Ashkan Pazaj

01 — About

Two tracks. One operator's mindset.

I'm Ashkan (Cyrus) Pazaj. I've spent the last five years running floors where the only acceptable outcome is that the guest leaves happy, the team leaves stronger, and the books leave clean.

I'm not switching careers — I'm compounding them. The same instincts that make a great floor lead (read people fast, simplify systems, raise the bar quietly) are the ones I'm channelling into programming at George Brown's T186 diploma. Whichever role you're hiring for, you're hiring the same operator.

Toronto, Ontario
English · Persian (Native)
5+ yrs leadership
Full-Stack in training
Available immediately

Hospitality & Retail

Floor & cash lead, team builder, guest-experience obsessed. Proven on 400+ guests/day and a flagship sales floor.

See leadership track →

Full-Stack Development

Junior dev in training. Real operations experience to back up the code. Looking for co-op or junior roles.

See developer track →

02 — Hospitality & Retail

A floor leader who makes numbers and people both better.

I treat every shift like a small business: tight on cost, sharp on service, obsessed with the guest. Promoted into floor & cash lead at Roots' flagship within months — and previously ran a 20-person café team through five years of growth, COVID, and post-pandemic recovery.

For hiring managers

What you get on day one

A reliable floor lead from week one

POS, cash, opening/closing, peak-hour traffic control — all already muscle memory. You won't be training me on the basics.

Team uplift, not just team coverage

I leave teams better than I find them. At Viuna I built an internal pipeline from server → shift lead. I coach in the moment, not just in reviews.

Numbers I'm accountable to

I read the daily report before I clock in. Labour %, conversion, AUR, average ticket — I can talk to all of them and adjust the floor accordingly.

Guests who come back — and bring people

The unglamorous part of retail: remembering names, anticipating needs, never selling. I turn one-time browsers into regulars.

Sales Associate · Floor & Cash Lead

Roots — Flagship Toronto Location

Sep 2025 — Present

Promoted to Floor Lead and Cash Lead for Black Friday and Boxing Day — trusted with the busiest trading days of the year at one of Roots' top-grossing stores.
Consistently hit 90–100% of personal sales targets through deep product knowledge and a no-pressure, solution-first approach.
Build the regulars: turn first-time browsers into repeat guests by remembering names, sizes and stories.
Help onboard new associates on floor standards, product and guest service — recognised by store leadership for setting the tone with newer team members.

Flagship Retail Floor Lead Cash Lead Sales Conversion Peak-Event Ready

Restaurant Manager

Viuna Café

Jan 2020 — Jul 2025

Ran a 50+ person team serving 400+ guests/day — lifted peak-hour service efficiency by 25% through workflow redesign and clearer station ownership.
Owned the P&L: annual operating budget, weekly revenue forecasts, labour scheduling, inventory and procurement — kept the café profitable through COVID and recovery.
Built a talent pipeline from the floor up — promoted multiple servers into shift leads through structured coaching, not just seniority.
Designed onboarding and ongoing training that measurably cut ramp time and lifted guest-engagement scores.
Held the line on cash, compliance and food safety — 100% reconciliation accuracy across five years.

P&L Ownership Team of 50+ Labour & Scheduling Inventory Training Programs Compliance

“

A great shift isn't loud. It's quiet, sharp, and on time. My job is to make the floor feel easy for the guest and obvious for the team — everything else follows from that.

— my leadership philosophy in one sentence

The four things I'm really good at

People & Coaching Team leadership · onboarding · shift-lead pipelines · in-the-moment coaching

Floor Operations Floor lead · peak-hour flow · station design · health, safety & compliance

Numbers & Cost Control P&L · budgeting · labour % · forecasting · inventory & procurement

Guest & Sales Guest experience · loyalty building · sales targets · POS & cash leadership

03 — Full-Stack Development

A junior dev who's already led real teams.

I'm studying Computer Programming (T186) at George Brown Polytechnic — a focused 2-year diploma in programming logic, full-stack web, Java, databases, software QA and a real system-development capstone. You'd be hiring someone who writes code in the morning and has spent five years already shipping outcomes on a floor in the afternoon.

For engineering managers

Why I'm a different kind of junior hire

I've been the user

Five years on POS, scheduling and inventory software means I know exactly where line-of-business apps fail real people. I'll catch the UX gaps in code review.

I communicate like an adult

I've managed customers, staff and vendors through messy days. Standups, code review, written specs — you won't have to teach me how to update stakeholders.

I learn in production

I've launched menus, trained teams and chased KPIs all at once. Picking up a new framework on a real ticket is just a Tuesday.

I show up, on time, every time

Five years of opening shifts. I treat tickets the same way: own it, ship it, close the loop.

GB

Computer Programming — T186

George Brown Polytechnic · 2-Year Diploma · Toronto, Ontario

In Progress

A 2-year, 4-semester diploma built around the full software development life cycle: programming logic, object-oriented design, test-driven development, full-stack web, databases, agile delivery and a real system-development capstone in the final term.

Programming Fundamentals

Computing logic, object-oriented programming in Java, data structures & algorithms.

Full-Stack Web

HTML/CSS/JS, advanced web programming, web application development, Java back-ends.

Data & Databases

Data management foundations, SQL, relational database design and querying.

Software Engineering

System analysis & design, software QA, agile workflows, open-source development, capstone.

What I can do today vs. what's coming

Honest split — so you know exactly what you'd be hiring.

Comfortable now

HTML5 & CSS3 (this site, hand-built, no frameworks)
JavaScript fundamentals — DOM, events, ES6
Java & object-oriented programming basics
SQL & relational database design
Git, GitHub & basic command-line / Linux
Reading specs and turning them into working pages

Actively learning

Full-stack web apps with Java back-ends
Object-oriented programming & design
Data structures & algorithms
Software QA, testing & test-driven development
System analysis, design & agile delivery
Open-source workflows & the capstone project

The full T186 curriculum

4 semesters · 2 years · culminates in a real system-development capstone.

Semester 1Foundations

IT Essentials
Fundamentals of Computing Logic
Intro to Web Development
Intro to Data Management
Math for Computer Tech I
Communicating Across Contexts

Semester 2Building Blocks

Database Management
Object Oriented Programming
Intro to Full-Stack Development
Linux Essentials
Math for Computer Tech II

Semester 3Web & Java

Advanced Web Programming
Web Application Development
Application Development Using Java
System Analysis, Design & Testing
Software Quality Assurance

Semester 4Engineering & Capstone

Data Structures & Algorithms
Agile Software Development
Open Source Development
System Development Project (Capstone)
Professional Workplace Competencies

The honest pitch

I'm not the most senior developer you'll interview — I'm a student. But you'd be hiring someone who has already managed 50+ people, owned a P&L, and stood in front of 400 guests a day. Bring me onto a junior or co-op role and you get the same operator-grade reliability that got me promoted at Roots, now pointed at your codebase.

04 — Contact

Pick a track. Let's talk.

One inbox, two interview tracks. Tell me which role you're hiring for and I'll come prepared with the right stories.

Hiring for retail or hospitality? Floor lead, store lead, shift manager, ASM — let's talk targets, teams and trading days. Email me about a leadership role →

Hiring a junior dev or co-op? I'm open to internships, co-op terms, junior full-stack and QA roles in the GTA or remote. Email me about a dev role →

Email AshkanPazaj@gmail.com

Phone (437) 552-4742

Location Toronto, Ontario

Languages English · Persian