Head Of Operations Jobs in New Jersey

Job Summary

A Wonderful Time is a new kind of brand, launching October 1, 2026 with a retail showroom in Montclair, NJ, next to the Clairidge Theatre. The premise of the brand is simple: every business optimizes how much you spend. This one is an experiment in optimizing for something more important — your time. Everything from the brand, from the store experience itself, to a card you write to yourself and open a year later, is designed to be a great exchange for the time it occupies in a consumer’s life.

The store is built. The retail team is hired and trained. The systems — Shopify POS, Monday.com, Google Workspace, an AI-assisted operating layer — are in place. What's needed now is one smart, fun, and operationally-excellent person to take the running of it away from the founder so she can do the thing only she can do: design the products and make the brand thesis come true.

That's this role. You'll be Head of Operations — the first operations hire, working directly with the founder, owning everything from supplier sourcing to monthly financials to issuing holiday bonuses to the team on the floor. The founder's first venture was a DTC brand she bootstrapped from $4,000 to over $300 million in sales. The retail products she built for that first brand will launch into Target this fall. A Wonderful Time is her second act and her brand new product laboratory. You'll be the person who makes it run, and the first to see what comes out of it.

We're looking for talent with these skills —

• You like making ideas real. The founder generates a lot of them. You enjoy taking a vision — a new product line, a new store ritual, a better way to learn from customers — and figuring out how to build it. Then you build it.
• You think alongside, not just execute. Sometimes the most useful thing you'll say is, "You said do X, but I think the goal is Y — can we get there this way?" You bring that instinct with confidence and without ego.
• You're energized by a startup. Things move fast, we try things, some of them work. You want to be part of building a company whose products end up in homes across the country, and you'd like to be there from the very beginning, in Montclair.
• Operations experience across functions. We’re looking for 5–7 years of experience in operations, in any industry. You must have previously worked with lawyers, accountants, hourly staff, and suppliers and be comfortable with all four.
• AI-forward. You use AI tools as a matter of course to research suppliers, draft, analyze, and eliminate manual work. This is how the company runs, and you'll help it run better.
• Trustworthy with money and detail. You'll hold the keys, the books, and the founder's calendar. You're organized, steady, and you close loops.

What the job will consist of -

• Proprietary product sourcing. The store is a laboratory for original products designed by the founder — ceramic plates, scarves, greeting cards, prints and bookmarks, coasters, picture frames, note cards, throw pillows, lacquered boxes, placemats, playing cards, and more. For each one, you (using AI tools, or managing a sourcing team member) identify and vet suppliers, get samples in hand for the founder to review and design against, place the production order, and see it through to delivery. When a product arrives, you load it into Shopify POS with accurate cost, pricing, and category data so we get clean data out.
• Non-proprietary product sourcing. The founder identifies found goods — candles, scents, clocks, jewelry, lamps, puzzles, food, craft kits, watercolor and embroidery supplies. You place the orders, receive inventory, manage expirations and seasonal repurchasing, and flag anything performing well enough to become a proprietary product.
• People. Lead the retail team already in place — scheduling, training, and hiring as the store grows — along with anyone on the sourcing team.
• Finance and administration. Keep the books clean: monthly reconciliation, monthly P&L and financial statements, invoice payment, rent and utilities, payroll, and review of Shopify payouts and cash flow. Handle insurance, taxes, certificates of occupancy, and town permits. Escalate to our external accounting firm when appropriate.
• Store systems and supplies. Own the cash drawer process. Order supplies. Continuously improve how the store runs: better data out of Shopify, more customer emails into the CRM, less manual work everywhere.

Scope of Work & Pay

• Full-time, early-stage hire.
• You will be based at the store in Montclair, typically four to five days a week, with flexibility to work from home for heads-down finance and sourcing work.
• Salary range and employment benefits will be discussed throughout the interview process.

Application Instructions

Please provide your resume and cover letter when you apply. You will be asked to complete a 15-minute pre-screen questionnaire as the next step in the application process.

About A Wonderful Time

A Wonderful Time is a creative experiment in capitalism. The flagship store was built around one central idea: that giving people a wonderful time matters more than getting them to buy something. It sells original stationery, art, homeware, and confectionery, each designed by the founder to start new traditions among family and friends. The store changes daily, and every purchase helps shape what gets made next—as well as being a vote that a wonderful time is worth making.

Pay: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person