Southern California Operations Manager / Sr. Manager

Southern California Operations Manager / Sr. Manager

Location: Santa Ana, CA

Job Type: Full-Time

Pay: $100,000-150,000 (commensurate with experience)

About Dispatch Goods

Dispatch Goods is building the infrastructure for a zero-waste future. We partner with food businesses to replace single-use packaging with reusable solutions, making reuse the new default. As we scale across markets and deepen our impact, we’re seeking passionate, systems-minded teammates to help shape the future of sustainable food packaging.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced, growth-minded operations leader to own and run our Southern California operations at our Santa Ana, CA facility. This senior operations role is deeply hands-on with the day-to-day leadership of warehouse operations and circular logistics, and it will also set the operational strategy for the SoCal region.

You will own the P&L, execute the day-to-day operations that move material through our reuse supply chain, and build the team and culture that deliver them. You will hire and train people against our Standard Operating Procedures, drive rigorous adherence to those SOPs, and collaborate closely with our Process & Quality Engineer to hit target operational efficiency and output.

You will also foster a cohesive, collaborative warehouse team — one that learns to work together and that genuinely enjoys coming to work. Equally important, you will live in the details: the throughput of our processing lines, the condition and uptime of our equipment, and the quality of every asset that leaves our doors. This role rewards a leader who can zoom out to the operational strategy and zoom all the way in to the floor — and who genuinely enjoys both.

Key Responsibilities P&L & Financial Ownership

• Accountable for the P&L for the Santa Ana facility: revenue, margin, and cost-per-unit.
• Collaborate with finance on analyses to drive decisions on labor, equipment, facilities, supplies, and transportation spend.
• Identify and execute structural cost-reduction and efficiency initiatives that improve margin without compromising service or quality.

Operations = Warehouse + Circular Logistics + Inventory + Data

• Manage the end-to-end production and fulfillment loop: Pickup dirty goods from customer, receive at our site, sanitize, pack, ship and deliver to customer — in order to deliver reuse at high quality and low cost.
• Organize and monitor dirty and clean inventory on-site.
• Ensure critical data collection activities are executed accurately by the warehouse team.

Operational Excellence & Equipment Mastery

• Master the operation, preventative maintenance, and troubleshooting of the facility's semi-complex processing machinery — in particular the high-throughput, conveyor-fed industrial washing and sanitization system that sits at the heart of our operation. You will be expected to learn it inside and out: how to run it, dial in its settings, keep it clean and calibrated, diagnose issues, perform routine maintenance, and train others to operate it safely and consistently.
• Hire and train the team against Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and drive rigorous, consistent adherence to them across all washing, sanitization, sortation, and processing lines.
• Collaborate closely with the Process & Quality Engineer to deliver projects that improve operational efficiency and output, ultimately achieving targets
• Maintain total compliance with local, regional, and national safety, health, food-safety, and regulatory standards at the facility.

Team Leadership & Workforce Strategy

• Build, lead, and develop the operations team (supervisors, leads, and associates) at the Santa Ana facility.
• Foster a cohesive, collaborative warehouse team that learns to work together, and build a place where people genuinely like to work.
• Own workforce planning and scheduling, balancing processing volume against labor budgets and seasonal demand.
• Hire, train, coach, and retain talent, cultivating an inclusive, accountable, high-performing site culture.

Client Partnership & Site Operations

• Serve as the operational point of contact for SoCal clients; conduct site visits to partner locations to ensure smooth collection, strengthen relationships, and surface workflow improvements.
• Partner with Sales to onboard new clients and own resolution of any escalated local service issues.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressively senior operations management experience overseeing a flexible hourly workforce in a fast-paced environment (e.g., warehousing, manufacturing, food service, or logistics), including responsibility for a site with at least 20 employees.
• Direct experience owning a cost center, budget, or full P&L, with solid command of unit economics.
• Demonstrated ability to operate, maintain, and train others on industrial processing or production equipment — and a genuine willingness to be hands-on with machinery on the floor.
• Proficiency in English and Spanish strongly preferred.
• A “doer and thinker” mentality — equally comfortable setting operational strategy and rolling up your sleeves on the line.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; able to represent Dispatch Goods professionally with clients.
• Willingness to work a flexible schedule, including occasional evenings or weekends, and to be present on-site at our Santa Ana facility.
• Ability to actively navigate a warehouse floor, including standing for extended periods and lifting up to 50 lbs as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Continuous Improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma).
• Experience with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or food-safety sanitation protocols.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary and compensation package.
• Equity grant in a fast-growing physical infrastructure startup.
• Health coverage (medical, dental, and vision plans).
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
• 401K.
• Unlimited paid time off (PTO).
• Parental leave.

To Apply: Send your resume and a short cover letter to ***email_hidden***.