Operations Specialist

Qiao Lin Hotpot
Restaurant Operations & Procurement Analyst

Location: Chicago, IL
Employment Type: Full-time
Compensation: $48,000–$60,000 annually, based on experience

 

Work Authorization and Immigration Sponsorship: Qiao Lin Hotpot welcomes candidates authorized to work under CPT or OPT. H-1B visa sponsorship and employment-based permanent residency (green card) sponsorship are available to qualified candidates, subject to business needs and applicable legal and eligibility requirements.

About the Role

Qiao Lin Hotpot is seeking a detail-oriented Restaurant Operations & Procurement Analyst to support purchasing, inventory control, operational reporting and performance improvement across our restaurant operations.

This position is suited to someone who is comfortable working with numbers while also spending time in restaurants to understand how operational decisions affect food quality, cost and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• During the one- to two-month training period, the employee will spend at least one day working at a designated restaurant location to gain a practical understanding of restaurant operations and business needs.
• Support purchasing activities, including purchase orders, order tracking, pricing updates and vendor communication.
• Maintain accurate vendor, product, pricing and purchasing records.
• Monitor inventory levels and help prevent shortages, over-ordering and unnecessary waste.
• Analyze purchasing costs, food costs, product yield, waste, usage variances and supplier fill rates.
• Prepare weekly and monthly operating reports using Excel or Google Sheets.
• Track restaurant KPIs such as sales, food cost, labor cost, inventory variance, waste and product mix.
• Review actual ingredient usage against recipes or standard yields and investigate significant variances.
• Work with restaurant managers and kitchen teams to improve product consistency and reduce waste.
• Identify operational issues and translate data into practical recommendations.
• Assist with vendor evaluation, price comparisons and cost-saving initiatives.
• Help improve purchasing, receiving, inventory-counting and reporting procedures.
• Support store menu changes and other operational projects as needed.
• Complete restaurant operations training during the first month and work from a restaurant location approximately one day per week thereafter.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of experience in restaurant operations, procurement, supply chain, inventory management, finance or business analytics.
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including pivot tables, lookup functions, formulas and data reporting.
• Strong numerical, analytical and problem-solving ability.
• High attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy.
• Ability to communicate effectively with vendors, restaurant managers and kitchen teams.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines in a fast-paced restaurant environment.
• Restaurant, hospitality or food-service experience is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with POS, inventory or restaurant-management systems is a plus.
• English proficiency is required; Mandarin Chinese proficiency is strongly preferred.

Success Measures

• Accurate and timely operational reports.
• Improved visibility into purchasing, food cost, inventory and product yield.
• Reduced waste and unexplained inventory variance.
• Better vendor performance and purchasing efficiency.
• Clear, actionable recommendations for restaurant leadership.