial performance.
Manage the category P&L and recommend operational improvements based on performance data.
Stay informed about sushi, Asian beverage, tea, prepared-food, and consumer retail trends.

Store Operations

Oversee day-to-day operational standards across multiple retail locations.
Partner with store leadership to improve execution, food quality, service, merchandising, and customer satisfaction.
Establish standards for food preparation, production planning, inventory control, labor scheduling, sanitation, and waste reduction.
Conduct regular store visits and operational audits.
Troubleshoot store-level issues and implement corrective action plans.

SOP and Compliance

Develop and implement SOPs, training materials, operating manuals, and quality-control procedures.
Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, labeling, allergen, health department, and company requirements.
Maintain consistent execution across locations.
Partner with internal teams to address regulatory, operational, and food-safety risks.

Team Building and Training

Recruit, train, develop, and manage sushi chefs, beverage staff, store associates, supervisors, and apprentices.
Build structured training and apprenticeship programs.
Develop future team leads and store-level operators.
Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching and feedback.
Create a high-accountability, customer-focused, and fast-paced team culture.

Vendor and Supply Chain Management

Source, evaluate, and manage ingredient, equipment, packaging, and service vendors.
Negotiate pricing, service levels, product specifications, and supply agreements.
Ensure ingredient quality, supply consistency, and cost control.
Partner with procurement, distribution, food production, and store operations teams.
Monitor vendor performance and resolve supply or quality issues.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Work closely with food department leadership, store operations, HR, finance, procurement, marketing, food safety, and executive leadership.
Provide regular updates regarding program performance, expansion plans, risks, and operational needs.
Support hiring decisions and participate in building the broader program team.
Present recommendations and business plans to senior leadership.

Qualifications

Minimum of 5 years of experience in grocery retail, supermarket operations, prepared foods, sushi, beverage, tea, restaurant operations, or another relevant multi-unit food business.
Strong hands-on experience with sushi operations, prepared foods, beverage programs, or Asian food retail.
Previous experience with a sushi chain, tea or beverage brand, Japanese supermarket, Korean supermarket, Asian grocery retailer, or multi-location foodservice company is strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience scaling a concept, category, or operational program across multiple locations.
Strong knowledge of food operations, labor management, inventory management, food cost, waste control, and category performance.
Experience managing vendors, suppliers, contracts, and product specifications.
Ability to develop SOPs, training programs, product standards, and compliance processes.
Experience recruiting, training, and developing store-level teams and apprentices.
Strong understanding of food safety, sanitation, and retail food compliance.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and rapidly changing environment.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and project-management skills.
Ability to work independently while collaborating across departments.
Willingness to travel regularly throughout Southern California and to future locations.
Fluent English is required.
Mandarin as preferred

#DIRH

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

Work Location: In person

Comrise, Inc.

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