Director of Operations

Wow Bao•Forest City, NC

8h•Onsite

About The Position

Wow Bao is seeking a Director of Operations to oversee our manufacturing plant operations of our brand new 80,00 square-foot facility in Forest City, North Carolina. The Director of Operations is a leader who will bridge the execution goals with floor-level execution, handling P&L, capital projects, and talent development in a high-quality driven environment. This role is ideal for someone who is ready to create clarity, stability, and continuity as the business grows beyond the initial launch phase. This position will report directly to the President/Chief Executive Officer of Wow Bao. The position is on-site at the food manufacturing site in Forest City, North Carolina.

Requirements

Minimum of 10+ years of experience in food manufacturing management with demonstrated success at the Plant Manager or Director of Manufacturing/Operations level.
Deep understanding of food manufacturing regulations in a USDA, FDA, SQF, and GMP environment.
Sense of urgency and focus on results.
Partake in a professional and positive work environment.
Excellent reading, writing, and oral proficiency of the English language.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
Perform calmly and effectively in a fast-paced work environment.

Nice To Haves

Preferably someone with a strong understanding of plant startup, stabilization, and scalability.

Responsibilities

Oversee all phases of continued facility construction and plant expansion, including planning, budgeting, design review, contractor coordination, and timeline management. Direct the commissioning process, equipment installation, validation, and readiness testing to ensure seamless operational launch.
Collaborate with the Home Office team and on-site team to execute start‑up plans, staffing models, training programs, production workflows, and SOPs to prepare the new plant for full operational capability.
Serve as the primary operational leader for new-site readiness, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with corporate strategic growth objectives.
Develop and execute operational strategies, support growth, manage budgets, and oversee financial performance.
Optimize workflows, manage inventory, lead automation, and drive process improvement initiatives.
Champion strict adherence to FDA, USDA, OSHA, HACCP, GMP, and SQF standards.
Partner closely with cross-functional corporate teams — including Supply Chain, Culinary, Quality Assurance, and Executive Leadership — to align plant operations with company-wide objectives. This includes translating strategic goals into actionable operational plans, ensuring seamless coordination on production needs, driving innovation in new product development and commercialization, maintaining the highest food safety and quality standards, and supporting long‑range capacity, growth, and efficiency initiatives.
Serve as the operational liaison between the plant and corporate leadership to ensure clarity, collaboration, and flawless execution of organizational priorities.
Establish, track, and continuously refine key performance indicators (KPIs) across all major operational areas—including safety, quality, cost, and service. Lead the team in interpreting performance data, identifying gaps, and developing targeted action plans to drive measurable improvements.
Collaborate with human resources to recruit, train and mentor team to foster culture of quality, safety, and high performance.
Perform calmly and effectively in an extremely busy and fast-paced work environment.
Knowledge of 5 why’s and understanding of developing and managing an action plan and roadmap for success.
Ability to travel as needed to the corporate office in Chicago, IL as needed.
Other tasks and projects assigned on an as needed basis.