Operations Manager

Pala Petfoods is a fast-growing Estonian company dedicated to producing high-quality dog food for the European market. Our passionate team of 25 develops and manufactures premium pet nutrition.

As demand **continues to grow and operations move from recovery into a more stable scaling phase , we are entering an important next stage of development. To support this phase, we are seeking a hands-on ** Operations Manager to lead our day-to-day activities and ensure our production, logistics, and internal processes run ** reliably, efficiently, and with clear ownership **.

In this critical role, you will partner closely with the CEO and leadership team. You will serve as the primary operational leader on-site, empowering and supporting our teams across production, logistics, and administration.

Tasks

• Operational leadership: Lead the day-to-day operations of the company, ensuring stable, efficient, and scalable production.
• Production oversight: Help Production Manager with supply chain, logistics, quality assurance, and facilities to ensure smooth operations.
• Team leadership: Build, coach, and develop the operations team ** and middle-management layer** while setting clear KPIs, ** ownership **, and performance expectations.
• Quality and compliance: Ensure consistent product quality, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement in manufacturing processes.
• Supply chain management: Oversee suppliers, inventory planning, forecasting, and procurement to support business growth.
• Commercial coordination: Work closely with sales and marketing teams to align production capacity, ** product availability, customer priorities, and delivery promises** with demand and product launches.
• Financial oversight: Manage operational budgets, drive cost optimisation initiatives, and maintain clear operational reporting.
• Operational problem-solving: Identify and resolve operational challenges, including production workflow, machinery, and process issues.
• Process improvement: Implement improvements in systems, processes, ** reporting routines **, and operational structures to support ** stability and scaling **.
• Culture building: Foster a collaborative, accountable, and customer-focused culture across operations.

Requirements

• Operations leadership experience: You have previous experience leading operations, production, or manufacturing teams and delivering measurable results.
• Relevant industry exposure: Experience in food production, FMCG, or similar industries is a strong advantage.
• Commercial understanding: You are comfortable working cross-functionally with sales or commercial teams and understand how operations supports growth.
• Sales and operations mindset: ** You understand how to balance commercial ambition with realistic production capability, product availability, and customer commitments.**
• Analytical mindset: You have strong problem-solving skills and experience working with KPIs, forecasting, and operational metrics.
• Structured leadership: ** You are able to create clarity in a fast-moving environment through clear ownership, priorities, reporting routines, and follow-up discipline.**
• Systems knowledge: You have experience working with ERP systems, production planning tools, or quality management systems.
• Change leadership: You are able to lead operational improvements in a fast-growing scale-up environment while maintaining stability.
• Hands-on approach: You are comfortable working on-site in a production environment and actively solving operational challenges.
• Language skills: You are fluent or highly proficient in English. Additional languages (e.g., Estonian, German, Russian, French) are a strong advantage.

Benefits

This is a rare opportunity to shape operations during a pivotal growth stage. You will have a direct impact on product quality, **operational stability **, scale our manufacturing capabilities, and collaborate with the CEO to chart the company’s future across Europe.

If you are a decisive, people-focused leader who thrives on building efficient systems, solving complex problems, and guiding teams to success, we want to hear from you.

How to apply:

If you feel this role matches your experience and ambitions, please send your CV and a cover letter describing your most relevant achievements and why you want to join Pala Petfoods via the application link.

We review applications on a rolling basis and may invite candidates to interviews before the application deadline.