Role: Operations Manager

Career Step Level: Step level 4

Location: Italy, Milan

📣A bit about the role

We’re thrilled to bring Butternut Box to Italy and we’re searching for an inspirational Operational Leader who will be a foundational part of our launch in Italy, based in Milan, where you will play a critical part in setting up and managing our third-party fulfilment operation, in Italy while staying true to our core values of care, quality and customer delight.

This role is about building, leading and growing. You’ll own the relationship with our 3rd party order fulfilment partner and our delivery providers. 

This isn’t just a job, it’s an opportunity to reshape the pet industry in Italy and make tails wag nationwide. As our Operations Manager for Italy, you’ll have the opportunity to build something special from the ground up - making a real difference for dogs and their owners while being part of a growing, supportive and values-driven team.

A bit more detail

In this role, you can expect to…

• Take full ownership of Butternut’s operational performance in Italy, ensuring we deliver a best-in-class experience to our Italian customers.
• Working closely with the Marketing and Sales teams and run an S&OP session to ensure the supply and demand numbers
• Work closely with the Customer Love team, to drive improvements based on the feedback of our customers within the operation
• Set up and manage the day-to-day operations of our third-party fulfilment partner in Piemonte, responsible for receiving finished goods, picking, packing and dispatching customer orders.
• Oversee the handoff and performance management of our “last-mile delivery” to ensure timely and accurate deliveries to customers.
• Implement and optimise key KPIs including On Time In Full (OTIF), packing accuracy, and delivery experience, We operate to a world-class OTIF of 98.5%.
• Collaborate closely with the 3PL site management team to build a strong, efficient, and scalable operational model.
• Manage volume forecasts for box packing and courier collections, and ensure accurate stock levels at the fulfilment partner.
• Coordinate logistics around inbound finished goods from the UK, including import and customs clearance into Italy.
• Be relentlessly focused on the customer experience, and ensure that operational decisions and changes are made with the customer in mind.
• Work with other European Operations Managers to share learnings and implement initiatives that improve service and efficiency across markets.
• Support cross-functional launches of new products or operational initiatives within the Italian market.

🔎 A bit about you

• Excited by the opportunity to build and scale operations in a new market for a fast-growing, mission-driven company.
• Experience working in a fast-paced operational environment, ideally with a strong understanding of third-party logistics and fulfilment models.
• Proven track record of managing 3PL relationships and holding partners accountable to high standards of performance.
• A self-starter who is comfortable with ambiguity, thrives on solving problems, and enjoys getting stuck into the detail.
• Outstanding communication and relationship management skills – you’ll be representing Butternut on the ground in Italy.
• Highly organised, data-driven and able to interpret performance metrics to drive decisions.
• Analytical skills are also a bonus.

🐶  A bit about Butternut

At Butternut Box, we put the food back into dog food. We believe dogs deserve to eat the healthiest, most natural and tastiest food with none of the nasties. That’s why we make freshly prepared dog food. Cooked like you would at home. Delivered in perfect portions. As a B-Corp certified company; you can be sure you are joining a sustainable company who care about our people, product and our impact on the environment.

Our mission is to help dogs live healthier, happier and longer lives whilst leaving humans smiling after every interaction. We’ve come a long way since our co-founders (Kev & Dave) hand-delivered the first Butternut Box, we now feed a lot of dogs across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland & Czech Republic - but we want to feed dogs everywhere. And to do this, we need a team of brilliant people who share that ambition to come and work with us.

🥳What's In It For You?🥳

This is the part where we would normally list all the great benefits you get as part of the squad, and there are loads to choose from, including discounts on our food, share options in our business and more socials than you can shake a fetch stick at.As a new country, we don't have all the perks and benefits confirmed quite yet, but rest assured, although we will start quite basic, we will build these out as the country gets more established. 

‼️  A few things to note

• Butternut Box is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity and inclusion. We welcome people of different nationalities, backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives.
• As our business has grown so has our responsibility to our community, our planet and our business. We are not perfect, but we are committed to doing business the right way and continually improving our social and environmental performance.
• We're not looking for agency support with this role. 
• The interview process involves a trip to Doncaster to visit our UK Manufactering and fulfilment site.

Interview process

1st stage, a video call with our Recruiter

2nd stage, a video call with your potential line manager and peer to talk all things Operations and Butternut

3rd stage, a video call with a member of our customer love team and our Supply Chain Director

Final stage, a trip to the UK site (Rudies Kitchen and Aces Pantry) where you will have a full tour and meet key members of the leadership team

#LI-Hybrid