VP of Co Manufacturing

Who We Are

The Farmer’s Dog is the fastest growing pet health service company in the US, and was born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health, providing dogs and their humans with honest, smart, and simple care – a fresh proposition in an industry riddled with manipulative and misleading marketing. We’re starting by radically improving the $100 billion pet food market, replacing bulk bags of highly-processed pellets with a personalized subscription service that sends healthy, freshly-made dog food, balanced by top veterinary nutritionists, directly to customers’ doors. Our ultimate goal is to create innovative, honest, and delightful experiences across all aspects of pet care, and we believe our direct-to-consumer business model, holistic approach to growth, and dynamic and forward-thinking culture uniquely position us to shepherd this backwards industry into the future.

To date, The Farmer’s Dog has delivered hundreds of millions of meals nationwide and raised over $150M in funding to help us build a company as healthy as the dogs who are eating those meals. Join us as we continue to develop ways of bringing peace of mind to our customers, health to their companions, and much-needed change to the way people feed and care for their pets.

#LongLiveDogs

Where You’ll Come In 

As the VP of Co Manufacturing, you’ll be responsible for owning and driving the current and future state of The Farmer’s Dog’s manufacturing footprint. This includes creating and implementing a full-scale manufacturing strategy as a senior leader in the organization. This also includes driving business transformation in manufacturing while leveraging your significant experience in co-manufacturing and high-growth businesses to optimize the capabilities of current partners, expand our network footprint through 3rd or owned sites, and be ahead of the curve for new product lines that the business seeks to launch. You’ll lead and grow a nimble team internally with full ownership of the P&L buckets tied to this role, acting as a senior leader and owner for manufacturing in cross-functional workstreams and partnerships. You’ll have a continuous focus on quality, cost, and throughput, among other KPIs. This role will report to the Chief Supply Chain Officer.

How You’ll Make an Impact

• Develop and own end-to-end P&L for all physical product lines within the manufacturing vertical, also responsible for scaling the business and optimizing efficiency and quality through 3rd party and/ or self-manufacturing partners
• Owning and driving the TFD Manufacturing strategy in current state and setting the vision of the future, driving an excellent growth and geographical strategy for the Manufacturing group to scale with the business
• Driving your group to partner with the FSQR function leader to ensure proper checks and balances between the Manufacturing vertical and FSQR
• Accountable to internal C-suite stakeholders for progress on current and new business initiatives/verticals regarding matters of capacity, strategy, and growth
• Design, implement, and set a vision for operational plans and processes at co-manufacturers that will enhance capacity, food safety, quality, and regulatory needs
• Drive your group to implement business strategies, plans, and procedures, and set comprehensive goals for performance and growth while establishing policies that promote company culture and vision
• Drive your group to ensure all core processes are clearly outlined, improved over time, and consistently followed throughout the company
• Demonstrate effective project management and continuous improvement skills, especially in the launch of new product lines with a focus on speed to market
• Manage capital investment and expenses to ensure the company achieves financial targets that promote growth and profitability. Strive to get the most out of your internal team through clear objectives and tangible metrics to track effectiveness, speed, and ability to stay ahead of business needs
• Will be responsible for the growth strategy and geography of multiple facilities located throughout the United States
• Effectively spearhead rapid growth while demonstrating resourcefulness, a strong work ethic, and a knack for innovation, particularly during launch phases
• Manage AOP, monthly budget and cost savings projects.
• Work with coman team to stay ahead of staffing, shifts and asset management.
• Collaborate with PPIC/Procurement team to deliver manufacturing goals to deliver 98% schedule attainment for superior customer service.
• Implement and maintain best practice standards and policies for manufacturing operations to ensure compliance and safety.
• Monitor the competitive landscape, identifying alternative product and service value propositions. 
• Develop and recommend a comprehensive footprint and network strategy to optimize sourcing costs and enhance customer service, aligning closely with TFD’s growth objectives. 
• Exhibit adeptness in contract negotiation, fostering mutually beneficial agreements that generate value for both coman and TFD. 
• Remain abreast of the latest trends, technologies, and innovations within the food industry.

 
We’re Excited About You Because

• You have 15+ years of previous experience within the operations and manufacturing space, including management of 3rd party partners
• You bring relevant experience as a senior leader in the meat and/or fresh food industry, including various cooking methods, packaging methods, and low-heat processing
• You have experience optimizing plants or related operations, ideally in a consulting firm format, for part of this time
• You have 10+ years of leading and growing teams, empowering them to excellence
• You have familiarity with FSQR and specification management
• You have an understanding of P&L, investment return, margin management
• You have experience in analysis of capacity and asset utilization.
• You are an excellent negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• You should hold educational qualifications, as well as some degree of experience in the manufacturing industry, product innovation, and/or culinary arts
• You have a proven track record of leading automation and scaling processes, and managing risk in a high-growth, fast-evolving business environment. 
• Start-up or high-growth experience preferred
• You are confident in creating, driving, and setting a vision for metrics and team direction in an often-gray, constantly evolving business plan

Office Guidelines

The office is open and available for all Monday through Friday. We ask all team members to be in office a minimum of 2-3 days a week to build a collaborative and invested environment to foster our unique in-person culture we are proud to have. This office policy is subject to change at company discretion.

Our DEI Philosophy

Our company’s mission is rooted in deep, genuine care for dogs – and for the people who love them. As an organization we are full of individuals who are unique in many ways, but all united in a mission of providing true peace of mind to dog lovers everywhere. Fixing this industry and improving the lives of pets and their people will be a difficult, decades-long endeavor. We believe the best use of our time, energy, and resources as a collective team is to focus on this mission, and on supporting our team to do their best work and be their best selves. In support of this we’re committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce, and investing in internal structures, opportunities, hiring/promotions processes, and training that create and sustain an inclusive team. We strive to provide an experience at TFD that will be invested, meaningful and memorable as we progress on the journey to reimagine how we feed and care for our pets.

A Few of Our Best Benefits

• Dog-friendly office in Greenwich Village
• Market-competitive compensation and equity packages
• Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental, and Vision
• Company sponsored mental health benefit and coaching through Modern Health
• 12 week paid parental leave
• Competitive 401k plan with company match
• Flexible PTO
• Discounted fresh food for your pup
• Your pet interrupting video calls (and in-person meetings) is now a feature, not a bug

We commit to building a competitive compensation package and company environment for all individuals to thrive. We believe in competitive base compensation rooted in location specific market data and performance along with equity ownership in the company that allows every team member to build their personal wealth as the company grows, just as much as we believe in fostering a culture that supports our team members personally, professionally, and holistically. For this role the anticipated hiring base compensation range is $230,000 - $260,000 USD Annual and the compensation offered will include a robust market competitive package of base, bonus and equity. In addition to your base compensation offer you will also receive equity ownership in the company. More information about the value of this equity will be shared at the time of offer. This range is representative of NYC Market Data if you are applying to this role outside of the NYC area the range may change.