RENEW - Chief Operating Officer

ABOUT US: Mama Fresh is an Ethiopian injera manufacturing company established in 2003. The company has the vision to become the first and largest commercial-scale injera brand company in Ethiopia and serving domestic and international markets. Injera is a sourdough bread made from teff, a gluten-free grain, and is consumed by millions of Ethiopians globally.

OVERVIEW OF ROLE: 

- The Chief Operations Officer (COO) is responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of the company on a full-time basis. This position reports directly to the Board of Directors of the Company, as well as outside consultants at RENEW LLC, which will work with the COO to design and implement best practices and standard operating procedures.

- We expect the COO to be a strong and disciplined project manager who understands the entire business and how the pieces fit together. The COO will be the key person in the business to analyze and formulate process flows, identify root cause process breakdowns, and implement process changes, improvements, and corrective actions. The ideal candidate, furthermore, is able to engage the Mama Fresh team, its customers and board members at the international business standards in terms of the quality of outputs as well as timeliness.

- Mama Fresh invites a driven and like-minded professional to apply and join us in pursuing this mission and vision.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

- On the high level, COO is responsible for the overall coordination of Mama Fresh's business units and ensuring effective communication internally among each of these units, the leadership team, and the Board of the Company. The COO will also be responsible to represent Mama Fresh and build strong relationships with external stakeholders such as the company's suppliers, vendors, and customers. Specifically, we look for top talents who possess the abilities to manage the following:

Project and Quality Management

- The COO will ensure all projects are delivered to high-quality standards and meet management and customer expectations. This person must have strong communication skills and the ability to operate in varying strategic and tactical roles, covering business and technology, using various management skills and tools.

Performance Management

The COO will : 

- Work closely with Mama Fresh's leadership team (CFO, Factory Manager, Quality Control Manager and Marketing Manager) to carefully track performance against targets and dashboards and expenditures and cash flow against budgets and projections.

- Provide sufficient and accurate data, analysis and reports to requesting Units for further decision.

Strategic Planning and Implementation Oversight

- The COO will develop company priorities with the Mama Fresh leadership team and design and coordinate plans for the achievement of these priorities.

Adoption of Food Safety Standards and Certification of Facilities and Products

- The COO will work with the leadership team to identify food safety standards and certifications and provide project management support to ensure adoption, compliance and monitoring

- Working to develop and maintain the highest quality injera and other Ethiopian made products

- Planning and organizing production schedules

- Ensuring that health and safety regulations are met

- Managing both raw materials, packaging materials, and final product

- Managing the quality assurance and food safety of products and processes in compliance with ISO 22000:2005 certifications and FSMA compliance best practices

Regulatory Compliance:

With support from other management members, the COO will ensure that all activities and operations are performed in compliance with local, regional, and federal regulations and laws governing business operations

Financial Planning and Management:

The COO will possess sufficient understanding of corporate finances specific to the food manufacturing sector of Ethiopia (or similar economies) to work hand-in-hand with the CFO on the following:

- Providing updates to the Board, proposed budgets and cash flow projections, and targets vs. actuals (for revenue, expenses, profit, operational efficiency and other ratios)

- Planning expenditures and to track target versus actual expenditures and revenues

- Developing forecasts and other raw material purchases and utilization and coordinate the use of such forecasts in financial and operational planning activities

- Evaluating the performance of staff and design and implement incentive programs

Adoption of Standard Operating Procedures:

The COO will be responsible for ensuring that unit leads develop, use and update manuals and standard operating procedures for all key areas of the business, including customer service, employee onboarding and offboarding, financial management, equipment periodic testing and maintenance, safety (of people, food safety, and data security), procurement of raw materials, order fulfillment and customer contracting and pricing

Achieve Operational Efficiency and Quality:

With other management, the COO will design and implement procedures to track and improve operational efficiency and quality The COO will also develop and maintain clear lines of reporting among employees

QUALIFICATIONS :

- Degree in related field or equivalent manufacturing managerial experience

- 8+ years of increasing management responsibilities as a COO, Senior Project Manager or Operations Manager within a manufacturing environment

- Knowledge and certification of food safety procedures and standards such as ISSO, HAACP (as stated above) and others

- Excellent time management and organizational skills

- Excellent communication skills; both verbal and written; must speak and write English fluently (Amharic is a big plus)

- Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability in providing clear expectations and responsibilities

- Good to excellent computer skills and proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and internet communication

- Team concept management style (employee empowerment and engagement)

- Work experience in Africa would be favored

Wages and Benefits: 

- Negotiable salary with appropriate benefits.

Work Location - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Application Process: 

Applicants can apply with a cover letter describing their qualifications to the requirements of this position, their salary expectations and reasons for applying. Applicants should include degrees, two professional references and other material they deem relevant with their applications in resume/Cover letter

Application Deadline

- January 31, 2019