Founded in 2016, Vegetable and Butcher is an early-stage food-tech startup making healthy eating remarkably simple—fresh, flavorful, locally prepared meals and functional beverages delivered directly to your doorstep. In fewer than five years, we have delivered more than 500,000 meals to health-conscious individuals and families throughout the Washington, D.C. area. And we’re just getting started.
We are a passionate, crafty, farm-to-plate-loving team on a mission to help people [re]establish a more meaningful, more responsible, lasting relationship with wholesome and nourishing food. And we are revolutionizing how fresh, nutritious, high-quality food is purchased, manufactured, and delivered at scale.
Our growth and success over the past five years has created a need for a Vice President of Operations to serve as a key leader who inspires, motivates, and develops our operations organization and establishes the vision and mission of the team and function. In this role, you will lead all aspects of our Fulfillment and Delivery Ops, including Delivery, Logistics, Fulfillment / Pick + Pack, Warehouse, Quality Assurance, and Procurement.
Your Primary Objectives:
Operational Vision, Strategy and Execution. The core of our operations is the development, expansion, and transformation of our primary East Coast facility in Washington, DC, as well as our 50+ operations team members. You will work closely with our founders, advisors, and leadership team, and will be responsible for partnering extensively cross-functionally to accelerate operational innovation to drive and support V+B’s strategic plan.
Culture and Performance Management. You will develop a world-class, data-driven operations team that lives and breathes efficiency and continuous improvement excellence. Key metrics will be centered around operational efficiency and effectiveness (e.g., fulfilment and delivery labor, pick and pack success rate, delivery success rate, and last mile delivery costs, etc.), P&L performance, customer experience (e.g., OTIF), safety, and team engagement (eNPS). In accomplishing these goals, you will build a mission-driven culture that leads the industry.
Inspirational and Inclusive Leadership. You will lead in a way that always connects the team to the larger V+B mission and values, and that translates broader company goals into clear and ambitious objectives. You will design the organizational structure and build career paths for all fulfillment and delivery ops employees with the goal of maximizing promotions from within and developing clear succession planning, retaining top-talent, and fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace culture that reinforces our core values and recognizes strong performance. You will work closely with leadership to evolve performance management strategies and methods of building a results-driven culture, and to coach and support managers in consistently bringing these strategies to life.
Technology Strategy and Management. You will lead the technology and automation initiatives to determine what areas of the business can be most improved via investments in technology.
Regulatory Compliance. You will adhere to company, federal, state, and local business requirements, enforcing compliance and acting when necessary, consistently staying on top of the ever-evolving regulatory landscape.
Your Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:
▪ Lead fulfillment strategy, overseeing high-volume pick + pack operations—including workflow creation and optimization—and establishing the long-term strategy for how we’re fulfilling customer orders
▪ Lead delivery and logistics strategy, from end-to-end—including last mile delivery via our internal team of drivers and 3PL suppliers—constantly optimizing for efficiency and customer experience
▪ Oversee all aspects of warehouse operations, including but not limited to receiving, inventory control, selecting, loading, employee safety, and security
▪ Lead cold chain quality assurance strategy, including the creation, implementation, and maintenance of initiatives designed to exceed desired level of product quality and keep our customers healthy and safe
▪ Balance efficiency with a relentless focus on the customer experience, making Delivery and Fulfillment Ops a differentiated competitive advantage for V+B while meeting required KPIs and P&L obligations
▪ Partner cross-functionally to achieve collective goals, including with Culinary Ops, Culinary R&D, Customer Experience, People Operations, Growth / Marketing, and Finance
▪ Analyze internal operations and identify areas of process enhancement
▪ Maintain and build trusted relationships with key customers, partners, and stakeholders
Who You Are:
▪ At least 8+ years of experience in manufacturing operations / supply chain functions within the e-commerce perishables and/or delivery space, including last-mile logistics, distribution, transportation, customer service, production, and procurement
▪ Positive, optimistic, and flexible leader with demonstrated success leading large and diverse groups of people in a high growth, mission-driven environment
▪ Strategic thinker with tactical abilities, including excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
▪ Thrive in ambiguity, easily navigating grey areas while making sound decisions with a “roll up your sleeves and make things happen” attitude
▪ Able to produce high-quality work efficiently, meeting deadlines, and prioritizing numerous cross-functional projects
▪ Exceptional at developing, motivating, inspiring, and challenging people to achieve great things
▪ Able to engage large and diverse audiences, authentically and with ease
▪ Entrepreneurial and known for delivering creative and innovative solutions to business challenges
▪ Able to build relationships and navigate through cross-functional discussions to successful outcomes, relying on clear, direct, and empathetic communication
▪ Extremely tech savvy; comfortable with Google Suite (especially Sheets), Microsoft Office (especially Excel and PowerPoint), Slack, and other digital platforms
What Would Make You Really Stand Out:
▪ Master’s degree in business or related field
▪ Certification as a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI), and/or as a Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Practitioner, and/or in HACCP, or other experience with food safety culture planning and implementation
▪ Kaizen / 5S training or certification
Life at Vegetable and Butcher:
▪ Join a kind, diverse, passionate, and driven team of all backgrounds and experience
▪ Delicious and nutritious meals, snacks, and functional beverages to keep you feeling healthy and energized
▪ Casual work environment
▪ Fun team outings (duckpin bowling, BBQs, happy hours, etc.)
▪ Comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental, vision) to fit your needs
▪ Competitive salary and equity package
▪ Flexible vacation and time off policy
Diversity and inclusion are essential values at Vegetable and Butcher. We know we’ll do our best and most impactful work when we feel we’re represented, and we belong. We’re proud to actively recruit and hire talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
