PURPOSE: The In-House Program Manager provides leadership and oversight for the co-op’s in-house production programs, including Prepared Foods and Coffee Roasting. The purpose of this role is to ensure these programs consistently produce high-quality products that meet customer needs, reflect the co-op’s values, and contribute positively to the co-op’s financial health and long-term sustainability.

REPORTS TO: General Manager

DIRECT REPORTS: Deli Assistant, Coffee Specialist

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Brand

Build a recognizable and consistent identity for the co-op’s coffee and prepared foods
Ensure in-house products consistently reflect the co-op’s standards for quality, freshness, value, and care
Develop products in response to customer feedback, community needs, food trends, seasonality, and opportunities within the local food system
Ensure products are attractively presented, packaged, labeled, and merchandised in ways that reinforce quality
Work collaboratively with Marketing to develop promotions, storytelling, signage, sampling, and educational opportunities around house made products
Identify opportunities for in-house products to support co-op events, community partnerships, member engagement, and other organizational initiatives
Model the co-op’s expectations for welcoming, respectful and knowledgeable customer service

Financial

Develop, manage, and work within sales, margin, labor, expense, and profitability goals
Regularly review financial and operational performance and take appropriate action when results are above or below established goals
Maintain accurate recipe and product costing, including ingredients, packaging, yields, and other direct production costs
Maintain appropriate retail pricing based on product costs, target margins, customer value, and market considerations
Establish appropriate production levels and pars to maintain product availability while minimizing overproduction and waste
Monitor shrink, spoilage, waste, samples, and production loss and implement strategies to keep them within established goals
Manage inventory levels and purchasing to maintain appropriate inventory turns and minimize excess inventory
Ensure accurate inventory counts and investigates significant inventory or cost variances
Work with vendors to maintain appropriate costs, purchasing terms, product quality, and supply reliability
Understand how decisions within the deli and coffee programs affect the overall financial health of the co-op and make decisions accordingly

Operations

Oversee the day-to-day operations of all in-house programs, ensuring work is organized, efficient, and completed to standards
Develop and maintain effective production schedules, pars, routines, workflows, and standard operating procedures
Maintain appropriate systems for equipment maintenance, cleaning schedules, temperature logs, production records, and other operational documentation
Ensure compliance with all applicable food safety, sanitation, health department, workplace safety, labeling, and regulatory requirements
Establish procedures that minimize food-safety risks, cross-contamination, allergens, injuries, and other operational hazards
Maintain appropriate contingency plans for equipment failures, staffing shortages, product shortages, and other disruptions

Supervision

Provide direct supervision, leadership, and support to staff
Ensure staff understand not only what is expected of them, but the standards and outcomes they are responsible for achieving
Provide consistent direction, coaching, feedback, and recognition to support strong employee performance
Develop and maintain effective training and onboarding systems for new and existing staff
Ensure employees are appropriately trained in food safety, sanitation, equipment use, recipes, production standards, customer service, and other responsibilities of their positions
Hold staff accountable for completing assigned responsibilities and follow up when expectations are not met
Communicate important information, priorities, changes, and decisions to staff in a timely, clear, and respectful manner
Create an environment where employees can raise questions, concerns, mistakes, and ideas constructively

Leadership & Cooperation

Serve as an active and engaged member of the co-op’s leadership team, contributing to the success of the entire organization
Demonstrate ownership of the role, independently identifying needs, making appropriate decisions, solving problems, and following through without waiting for direction
Understand and support the co-op’s mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, policies, and organizational goals
Model the accountability, respect, and adaptability expected of co-op leaders
Build positive, collaborative working relationships with other managers, leads, specialists, and staff
Approach cross-departmental challenges with a cooperative and solution-oriented mindset, considering what is best for the co-op as a whole

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Experience in food service, prepared foods, grocery, retail food production, coffee production, hospitality, or a related operational environment.
Ability and willingness to perform hands-on production and operational work while maintaining responsibility for the broader management of the programs.
Ability to work a schedule that meets the operational needs of the programs, including some early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, or special events as needed.
Working knowledge of food safety, sanitation, safe food handling, and commercial food-production practices, or the ability to quickly develop this knowledge and obtain required certifications.
Ability to lead, supervise, coach, and hold staff accountable in a respectful and constructive manner.
Ability to take ownership of an area of responsibility, independently identify needs, establish priorities, solve problems, and follow through.
Ability to develop and maintain effective systems, procedures, production routines, and operational standards.
Commitment to excellent customer service and creating a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience
Ability to lift 50 pounds and team lift 50+.
Ability to stand for long periods.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Two or more years of experience in a supervisory, management, or team-leadership role, preferably within grocery, food service, hospitality, retail, or food production.
Experience supervising and developing multiple functional areas.
Experience with coffee roasting, including roast profiling, production roasting, green coffee handling, quality control, and/or roasting equipment.
Experience with recipe development, recipe costing, menu planning, and production planning.
Experience managing departmental budgets, sales goals, gross margins, labor costs, inventory, shrink, or other key performance indicators.
Current ServSafe Manager certification or equivalent food-safety certification
Familiarity with the cooperative business model and cooperative principles, particularly experience working within a food co-op or other community-owned business.
Demonstrated interest in food, cooking, product development, coffee, and creating distinctive customer experiences

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