Jobs

Position Type:
Full-Time (Includes weekends, holidays, and event evenings)

Reports To:
Owner

Compensation:
Salary based on experience and skills, plus performance incentives

About Us

Boathouse Vineyards is a small, estate winery on the Leelanau Peninsula. We are a farm-first operation focused on making wines that reflect our region and our commitment to sustainable farming. Our estate vineyard is currently transitioning to USDA Organic certification. We are building a winery that puts equal emphasis on healthy soil, high-quality wine, genuine hospitality, and real relationships with our customers.

We are looking for a motivated, organized, and hospitality-minded manager to oversee our daily guest experience, run our wine club, and help our small business grow.

The Role

This is a hands-on position in a tight-knit winery, meaning you will work closely with the owner and winemaker and manage a small team of fewer than 10 part-time staff. The right person will genuinely enjoy pouring wine on the floor, leading a team, keeping operations organized, and building systems that help our club and tasting room thrive.

Key Responsibilities

Tasting Room & Team Leadership

• Guest Experience: Ensure every visitor has an exceptional experience by cultivating a welcoming, knowledgeable, and unpretentious environment.

• Floor Leadership: Spend significant time on the floor leading by example—hosting guests, pouring tastings, and sharing our story.

• Staff Education: Train part-time staff on Boathouse wines, our winemaking style, vineyard practices, and our organic certification journey.

• Leadership Development: Intentionally develop and mentor senior staff members to step in as the reliable “go-to” leadership presence when you are away from the winery.

• Sales Growth: Identify natural opportunities to increase wine sales and guest spending without being overly aggressive or “salesy.”

• Operations & Standards: Keep the tasting room clean, organized, and inviting. Manage daily opening/closing procedures, cash handling, and restocking schedules.• Retail Clothing: Oversee display setups, inventory tracking, and purchasing coordination for our retail clothing line.

• Food Program: Continue the creative development, sourcing, and consistency of our small plate food offerings.

• Staffing: Handle hiring, training, and weekly scheduling for our lean part-time team.

Wine Club & Customer Communications

• Member Connections: Build genuine relationships with our club members to keep them feeling connected to the winery.

• Club Communications: Draft, segment, and schedule targeted email campaigns tailored specifically for our wine club members.

• Club Administration: Manage day-to-day club logistics, including enrollment, database updates, member inquiries, billing, and cancellations.

• Allocations: Work with the winery team to coordinate club allocations, shipments, and pickup logistics.

• Exclusive Experiences: Organize wine club pickup events and creative, member-only experiences that drive retention.

Sales, Marketing & Community

• Team Collaboration: Work closely with the owner and winemaker to support overall tasting room and direct sales goals.

• General Public Emails: Write and coordinate regular email updates sent to our general public customer list regarding seasonal hours, news, music events, and winery updates.

• Digital Outreach: Manage our social media accounts, creating and posting authentic content from the tasting room, winery and vineyard to help drive foot traffic.

• Music Events: Help manage scheduling, logistics, and on-site coordination for our live music events.

• Feedback Loop: Listen to our guests, gather direct feedback, and communicate trends or product opportunities back to the winemaking team.

What We’re Looking For

• Personality: Warm, personable, and someone who genuinely enjoys hospitality and connecting with people.

• Communication: Confident talking about wine with both complete beginners and experienced wine drinkers.

• Work Style: Well-organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple daily responsibilities. Comfortable working independently and taking initiative.

• Team Mindset: A low-ego approach with a willingness to pitch in wherever needed in a small winery environment.

• Experience: 2+ years managing a tasting room, restaurant, premium retail store, or hospitality venue is a plus.

• Industry Tools: Comfort navigating winery POS software (like Commerce7), customer databases, and basic social media or email marketing tools.

• Physical Ability: Able to stand for long shifts and repeatedly lift and move wine cases weighing up to 40 pounds.

• Schedule: Absolute availability to work weekends, holidays, and occasional evenings for events.

Contact:
David Albert
dralbert@charter.net