Manager, Tempo Operations

Founded in 2013 Home Chef is the leading meal solutions company with both a retail and online presence. Available online at in retail at more than 2100 Kroger grocery stores Home Chef is committed to inspiring and enabling more people to cook simple delicious meals no matter how busy they are.

In 2023 Home Chef introduced a new brand Tempo! Tempo features a rotating selection of ready-to-heat meals delivered directly to your door. These meals are better-for-you versions of familiar favorites designed to save you time and reduce stress while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our Tempo menu includes options that are protein-packed fiber-rich calorie and carb conscious keto-friendly and dietitian-approved.

Similar to our recipes we recognize that variety is the spice of life and therefore our employees also bring their uniqueness and color to our fantastic team. Were eager to work with humble team players and pragmatic next-level thinkers to innovate on Home Chefs offerings.

The Tempo Operations Manager will oversee end-to-end operations of Home Chefs Ready to Heat (RTH) production ensuring consistent quality food safety and execution against production targets. This individual will manage a cross-functional team of culinary and production professionals including Executive Chefs and Production Kitchen Supervisors. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced high-volume environment excels in leadership and team development and is passionate about operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

Detailed Responsibilities

Oversee Tempo Production and Kitchen Operations

• Ensure seamless execution of all RTH production operations including prep cooking cooling portioning traying sealing and labeling.
• Coordinate production planning ingredient readiness and kitchen line staffing with plant leadership and warehouse teams.
• Monitor adherence to production schedules and address obstacles in real time.

Lead and Develop Cross-Functional Teams

• Leads by example and embodies Home Chef values of Customer First Best-in-Class Team Ownership Pursue Excellence and Deliver Happiness
• Directly manage Executive Chef and Production Kitchen Manager
• Provide leadership coaching and professional development across kitchen and production teams.
• Foster a high-performance culture rooted in collaboration accountability and continuous improvement.
• Drives strong communication across shifts and departments by ensuring huddles and daily communications are completed effectively

Drive Quality Food Safety and Compliance

• Ensure strict compliance with food safety programs (GMP HACCP SQF).
• Champion a Safety First Quality Always culture across shifts.
• Act as escalation point for quality and food safety concerns coordinating with Quality and FSQA teams.

Partner with Corporate Teams

• Collaborate with R&D chefs to support recipe rollouts menu improvements and ingredient transitions.
• Partner with Procurement to address sourcing issues and ingredient changes.
• Align with HR Quality and Engineering on process and system improvements.

Reporting Tracking and Continuous Improvement

• Own daily/weekly reporting of production KPIs team performance and quality metrics.
• Utilize Progress Tracker and other tools to track batch data yields and line performance.
• Identify process gaps and lead implementation of SOPs and efficiencies with Continuous Improvement.

This position requires 5% travel.

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge skill and/or ability needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• 5 years of leadership experience in high-volume food production culinary operations or manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of HACCP and SQF requirements.
• Demonstrated success in managing cross-functional production and culinary teams.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Google Suite and production tracking tools.
• Ability to manage in a cold production environment (38F).
• Exceptional communication problem-solving and organizational skills.
• General high school degree or equivalent (e.g. GED).

More About Us

Perks and Benefits

• Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer - enter promo code PEOPLE30 for $30 off your first order!
• Medical dental vision life and disability insurance available
• Paid holidays sick time and vacation time
• 401k program
• Flexible spending accounts for qualified medical dependent care parking or transit expenses

How We Work Together

We are humble team players.
We are warm and gracious with team members and customers. We seek feedback to improve ourselves - and respectfully listen to and accept input.

We are pragmatic next-level thinkers.
We come up with novel and unique ideas. We explore new strategies to avoid being constrained by conventional thinking.

We take ownership.
We approach ambiguous problems prepared to dive in get curious and learn more. We are results-driven always challenging ourselves to exceed goals.

Be at Home at Home Chef

We all show up authentically at Home Chef. Our team includes individuals with a variety of identities backgrounds and perspectives. You can trust that youll be able to bring your whole self to an inclusive and enjoyable workplace.

We welcome people of all races colors religions national origin or ancestry sex (including sexual identity) age physical or mental disabilities pregnancy veteran or military status unfavorable discharge from military service genetic information sexual orientation marital status order of protection status citizenship status arrest record or expunged/sealed convictions or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal state or local law.

Home Chef is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment Home Chef will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process to perform essential job functions or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment please contact our People team at .

To view the California Applicant Notice click here

Required Experience:

Manager