Culinary Innovation Lab Ops Lead

Tropical Smoothie Cafe; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Part time

Job summary

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is seeking an Innovation Lab Manager to oversee the Innovation Lab in Atlanta, ensuring a clean, stocked, and compliant workspace for culinary development and testing. This contract role collaborates closely with Culinary, QA, and Operations teams to support sample intake, invoicing, and day-to-day needs.

The ideal candidate has 2+ years in kitchen operations, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with Microsoft Office, with a passion for culinary innovation and a

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Associate degree, culinary certification, or related coursework preferred.
• 2+ years of experience in kitchen operations or related environments.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a clean, organized Innovation Lab and working spaces.
• Manage inventory and stock levels of ingredients, supplies, and smallwares.
• Receive, label, organize, and record ingredient and supplier samples.
• Process invoice submission, tracking, and recordkeeping.
• Support lab setup for product development, tastings, and tests.
• Coordinate maintenance and repair requests with Facilities Manager.
• Ensure sanitation standards and a safe working environment.

Skills

Inventory management

Kitchen operations

Culinary support

Microsoft Office

Education

High school diploma

Associate degree / culinary cert

Tools

Microsoft Excel / Outlook / Teams

Job description

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is seeking an Innovation Lab Manager to oversee the Innovation Lab in Atlanta, ensuring a clean, stocked, and compliant workspace for culinary development and testing. This contract role collaborates closely with Culinary, QA, and Operations teams to support sample intake, invoicing, and day-to-day needs.

The ideal candidate has 2+ years in kitchen operations, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with Microsoft Office, with a passion for culinary innovation and a