POSITION: Senior Director of Plant Operations and Manufacturing
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS:
- Reports to the CEO
- Direct Reports: Director of Coffee, Compliance Manager, Senior Operations Manager, Production/Operations Leaders
- Key Partners: Coffee, Wholesale, Retail, Marketing, Finance, People & Culture
About EquatorIn 1995, Equator Founders Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell began their values-driven path, roasting coffee in a Marin County, CA garage. Possessing an obsessive commitment to green coffee sourcing and unparalleled roasting expertise, Equator has committed over 30 years to sustainable and fair trade coffee practices all in the name of creating a remarkable coffee experience for consumers. Today, Equator Coffees is a retail and wholesale coffee roaster and coffee farm owner with twelve retail cafes throughout California—from Marin County to San Francisco to Oakland to Sonoma County and beyond. Throughout the years, Equator Coffees has spearheaded industry-leading sourcing and roasting practices, and has forged progressive partnerships with Michelin-starred chefs, specialty grocers, tech campuses, and more. Women-owned, LGBTQ-founded, and an early adopter of Fair Trade and Regenerative Organic certifications, Equator Coffees is the first California coffee roaster to achieve B Corp Certification.Position Summary
This role leads the roastery which is the engine of all of our business channels—and builds what comes next. The Senior Director of Plant Operations & Manufacturing is responsible for the full production and supply chain ecosystem at Equator, from green coffee intake through roasting, packaging, and fulfillment across retail, wholesale, and e-commerce channels.
This is a highly visible leadership role, responsible for:
- Optimizing current operations
- Building systems and infrastructure for scale
- Leading teams and developing future leaders
- Ensuring quality, efficiency, and consistency without compromise
You understand that great coffee is both craft and consistency—and you know how to build an operation that honors both.
What You’ll Own
End-to-End Coffee Production & Supply Chain
- Oversee green coffee QA, receiving, storage and roasting, packaging, and fulfillment
- Oversee roast execution, cupping standards, and quality control
- Ensure freshness, traceability, and consistency across all SKUs and channels
- Own supply chain flow from procurement through finished goods
Roastery & Manufacturing Operations
- Lead daily operations across roasting, packaging, fulfillment and distribution
- Align production planning with demand across retail, wholesale, and e-commerce
- Optimize workflows, staffing, and scheduling in a high-mix environment
- Balance efficiency with quality and craft
- Help lead facility move and expansion to 20,000+ square foot SQF facility, including addition of roasting capacity and automated packaging equipment
Systems, Inventory & Production Planning
- Own production planning systems (Cropster, NetSuite ERP, and related tools)
- Manage green and roasted coffee inventory with accuracy and intention
- Improve forecasting, reporting, and production visibility
- Drive waste reduction, sustainability improvements and service level improvements
Quality, Food Safety & Compliance
- Ensure compliance with GMP, HACCP, and OSHA standards
- Move production facility from GMP to SQF
- Maintain audit readiness and strong food safety practices
- Build and reinforce quality systems across roasting and packaging
People Leadership & Culture
- Lead and develop managers, supervisors, and production teams
- Build a culture of accountability, safety, inclusion, and continuous improvement
- Coach leaders to drive performance, engagement, and team development
- Partner with People & Culture on hiring, performance management, and growth
Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
- Drive Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives
- Track and improve KPIs: quality, throughput, labor efficiency, waste, order accuracy
- Identify opportunities for automation and smarter systems
- Build and execute operational roadmaps for scaling the business
Logistics & Distribution
- Oversee fulfillment and distribution across all channels
- Optimize cost, speed, and reliability of delivery
- Identify and resolve bottlenecks across the network
Financial & Strategic Leadership
- Responsible for COGS, labor, and efficiency metrics
- Partner with Finance and CEO on budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning
- Build reporting and analytics to support decision-making
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner closely with Coffee, Wholesale, Retail, and Marketing teams
- Ensure operations enables—not constrains—growth
- Support new product launches and seasonal programs
Qualifications and Requirements
- BS degree in engineering, supply chain or management discipline
- 10+ years of progressive operations leadership in food or beverage manufacturing
- 7–10+ years of progressive responsibility leading teams of 25+ people and managers in production environments
- Strong experience in end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing operations
- Deep respect for quality-driven production (coffee experience strongly preferred)
- Proven ability to scale operations while maintaining product integrity
- Experience with production planning, inventory systems, and ERP tools
- Strong knowledge of SQF, GMP, HACCP, and food safety standards
- Financial acumen, including P&L ownership or influence
- Clear, grounded leadership style with strong communication skills
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to influence across roasting, production, fulfillment, cross-functional and leadership teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Direct experience in specialty coffee roasting or specialty food production
- Background in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and Kaizen
- Familiarity with Cropster or similar roasting software
- Bilingual (English/Spanish)
- Experience in a mission-driven or B Corp organization
Benefits
- Available to all employees
- Commuter Benefits - pre-tax parking and transit
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Physical and mental health, financial and legal coaching available at no cost to the employee
- Free mental health app subscription
- Employee discount on merchandise, coffee gear, and at Equator cafes
- Continuing coffee education classes
- Free coffee
- After 60 days as an employee at Equator
-
Healthcare Benefits (for full-time employees working over 30 hours per week)
- 100% employer-covered premium medical insurance
- Voluntary Insurance Plans - dental, vision, long-term disability, pet, and supplementary life insurance
- Employer covered life insurance premium
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - healthcare and daily dependent care
- After 90 days as an employee at Equator
- Holiday Pay after 90 days of employment. Eight Equator-observed holidays per year
- Paid Time Off with tenured increases for full-time employees
- 1 paid volunteer day per year
- After six months as an employee at Equator
-
401K with up to a 4% company match on employee contributions
Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
This position description intends to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. It is not intended to include all duties and responsibilities. Job responsibilities can change according to the operational needs of the business. The order in which duties and responsibilities are listed is not significant.
Equator Coffees is an equal-opportunity employer. All aspects of employment including the decision to hire, promote, and discharge will be based on competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability or any other applicable legally protected characteristics.