Company description

French Broad Chocolates is a values-driven business with a triple-bottom-line philosophy. We make awesome chocolate — pure, beautiful, and delicious —sourced with integrity, crafted with love, and served with gratitude.

We are growing! In the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, we craft chocolate in small batches. By directly sourcing fine flavor cacao, we create a deeper connection to the source.

We combine our chocolate with fresh, local and organic ingredients to craft truffles, caramels, ice cream and pastries which we offer at our flagship dessert restaurant, French Broad Chocolate Lounge. We sell and ship our handcrafted confections and artisan chocolate bars all over the country.

We do all of this because we seek a closer relationship with our food, and we want to share it with you.

Job description

Job purpose

The Director of Operations is directly responsible for the planning and direction of FBC production operations through effective leadership and coordination of the production management team, and collaboration with senior management team. They coordinate equipment, labor and material resources to ensure safe, high quality, and efficient manufacture of company goods based on formulations and standards developed in conjunction with production managers. They are accountable for the flow of goods throughout the company and internal and external product allocation.

Responsibilities

• Clean and Safe Workplace

  • Act as Regulatory Compliance Officer for all production departments.

  • Ensure PMs remain certified “in-charge” for regulatory compliance.

  • Maintain expertise in current GMP and OSHA regulations, ensuring compliance.

  • Create and maintain Food Safety Plan for each production department, along with department heads.

  • Maintain records of workplace injuries, and all other required records.

• Human Resources and Team Management

  • Support PM team with regular meetings.

  • Hiring and firing, in coordination with HR Director and production managers.

  • Conduct semi-annual production manager reviews.

  • Accountable for departmental promotions.

• • Maintain updated job descriptions for all production positions.

• Production Planning

  • Collaborate with Sales team to understand forecasted production demand.

  • Create Annual Production Plans in coordination with each production department.

  • Track and adjust Annual Production Plans in response to actual sales trends.

• Budget Management

  • Initiate and implement actions to maximize profits by containing expenses through improved operating and cost efficiencies.

  • In coordination with Controller, develop, approve, and meet financial budgets, plans, and updates.

• Inventory Management

  • Maintain inventory for ingredients and supplies, in coordination with each PM.

  • Manage buying relationships for ingredients and supplies, in coordination with each PM.

• Staff Training and Development

  • Train Production Managers on policies and procedures.

  • Provide constructive feedback in a helpful manner, to keep standards high and to allow staff to continue to grow, learn and improve their skills.

  • Guide PMs in supervisory responsibilities.

• Quality assurance

  • Ensure all product meets company standards of excellence.

  • Test and pull products as necessary for quality or expiration.

  • Communicate best production, handling, and storage practices to ensure high quality.

• Special Events

  • Work with community, and represent the company at events as necessary.

• Interdepartmental Communication

  • Communicate and coordinate with other departments as necessary.

• Administrative

  • Maintain records of all policy and procedure changes.

  • Maintain records of departmental input and output.

• Continuing education – as directed

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in manufacturing/production/operations management

• 5+ years in management

• Ability to lead and inspire others

• Strong communication skills

• Alignment with FBC mission, vision

Working conditions

• Position may require evenings and weekends as necessary.
• May be required to work in loud production environment
• May be required to work in areas with varying temperature (hot/cold)

Physical requirements

• OM may be required to stand for extended periods of time, lift 50+ lbs regularly, and perform repetitive tasks with few breaks.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, varies DOE, $50,000.00 - $75,000.00

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline