---
title: 'General Manager, The Mindful Café at Arootah'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/general-manager-the-mindful-cafe-arootah-ramsey-kx6b8etbcfby'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# General Manager, The Mindful Café at Arootah

- **Company:** Arootah
- **Location:** Ramsey, NJ
- **Compensation:** $61k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/arootah/2a875f6a-c1d9-4d3c-be0f-64b3195824c1

## Job description

General Manager, The Mindful Café

## About The Mindful Café

The Mindful Café is an independent organic café offering thoughtfully prepared food, specialty coffee and tea, smoothies, baked goods, catering and private events. We combine high-quality ingredients and personal service with the warmth of a neighborhood café. We are seeking an experienced, hands-on General Manager to lead daily operations, develop our team, strengthen our coffee and beverage program, improve operating systems and help move the café toward sustainable profitability. This is not simply a shift-management position. We are looking for an experienced operator who understands both hospitality and the business of running a successful café.

What Success Looks Like The General Manager will be responsible for five primary outcomes: Improve financial performance and move the café toward profitability. Deliver an exceptional customer experience, with coffee and beverages as a core part of the café. Build, train and lead a strong, accountable team. Create reliable systems so daily operations do not require constant owner involvement. Make the café increasingly efficient, consistent and repeatable while preserving its neighborhood character.

## Key Responsibilities

Business Performance & Profitability

A major objective of this position is to materially improve the financial performance of the café.

Working with the owner and chef, the General Manager will:

- Monitor sales, labor costs, food and beverage costs, inventory, waste, spoilage and portion consistency.
- Understand which menu items and beverages sell well and contribute appropriately to margins.
- Identify opportunities to grow revenue, customer frequency and average transaction size.
- Improve scheduling and labor efficiency without compromising service.
- Recommend appropriate pricing, menu, portion, product or operational improvements for owner approval.
- Help grow catering, private events and other appropriate revenue opportunities.
- Track agreed operating and financial measures and regularly communicate results and action plans to the owner.

The General Manager will not be expected to single-handedly guarantee profitability, but will be expected to take ownership of the financial and operational factors within their control and demonstrate measurable improvement.

Coffee & Beverage Excellence

Coffee and beverages are an important part of The Mindful Café experience.

The General Manager should have meaningful coffee-shop or specialty-beverage experience and be able to develop a high-performing beverage operation.

Responsibilities include:

- Maintaining consistent preparation of espresso drinks, coffee, matcha, chai and other hot and iced beverages.
- Ensuring proper milk steaming, drink construction, presentation and speed of service.
- Training and coaching employees on beverage preparation and bar workflow.
- Maintaining cleanliness and proper care of coffee equipment.
- Monitoring beverage inventory, waste, pricing and profitability.
- Continuously improving beverage quality and consistency.

Strong barista skills are highly preferred. A candidate who is not already highly proficient must have the ability and commitment to become fully trained.

Operations & Systems

The General Manager will oversee day-to-day café operations and create the systems needed for consistent execution.

This includes:

- Staffing and scheduling within approved labor budgets.
- Opening, closing, cleaning, preparation and service procedures.
- Inventory, ordering and routine vendor management.
- POS and cash-control procedures.
- Food safety, sanitation and allergy/cross-contact protocols.
- Customer complaints and service recovery.
- Catering and private-event execution.
- Building and improving practical SOPs, checklists and training systems.

The manager should continuously ask: What can we improve, simplify, standardize or do more efficiently?

## Team Leadership

This is a hands-on leadership role. The General Manager must be willing to make food, prepare beverages, take orders, serve customers, clean, restock and work alongside the team when needed.

We want a leader who combines high standards with kindness and respect.

The manager will:

- Train, coach and develop employees.
- Set clear expectations and hold people accountable.
- Address performance problems promptly and professionally.
- Resolve employee conflicts fairly and calmly.
- Cross-train employees and develop stronger team members into future leaders.
- Build a culture of hospitality, teamwork, initiative and responsibility.

Routine issues should be handled independently. The manager should also have the judgment to recognize when owner involvement is appropriate.

## Experience & Qualifications

We are looking for someone with a proven track record, not simply someone ready for their first management opportunity.

Required:

- Approximately 5+ years of restaurant, café, fast-casual or comparable food-service experience, including at least 3 years in a meaningful management role.
- Demonstrated responsibility for employees and daily operations.
- Experience scheduling labor, managing inventory and ordering, training employees and enforcing procedures.
- Working knowledge of food costs, labor costs, waste control, margins and restaurant/café profitability.
- Strong customer-service and hospitality experience.
- Food-safety knowledge and appropriate certification, or willingness to obtain certification promptly.
- Strong communication, judgment, organization, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills.
- Willingness to work hands-on in every front-of-house position.

Especially valuable experience:

- Specialty coffee or high-volume café operations.
- Organic or health-conscious food concepts.
- Well-run fast-casual, quick-service, franchise or multi-unit restaurant environments.
- Improving an underperforming operation.
- Building SOPs and repeatable operating systems.
- Catering, private events and delivery platforms.
- Menu analysis and improving restaurant or café margins.

Working With the Chef & Owner

The General Manager and Chef are peer leaders with complementary responsibilities. The Chef leads culinary preparation and kitchen execution; the General Manager leads overall daily operations, front-of-house performance, staffing, customer experience, systems and business performance.

The General Manager will have meaningful authority over routine daily operations. Major employment decisions, compensation, significant purchases, pricing, major menu changes, policies and overall business direction remain subject to owner approval.

How to Apply Please submit your résumé and briefly describe: The food-service operations you have managed. The size of the teams you have supervised. Your coffee/café experience. An example of how you improved the financial or operational performance of a restaurant, café or similar business. Professional references will be requested.

## About Arootah

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Arootah is a peak-performance advisory firm at the intersection of finance, technology, and wellness, providing executive coaching, business consulting, and talent solutions to alternative investment firms and financial executives.
- **Entity Type**: Private (bootstrapped/self-funded; no public funding rounds disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: New York, NY, USA (remote-first operations)
- **Founded**: Year not publicly disclosed
- **Founders**: Rich Bello (Founder & CEO) — previously COO of Blue Ridge Capital, a $10B hedge fund he helped scale; earlier roles at Morgan Stanley and EY

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Alternative investments (hedge funds, private equity, family offices), executive coaching, talent acquisition/development, business consulting, wellness optimization
- **Target customers**: B2B — hedge funds, private equity firms, family offices, and their service providers; also individual C-suite executives and high-growth companies
- **Mission/purpose**: "Empower companies, executives, and individuals to maximize their full potential" by applying hedge-fund-proven strategies to raise standards, overcome challenges, and achieve results ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))

## Products & Services
- **Talent Solutions (Talent Acquisition)**: Institutional-grade, senior-level recruiting across investment and non-investment roles for alternative investment firms. Supports contingent, retained, and outsourced recruiting models and covers 18 core disciplines including operations, finance, compliance, investor relations, technology, and business development ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Talent Development**: Executive and team coaching, leadership training, and performance effectiveness programs aimed at measurable improvements in decision-making, collaboration, and execution ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Fractional Expertise / Consulting**: Senior experts placed within firms across 18 functional disciplines on a scoped-engagement basis — senior judgment without the cost of permanent hires ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Professional Coaching**: One-on-one and team coaching for financial executives and their teams to achieve peak performance ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/))
- **Business Consulting**: Pragmatic strategies to stimulate growth, inspire peak performance, and strengthen accountability ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/))
- **Wellness Optimization**: A virtual suite of wellness resources plus a physical Arootah Wellness Headquarters in NYC featuring an organic restaurant, spa, apothecary, elixir bar, bookshop, and boutique ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **App & Software Development**: Internal development of digital tools to support the wellness and coaching offerings ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding — not publicly available; notable scale signal: network of **700+ advisors and consultants** across functional areas ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/))
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No external investors disclosed. Leadership pedigree is the primary credibility signal — Founder Rich Bello scaled Blue Ridge Capital to $10B AUM; President & COO E. Kurt Kim built and operated a multi-strategy credit hedge fund complex and exited a fintech platform; Head of Talent Solutions Chris Lillis previously held leadership roles at Jackson Lucas, PJT Partners, Two Sigma, and UBS ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/))
- **Growth Signals**: Active hiring across multiple roles (COO — Alternative Investments, Director of Investment Operations, Quantitative Researcher, Tax Compliance Manager, Investment Analyst) posted on Lever ([jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/arootah/)); expansion of Talent Solutions practice into a full Talent Spectrum model (acquisition + development + fractional leadership); investment in a physical wellness headquarters in NYC; AI-assisted recruiting pipeline signals scaling operations ([jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/arootah/))

## Competitive Advantages
- **Hedge-fund-native playbook**: Strategies are distilled from the hedge fund industry and extrapolated to any client — a differentiated approach vs. generic consulting firms ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **Fractional senior talent model**: Clients get seasoned expertise across 18 disciplines at engagement-level scope, without permanent-hire cost — a flexible alternative to full-time hires ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Talent spectrum under one roof**: Recruiting, development, and fractional placement are integrated, aligning human capital with strategy end-to-end ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Founder credibility**: Rich Bello's track record building a top-tier $10B hedge fund gives instant trust in alternative investment circles ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/))
- **Differentiated wellness angle**: A physical wellness headquarters and virtual wellness resources create a unique finance-tech-wellness intersection unlikely to be replicated by pure-play consulting firms ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the Talent Solutions practice**: Building out institutional-grade hiring, talent development, and fractional leadership offerings as the flagship growth engine ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/))
- **Expanding the advisory footprint**: Leveraging the 700+ advisor network to serve more hedge funds, private equity firms, family offices, and service providers ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/))
- **Vertical integration of services**: Deepening the connection between talent acquisition, executive coaching, business consulting, and wellness optimization to create a full-spectrum client offering ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **Building out the wellness product suite**: Developing the virtual wellness platform and growing the NYC physical wellness hub ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))

## Why Work Here
- **Remote-first culture**: Headquartered in NYC but operates remotely with flexible WFH positions "without sacrificing constructive collaboration" ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **Professional development**: Strong emphasis on goal setting, accountability, and results-driven formulas for both clients and employees; the firm actively supports and encourages professional growth ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **In-house wellness perks**: Free fitness programming, educational content, tracking apps, and group fitness classes for team members ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **Mission-driven environment**: The company seeks people who are "energetic, respectful, reliable, authentic, driven by progress, disciplined, and passionate" — a culture built around peak performance and accountability ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/careers/))
- **High-caliber network**: Opportunity to work alongside a team with deep alternative investment pedigree (Two Sigma, PJT Partners, UBS, Blue Ridge Capital, Morgan Stanley, EY) and alongside 700+ advisors ([arootah.com](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/))
- **AI-enhanced hiring process**: Uses AI tools to support recruiting (resume review, verification signals), but final decisions are made by humans — a signal of an innovation-forward people team ([jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/arootah/))

## Sources
1. [arootah.com — Careers](https://arootah.com/careers/)
2. [arootah.com — Talent Solutions](https://arootah.com/)
3. [jobs.lever.co — Arootah](https://jobs.lever.co/arootah/)
4. [arootah.com — About](https://arootah.com/about/)
5. [arootah.com — Meet the Team](https://arootah.com/about/meet-the-team/)

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