Full-Time

Operations Manager

Lava Island

Lava Island

51-200 employees

Runs family-focused indoor adventure parks

No salary listed

Alpharetta, GA, USA

In Person

Category
Food Service & Hospitality (1)
Required Skills
Customer Service

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Requirements
  • Experience leading teams in a fast-paced hospitality or customer-facing setting, ideally involving 15 or more people on a shift.
  • Current ServSafe Manager Certification, or completion within 30 days of hire.
  • Availability for weekends, evenings, and holidays, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday availability required across opening and closing shifts.
  • Willingness to work hands-on, including cleaning and park preparation alongside the team.
  • Ability to stand, walk, and move for extended periods and lift up to 50 pounds.
  • Ability to pass a background check and drug screen.
  • Ability to set standards, provide real-time direction, and hold team members accountable.
  • Strong organization and clear communication with team members and guests.
Responsibilities
  • Serve as Manager on Duty and remain present and aware across the entire park during the shift.
  • Keep guest-facing areas clean, staffed, and ready, and resolve guest issues on the spot.
  • Assign zones, set clear expectations, and coach the team in real time.
  • Hold the team accountable for tasks, safety, and service with fairness and consistency.
  • Lead proactively to prevent problems before guests experience them.
  • Complete opening, shift-change, and closing procedures, checklists, deposits, and reporting.
  • Keep the park guest-ready and safe, and keep the café stocked and operating on time.
  • Coach and develop team members and supervisors in real time.
  • Lead the team across the café, park floor, and party events.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience leading teams of ideally 15 or more people on a shift.

Lava Island runs large-format indoor adventure parks designed for family entertainment. Each park features trampolines, climbing walls, a ninja course, a volcano slide, foam pits, and multi-level jungles, plus dedicated toddler areas; spaces are around 30,000–40,000 square feet. Revenue comes from timed admission, mandatory socks, on-site food and drinks, merchandise, and birthday parties (about 25% of revenue), plus events for schools and groups. The company stands out by avoiding arcades and go-karts to keep margins higher and staffing simpler, focusing on families with children aged 2–12 and offering themed private party rooms and on-site cafes. Its goal is to scale a network of parks across the United States where siblings of different ages can play together and families stay active.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Aurora, Colorado

Founded

2017

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • NARRATE launched a Lava Island fund on 2024-10-01 for twelve planned locations.
  • Company pages showed 2026 openings in Plano and Kildeer, proving a real rollout pipeline.
  • Eden Prairie received $2.6 million permits on 2025-04-30, validating investor-backed growth momentum.

What critics are saying

  • New parks in Plano, Lewisville, Kildeer, Eden Prairie, and Brookfield strain execution this year.
  • The company relies on NARRATE capital; expansion failure chokes liquidity and stalls openings.
  • Family entertainment is crowded with Sky Zone and Urban Air, compressing margins and killing demand.

What makes Lava Island unique

  • Chase Terwilliger joined as CEO in January 2024, bringing multi-site scaling experience.
  • Lava Island targets ages 2-12 with giant, mixed-age parks and dedicated toddler zones.
  • Its model bundles admissions, socks, parties, food, and merchandise in one facility.

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