VP of Technical Operations

*Location NYC

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

We’re looking for a VP of Technical Operations who is passionate about discovering, developing, and implementing complex technical solutions across different product categories, exceeding our customers’ expectations. The ideal candidate will be responsible for building and leading a high-performing technical team by effectively managing the processes of hiring, training, and coaching. This role requires a proactive leader who is passionate about technology and committed to fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.

This position reports to the Chief Supply Chain Officer directly responsible for process, packaging engineering, and commercialization for the pet food product line. The company currently produces in 8 co-manufacturing facilities but has plans to build its own manufacturing site.In this role you will lead TFD’s engineering strategies for multiple product categories, successfully identifying, developing, and implementing business growth and productivity projects as well as technology programs across manufacturing and distribution networks.

You will own and lead a portfolio of business-critical projects following a disciplined engineering approach from concept definition to vertical start-up, including technology identification, validation, machine reliability analysis, new line design, modifications of existing assets, and developing robust technical solutions to address a range of complex manufacturing issues. You will also identify breakthrough technologies and operational solutions that will bring our business categories to the future.You will also analyze ways to maximize efficiency and yields, optimize manufacturing costs, own capital expenditure, project management, equipment evaluation, operation performance improvement, start-up, and new process validation.

• Lead the discovery, development, qualification, and successful operational implementation of manufacturing technologies and breakthrough technical solutions to drive business growth and gross margin improvement across multiple product categories.
• Lead the justification, establishment, and implementation of capital projects from inception through completion. Initiate technical concepts, develop designs incorporating the optimal technical solutions, estimate and manage costs, formulate justifications, coordinate project/program executions, support line startups, and establish systems to train required personnel on new technologies.
• Lead standard engineering work processes and champion the best engineering practices for improved performance. Analyze with manufacturing teams and other functions the operational performance impacts of new equipment or equipment modifications across current operations.
• Effectively lead, develop, and allocate resources across a team of talented engineers to identify viable project opportunities, and properly validate and implement breakthrough technical in-plant solutions.
• Closely collaborate with R&D Process & Packaging, Quality Assurance, Safety, Information Systems, Manufacturing, and Business Unit Teams among other functions on the definition of technology solutions and standardization opportunities across our product categories.
• Participate in business category, operational, R&D, and Engineering projects and business reviews as required. Communicate and inform operational and business leaders of related work through scheduling, plant and business meetings, and required project status reviews.
• Demonstrate thorough knowledge of capital project administration procedures and follow TFD’s capital management processes and guidelines.
• Working closely with procurement, direct the bid evaluation and contract award processes and coordinate the negotiation of contracts with engineering firms, process equipment vendors, skid, and oversight of equipment acquisition activities
• Assists other department’s efforts to provide technical training and guidance to improve operations.
• Recruit and hire top engineering talent
• Grow and mentor process engineering teams at manufacturing sites

• A BS degree in Chemical / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering with 15+ years of experience in the Food, Beverage, Fast Consumer Packaged Goods and/or similar industries.
• Proven engineering leadership experience with protein frying, freezing, packaging, and related food processes across diverse product categories.
• Demonstrated experience in leading the selection, design, specification, and implementation of new product manufacturing technologies and packaging platforms, including modification of existing operational assets.
• Demonstrated experience in leading front-end engineering and design activities, concurrently with multiple project executions across a complex network of plants.
• Strong analytical and communication skills. Ability to draw sound technical conclusions based on limited data, including the ability to write concise technical reports of findings and compelling recommendations of innovative designs that improve operational margins and throughput.
• Demonstrated experience in leading a diverse team of talented engineers across a remote network in achieving breakthrough results while continuing to develop their leadership skills and technical capabilities.
• Demonstrated sound business acumen to drive comprehensive and compelling business propositions, showing strong communication skills across all organizational levels and diverse cultural environments.
• Proven capital investment strategic leadership experience with a clear impact on the company’s top & bottom-line business metrics.
• Demonstrated ability to follow advanced technical validation and reliability engineering tools to assess technical risks, predictive analytics (FMEA, Statistical Process Analysis, etc.), and project readiness processes and tools to deliver Vertical Start-Ups on complex technologies at plant level.
• Understanding of machine and line process controls and vision systems integration to drive a fully automated operation.
• Experience in Lean Manufacturing, Site Masterplan, and Equipment & Process standardization.
• Experience leading the design and construction of brownfield expansions/greenfield manufacturing plants.

Even better if you have one or more of the following: 

• Master of Business Administration or a similar advanced business degree will be preferred.
• Knowledge of Reliability Engineering (RE) tools & process improvement methodologies.
• Experience in developing new process / packing technologies and standard equipment platforms in close partnership with leading-edge equipment manufacturers and/or technology innovation groups.

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 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.

• Dog-friendly office in NYC
• 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 and hybrid work policy
• 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. 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.

The Farmer's Dog, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic or status. For more information, please visit Know Your Rights.