Operations Manager

Operations Manager

Rainbow Gardens | San Antonio, TX

Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Department: Garden Center Operations

Reports To: CEO

About the Position

Rainbow Gardens is seeking an experienced, hands-on Operations Manager to lead the daily operations of our high-volume retail garden center in San Antonio, Texas.

As the senior leader responsible for day-to-day operations, the Operations Manager ensures our garden center operates safely, efficiently, and consistently while delivering an exceptional customer experience.

This position requires a proactive leader who can balance people management, labor efficiency, operational planning, and customer service. The ideal candidate is highly organized, comfortable working in a fast-paced outdoor retail environment, and passionate about developing people and improving processes.

We are looking for someone who does more than respond to daily challenges. Our ideal Operations Manager anticipates problems, develops practical solutions, builds accountability, and creates systems that help the entire team succeed.

Key Responsibilities/Daily Operations & Floor Leadership

• Oversee daily garden center operations, ensuring the property is clean, safe, organized, properly staffed, and ready to serve customers.
• Maintain a visible leadership presence throughout the store, yard, greenhouse, warehouse, and receiving areas.
• Establish clear daily priorities, coordinate work across departments, and ensure timely execution of operational tasks.
• Oversee opening, closing, and manager-on-duty procedures.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and proactively resolve problems before they disrupt customer service or productivity.

Labor Management & Workforce Planning

• Develop and manage employee schedules, staffing plans, and labor deployment across store, yard, cashier, customer service, and receiving teams.
• Manage labor expenses within established company budgets while maintaining service and operational standards.
• Anticipate seasonal staffing needs, particularly during high-volume spring months.
• Adjust labor allocation based on customer traffic, receiving schedules, operational workload, and business priorities.
• Oversee employee timekeeping, attendance, scheduling compliance, and labor reporting.

Team Leadership & Employee Development

• Directly manage and develop supervisors, team leaders, and operational staff.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable for customer service, productivity, safety, and operational standards.
• Provide coaching, performance feedback, and disciplinary guidance in accordance with company procedures.
• Develop operational training programs and consistent work standards.
• Build a strong internal leadership team capable of independently managing daily responsibilities.
• Foster a positive, professional culture centered on communication, teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and personal growth.

Customer Service & Sales

Support

• Ensure customers consistently receive prompt, friendly, knowledgeable, and professional service.
• Maintain appropriate staffing and floor coverage to support customer assistance, carry-out, loading, and checkout needs.
• Train and reinforce customer service expectations across operational teams.
• Support sales performance through excellent store readiness, efficient service, and a well-organized shopping environment.
• Work with store leadership to improve service response times and resolve operational customer concerns.

Process Improvement & Operational Efficiency

• Continuously evaluate operating procedures to identify opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and consistency.
• Develop practical, repeatable systems for daily tasks, communication, receiving, cleanliness, safety, and customer service.
• Reduce workflow bottlenecks, unnecessary labor, operational confusion, and recurring problems.
• Establish measurable performance standards and follow-up processes.
• Lead operational improvements that strengthen employee effectiveness and customer experience.

Receiving, Inventory Flow & Product Execution

• Oversee receiving operations, including unloading, product verification, staging, stocking, and backstock organization.
• Ensure accurate, efficient receiving processes and timely movement of merchandise to the sales floor.
• Coordinate with the Product Manager and buying team to support merchandising, seasonal transitions, product care, and inventory-related priorities.
• Ensure operational labor and resources are appropriately allocated to watering, plant maintenance, stocking, and merchandising execution.

Facilities, Equipment & Safety

• Maintain high cleanliness and property standards throughout the garden center, including customer-facing areas, workspaces, parking lots, restrooms, and storage areas.
• Identify, prioritize, coordinate, and follow up on facility repairs and maintenance needs.
• Develop preventive maintenance routines for tools, equipment, and operational infrastructure.
• Oversee workplace safety practices, employee safety training, incident reporting, and hazard prevention.
• Ensure operational compliance with applicable safety policies, procedures, and workplace regulations.

Communication & Business Accountability

• Collaborate closely with the CEO, Product Manager, HR, accounting, marketing, and department leaders to align operational execution with company priorities.
• Communicate staffing needs, operational challenges, resource constraints, and improvement opportunities.
• Monitor and report on labor productivity, customer service, receiving efficiency, safety, store readiness, and operational performance.
• Translate company goals into clear, actionable plans for frontline employees.
• Take ownership of operational results and ensure consistent follow-through on commitments.

What We're Looking For

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Proactive leadership: The ability to anticipate challenges, plan ahead, and prevent recurring operational problems.
• Strong people management: Experience leading teams, coaching employees, developing supervisors, and maintaining accountability.
• Operational discipline: Excellent organizational, scheduling, prioritization, and follow-through skills.
• Financial awareness: An understanding of labor budgeting, workforce productivity, and the relationship between operational efficiency and profitability.
• Customer-first mindset: A commitment to exceptional service and a positive retail shopping experience.
• Continuous improvement: A demonstrated ability to evaluate workflows, introduce better systems, and lead operational change.
• Effective communication: The ability to coordinate across departments, resolve conflicts, and clearly communicate expectations.
• Hands-on leadership: A willingness to work alongside employees, maintain a strong floor presence, and lead by example.
• Adaptability: Comfort working in an outdoor retail environment with seasonal demand, changing priorities, and periods of high customer traffic.

Work Environment

This is an active, hands-on management position requiring regular presence throughout the garden center, including outdoor sales areas, greenhouses, receiving areas, and other operational spaces.

Candidates must be comfortable working in a dynamic retail environment with seasonal fluctuations, outdoor weather conditions, and physically active responsibilities.

Scheduling flexibility is important, particularly during peak spring business periods, weekends, and major seasonal transitions.

Why This Role Matters

The Operations Manager plays a critical role in shaping the future of Rainbow Gardens.

We are building a more structured, efficient, and accountable organization while preserving the service, teamwork, and passion for gardening that define our business.

This is an opportunity for a strong operational leader to make a meaningful impact by developing people, improving systems, strengthening customer service, and creating a workplace where employees can succeed.

Our goal is simple

Build an outstanding team that consistently delivers an exceptional garden center experience.

Pay: $55,000.00 - $72,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Work Location: In person