WHO WE ARE
Little Spoon is the leading direct-to-consumer brand on a mission to make parents’ lives easier through high quality, healthy meal + snack-time solutions for babies, toddlers + big kids that conveniently deliver right to parents’ doors. Little Spoon sets your child up for a lifetime of health, from your baby’s very first bites through to their big kid years, with a portfolio of freshly-made baby food, early finger foods, toddler + big kid meals and snacks. Since the launch, the company has delivered more than 27 million meals, helping to simplify the lives of hundreds of thousands of parents across the US. Little Spoon and its community platform, Is This Normal, are here to disrupt the +$100B children’s health and wellness market, offering modern solutions, trusted resources, and a new way to connect with a network of parents just like you. Learn more at LittleSpoon.com and IsThisNormal.co, or find Little Spoon on Instagram at @LittleSpoon.
At Little Spoon, we celebrate the unique background and point of view that each person brings to our team. We hire for potential, not just past experience, and strive to support the career development of each and every person on our team.
We are fully committed to building a safe and inclusive workplace – a place where our team can think differently, challenge the status quo and have a little fun in the process. We have zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination. We do not discriminate and will not make any hiring decisions on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability.
The Director of External Manufacturing Operations is responsible for managing the operational relationships with all external manufactures throughout the lifecycle of the business relationship. These management responsibilities would extend through the entire life-cycle of the co-packer partnership with Little Spoon.
The ROLE
- Act as the Operations project manager by coordinating timelines, key activities, and milestones related to the successful, cross-functional onboarding of current and new co-packers
- Provide operational input regarding the co-packer qualification process as it pertains to manufacturing capabilities, best practices, process efficiency, and the food safety and quality assurance programs
- Apply a consistent collaborative approach to the commercialization and implementation process as it relates to new product introductions which may involve the installation of new equipment
- Develop and maintain a strong business relationship with the established co-packer network in an effort to maintain best in class product supply and inventory optimization
- Provide subject matter input during contract negotiations ensuring operational and FSQA objectives
- Maintain a set of co-packer performance metrics working directly with the co-packers to achieve specified benchmarks
- Collaborate with co-packers to ensure production output meets demand volumes
- Directly oversee all supply planning activities related to the production of finished goods
DESIRE SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- Understand business requirements for data and information to support the business strategy
- Possess strong leadership skills and demonstrated ability to drive process accountability
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to coordinate individual stakeholder’s responsibilities ensuring project timeline integrity
- Demonstrated success in planning and implementing projects on time and within budget
- Strong auditing and analytical skills
- Data management, integration, and reporting experience
- Demonstrated ability to take initiative, prioritize work, manage time, and respond effectively to a rapidly changing environment
REQUIREMENTS
- Minimum 5+ years in manufacturing, procurement, and supply chain management
- Resides in the United States
- Broad experience in a manufacturing setting, preferably related to food & beverage manufacturing
- Availability to travel to multiple manufacturing facilities throughout the United States
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, SCM, or related field
If you have a disability and require accommodation during our interview process, please let us know how we can help make the interview process fair to your needs.