ABOUT COMPANY
Lily’s Toaster Grills is a rapid growth frozen food manufacturer on a mission to make real, delicious, comfort food accessible to everyone. We’re best known for our premium toaster‑ready grilled cheese sandwiches, now sold nationally at all major U.S. food retailers. Made with real ingredients and homemade quality, our wholesome sandwiches are golden and crispy outside, gooey and cheesy inside. We give back by donating 1% of our sandwiches to families in need.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
The Vice President of Operations is a hands‑on, scale‑up leader who owns end‑to‑end operations at Lily’s across supply chain, manufacturing, and capital project planning and execution. This leader will help shape the overall company strategy.S/he will then execute on strategic priorities including developing detailed capacity expansion and cost reduction plans, leading efforts to scale production across multiple product lines/sites (self‑manufactured and co‑manufactured), and enabling rapid innovation while meeting aggressive cost, quality, and service goals.
Day-to-day, the Vice President of Operations will build on a strong foundation to deliver best‑in‑class performance by establishing clear standards, data‑driven routines, and embodying our Company values:
Never compromise on safety — for people and product.
Bias to action — strategic and analytical, yet decisive and fast.
Make each other better — win as one team.
Have fun building — passion and positivity.
Spread goodness — wow consumers and serve families in need.
Responsibilities:
Strategy & Planning:
- Partner with CEO and Leadership Team to shape overall growth strategy for the Company.
- Translate company strategy into a multiyear capacity, cost, and capability roadmap to scale to $100-200M+ sales across multiple product lines.
- Lead annual planning and budgeting for Operations – set targets, drive execution, track performance and course-correct.
- Optimize and lead S&OP process integrating demand, supply, procurement, and logistics; implement the necessary processes and tools/systems to support.
- Lead development and execution of the long-term capital investment strategy, partnering with cross-functional leaders to address commercial and operational requirements to achieve lowest possible product cost without compromising on safety and quality.
- Lead strategy, planning, and execution to operationalize new product innovation, whether self-manufactured or co-manufactured.
Operations General Management:
- Lead orchestration of all day-to-day operations including establishing the daily/weekly/monthly planning and review cadence, defining KPIs and establishing performance dashboards, and guiding managers and team members on execution.
- Work cross functionally to evaluate all current operational processes and develop and lead execution of initiatives to drive down unit delivered cost without compromising on safety and quality.
- Build strategic sourcing plans for key ingredients/packaging; manage PPV, supplier performance, and risk/contingency plans.
- Guide design and implementation of robust MRP/ordering process and tools to achieve target inventory levels without interrupting production.
- Drive optimization of finished‑goods inventory processes and fulfillment network design to deliver OTIF and working‑capital targets.
- Ensure that operations and quality processes and standards are compliant with all local and national regulatory standards and are continually enhanced.
- Guide continuous improvement in FSQA capabilities, including GFSI certification.
- Meet or exceed approved budgets or forecasts and drive on-time, on-budget capital project management.
Co-Manufacturing Leadership:
- Develop, select, negotiate, and manage co‑man partners (quality, cost, capacity, confidentiality, and service) for products that cannot be manufactured in-house.
- Establish Lily’s standards, spec controls, KPIs, and audit cadence at co‑man sites; align process and team to ensure seamless planning and logistics.
Company & People Leadership:
- Embody Lily's Toaster Grills behavioral values, setting an example for team members.
- Contribute to the overall executive management of the company
- Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, R&D, and Finance/HR to drive company strategy and execution.
- Establish clear objectives for team members, provide regular and constructive feedback, and use semi-annual reviews to formally review team member performance.
- Mentor and motivate staff and provide them with development plans for continued professional growth.
WHO YOU ARE
You are a confident and humble servant leader with proven expertise in empowering, leading, coaching, mentoring, and developing high performance teams. You thrive in a “roll up your sleeves” work environment, demonstrating flexibility and leading change. You are an exceptional communicator and problem-solver, inspiring and managing teams across multiple departments to solve complex business challenges. You think strategically about how to address opportunities to grow the business to its full potential. Others would describe you as having unquestioned integrity, high ethical standards, and professionalism in how you lead your teams, partner with your peers, and work with your managers. You are highly entrepreneurial and you are excited and hungry to help build and lead our brand.
Qualifications:
- 15+ years’ leadership experience in food manufacturing operations across manufacturing, supply chain, and process engineering.
- Bachelor’s degree required; Advanced degree a plus.
- Experience with both running food manufacturing facilities and managing third party co-manufacturers required.
- Experience in frozen/ready‑to‑heat handhelds or bakery/snacks preferred.
- Demonstrated expertise in driving change and implementing best practices across manufacturing and supply chain.
- Strong experience leading end-to-end capital projects to expand upon or optimize existing capacity (strategy, planning, site identification, design, build, commission).
- Significant business building and change management experience at small and/or medium-sized private businesses.
- Strong project management experience.
- Strong analytical capabilities and focus on data-backed decision making.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Oracle NetSuite.
BENEFITS
- $220,000 - $260,000 base salary, commensurate with experience and qualifications
- Performance-based bonus
- 401(k) with company match
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Paid time off and holidays
