Director, Fresh Produce Operations
About The Position
The Director of Fresh‑Cut Produce Operations serves as the senior operational architect for our fresh‑cut produce franchise program. This role holds enterprise‑wide accountability for diagnosing systemic operational and supply chain gaps, designing scalable solutions, and driving cross-functional alignment to support significant multi‑location growth. As a Director-level leader, this position influences strategy, steers decision-making across partner and internal teams, and ensures operational frameworks can scale from pilot to national deployment. The Director partners with executives across replenishment, merchandising, supply chain, store operations, finance, technology, and franchise development. Success requires a combination of strategic systems thinking, process engineering expertise, data‑driven insight, and the ability to lead large-scale implementation initiatives that directly impact revenue, profitability, and franchisee success.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, supply chain, engineering, finance, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in operations, supply chain, process engineering, or similar functions, with measurable impact across multiple locations or business units.
- Demonstrated success owning and scaling operational processes within a retail, franchise, food service, or CPG environment.
- Strong capability working with complex data ecosystems (ERP, replenishment systems, inventory management, POS).
- Proven ability to influence executives, lead cross-functional teams, and navigate large partner organizations.
- Expertise in diagnosing complex operational issues and designing system‑level solutions.
- Ability to travel up to 25–30%.
- Commitment to fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high‑performance culture.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in perishable or fresh produce operations highly preferred.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the organization’s process owner for fresh‑cut produce operations, establishing the long‑term operational framework required for national scalability.
- Lead enterprise assessments to identify operational gaps across supply chain, store execution, franchisee operations, and system integrations.
- Design end‑to‑end operational processes (SOPs, audit frameworks, purchasing workflows, launch playbooks) that are robust enough for scale but simple enough for consistent franchise execution.
- Evaluate where existing systems fail, conduct deep systems‑level root cause analysis, and lead redesigns that improve performance and reduce rework.
- Establish enterprise KPIs and reporting structures to measure changes in cost, waste, throughput, service levels, compliance, and franchisee profitability.
- Leverage data from retail and internal systems (ERP, replenishment, POS, inventory) to guide decision-making and validate operational hypotheses.
- Present recommendations and process designs to senior leadership within both the organization and retail partner teams.
- Build alignment across executives, field leadership, franchisees, and technology teams to ensure seamless implementation.
- Direct pilot programs, rollout plans, training strategies, and change‑management approaches to ensure adoption across a distributed network.
- Lead post‑implementation reviews and continuous improvement cycles to refine processes and drive sustained performance.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
