Senior Vice President Operations

About Us

Rudi's Organic and Gluten-Free Brands is a 50-year old leader in the baking industry based in Boulder, Colorado. The company manufactures and distributes a wide range of organic and gluten-free breads, buns, English muffins, and tortillas in the natural grocery, MULO, and club store channels throughout the U.S. Additionally, Rudi's has expanded into the frozen hand-held category with the successful launch of its Sandos pocket sandwich brand and Texas Toast line, forming a strong growth platform for the future.

What You Will Do

With ambitious growth plans on the immediate horizon, Rudi’s is searching for a Senior Vice President of Operations, which will have the specific responsibility of ensuring that the Operations organization continues to execute and scale to meet the company’s manufacturing capacity and gross margin targets. Reporting to the CEO, you will own all core operations at Rudi’s, including procurement, warehousing, manufacturing, logistics and fulfillment, maintenance, and quality. You will lead the company’s largest team, building the processes, systems, and people needed to hit ambitious quantity, quality, and cost targets as Rudi’s scales its growing Sandos and core product lines.

Responsibilities:

• Align and execute operations strategy with overall company strategy, driving initiatives that improve safety, quality, delivery, and productivity
• Lead departmental strategic planning, budgeting, and reporting to create transparency and ensure accountability
• Play a hands-on role in day-to-day plant operations, defining KPIs and performance dashboards and establishing a regular planning and review cadence with key managers and team members
• Own the S&OP process, integrating sales forecasts with purchasing, production, and fulfillment to deliver best-in-class service levels while optimizing finished goods inventory levels
• Negotiate and manage relationships with vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors
• Manage and oversee the maintenance department to minimize downtime while maximizing the efficiency and working life of all production equipment and machinery
• Cultivate a continuous improvement, performance-based culture across the organization
• Ensure that Operations and quality processes and standards are compliant with all local and national regulatory standards
• Implement and continually improve procurement and supply chain processes—optimizing raw material ordering to minimize stockholding while ensuring zero interruption to planned production

Who You Are

You are a leader with a proven track record in scaling companies, demonstrating qualities of a proactive, trustworthy, and adaptable servant leader. With experience in food manufacturing, ideally baking, you bring a strong continuous improvement mindset. Your analytical skills and comfort with performance reporting make you effective in working with cross functional teams. You have an ability to thrive in diverse environments, roll up your sleeves, and excel in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications:

• 10 years of manufacturing, operations, and process engineering management experience in the food industry, including experience running a food manufacturing facility
• Baking experience preferred; CPG manufacturing experience required
• Experience with continuous improvement and implementing best practices across the full food manufacturing system, from procurement and warehousing through manufacturing and logistics
• A track record of business building and leading through change at small or medium-sized companies
• A history of cultivating strong working relationships with staff, peers, and senior leadership
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills
• Bi-lingual in Spanish preferred
• Based in Colorado, commutable to the Boulder, Colorado plant

Benefits

• $200,000 to $250,000 base salary, plus 30% bonus and management incentive options
• Full health, dental, and vision benefits
• 401(k)
• Paid Time Off

Rudi’s Bakery is committed to an environment that values and supports all individuals. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy status, marital status, military or protected veteran status, genetics, or any other characteristic protected by law.