Operations Manager - Founding Team

Aureum Advisors is retained by an early-stage snack startup, founded by a Columbia alumna

We are an early-stage snacks company out to revolutionize the space. The 4pm munch or a late-night crave, the packet you reach for between meals. Taste first, with nutrition built in rather than bolted on. We are backed by a family office with a 25+ year track record. We are at the zero-to-one stage and looking to scale fast over the next 12 to 18 months.

Operations Manager - Founding Team

This is the person who turns a recipe into a product on a shelf. We are looking for a high-agency operator with real depth across manufacturing, production and supply chain, and the network to match.

What You Will Deliver

The deliverable: product on shelf, at the margin we planned for.

• The manufacturing network. Find, qualify, negotiate with and manage manufacturers across Maharashtra, Karnataka, UP, MP, Bihar and NCR. Own the production matrix and the commercials behind it: MOQs, conversion cost

line rates, wastage norms. This produces partners signed, audited and running to spec.

• The supply chain. Source the right raw material at the right price and build the supply chain behind it. Packaging vendors, warehousing, and dispatch across channels are yours too.
• The formulation. Work with external food consultants to turn ingredients into something that tastes as good as it functions, and keep the recipe, and the IP, in-house.
• Industrialisation. Bench to line. Run the trials, hold the spec, and make what works at 2 kg work at 2 tonnes.
• Quality and shelf life. QA/QC protocols at partner plants and FSSAI compliance at the manufacturing end.
• The cost sheet. BOM, material variance, yield, conversion cost, landed cost per pack. You should know what a five-paise move in seasoning does to gross margin, and where the next point is hiding.
• The team. This starts as a one-person function. Within the next year, this should be a team that functions like a well-oiled machine.

Who You Are

• 7+ years in FMCG manufacturing, production, supply chain or operations. Depth in at least one; working fluency across the rest.
• Ideally both worlds: a legacy food manufacturer, where you learned how a shop floor actually runs, and a new-age brand, where you learned to do it without a system.
• A deep, live network across manufacturing and supply chain in packaged snacks.
• Demonstrated acumen in maintaining plant- and product-level profitability.
• High agency. You will find manufacturing partners, sit with them, argue about wastage, and might have to drive back the same night. This is not a desk role.
• Operators who have built a snack brand from zero and are looking for their next one.

Education

• B.Tech / B.E. in Food Technology, Production, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent.
• An MBA in supply chain or operations is an advantage.

Apply using this Google Form Link: https://forms.gle/aV4T9aj7o9Hcd1V59