Chocolate Production Team Manager

About Us
Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate factory in San Francisco’s Mission District. We make chocolate from only two ingredients, cocoa beans and cane sugar, and travel to origins as often as we can to build good, trusting relationships with the producers who grow and ferment the beans we buy. We strive to make some of the best chocolate in the world, and now we’re looking for a Production Manager to lead that effort alongside our amazing production team at our flagship location on Valencia Street.

About the Job
While there’s no such thing as a typical day, you usually start your morning by meeting with Lead Chocolate Makers to talk about the production goals and daily schedule. After the team huddle, you meet with a chocolate maker for your weekly 1-1. They’ve expressed an interest in leading a safety initiative so you tweak schedules to ensure that they can attend the bi-weekly company safety meetings. Just as you’re due to start a meeting with the Flavor Manager, the tempering machine stops working. With a text to reschedule, you drop everything to focus all of your attention on working with the mechanic to fix the machine. The next hour has you delegating troubleshooting tasks to the team, making multiple phone calls to the Production Mechanic, a minor chocolate spill, and finally, a fixed machine. After lunch, you plan out the newest team member’s training schedule and send a status update on an ongoing R&D project. You finish the day by meeting with the Head of Production, where you outline your plans for developing your team, the most recent improvements on the flavor and production process, and a new quality assurance system you helped build with the Quality Manager.

We are constantly testing to improve our process and flavor, developing our teams, and welcoming visitors into our open factory and cafe. You will supervise and plan production operations and manage our team of chocolate makers. You’ll report to the Head of Production and work closely with other managers (Chocolate Operations, Packaging, Flavor, Quality, 16th Street Production). You’ll be responsible for planning and executing our chocolate production to meet the highest quality standards. One of the most important aspects of this role will be eventually transitioning the team and space from production goal-focused to production with an emphasis on education (training other chocolate makers), limited runs, and learning all there is to know about the nuances of small-batch chocolate making.

About You
You are always planning ahead to anticipate the needs of your team and what they will need to hit the chocolate making goals. When speed bumps come along you roll with it -- the power is out...candlelit chocolate making, go! You’re known for your positive, team-oriented, can-do attitude and leadership. People seek you out as someone who is able to listen and help problem-solve in any situation. Your commitment to quality is obvious through the processes you’ve designed to ensure your team is making products you can stand behind. You are excited to work closely with a tight-knit team and make strong relationships with the managers across the entire organization. You’ll be measured by your ability to maintain a successful team, hit goals, deadlines, and flavor and quality metrics as well as successfully transition the focus of the team and the space in the future. While we understand that life is unpredictable, we are prioritizing candidates who have the visibility to commit to this role for at least two years and are excited to pursue a long-term career in Production Management.

Responsibilities
  • Consistently hit production deliverables/deadlines for bars, ground chocolate, nibs, whole roasted beans through effective goal setting and implementation
  • Create and maintain a strategic daily, weekly, monthly production plan and communicate it to your team and the Head of Production 
  • Maintain the highest quality and flavor standards while working with the Flavor and Quality Manager to implement systems to continue to improve flavor/quality over time
  • Coach team to grow individuals and address any performance issues; maintain an appropriate bar for talent and behavior
  • Conduct interviews and coordinate with People Operations to build a healthy, adaptable team
  • Meet with production team members one-on-one weekly to develop skill-building plans and long-term goals
  • Handle and adapt the plan for hiccups in everyday production, including broken machines
  • Maintain inventory of beans, sugar, and production supplies to support production goals
  • Represent Valencia production point of view in meetings with other departments in the company while understanding and balancing strategic company goals
  • Hands-on production tasks when required
  • Other tasks as needed 

Requirements
  • Leadership experience -- 2+ years prior experience in a leadership role in a deadline-driven, team-oriented environment where setting and meeting goals is essential.
  • Time management and prioritization skills -- you understand competing priorities and always try to maximize what you can accomplish with the available time and resources.
  • Excellent communication skills -- your communication style is approachable and clear, making it easy to coordinate with your team as well as other managers across the company.
  • Organizational skills -- you're a motivated, buttoned-up person who likes to plan (and back-up plan, and to back up your back-up plan) to make sure all your t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted
  • Tech skills -- Computer skills that include Excel, Google Suite, and Word. Willing to learn new systems.
  • Industry experience -- experience working in food production. Bachelor’s degree or relevant industry experience
  • Language skills -- Fluent spoken and written English. Spanish language skills a plus!

Benefits
The benefits and perks continue beyond a robust chocolate education. Dandelion Chocolate constantly invests in our people and culture. All team members receive medical, vision, and dental benefits as well as the option to enroll in our 401k program. All employees receive paid vacation time, holiday pay, and paid sick time. In addition, our team members enjoy commuter benefits, FSAs, local gym discounts, chocolate tasting opportunities, the chance to travel to origin and our Japan locations, and a range of opportunities to grow and develop within the company.

How to Apply
Dandelion is growing and we are invested in employees who take ownership over their role and are interested in contributing in a bigger way with us. You will stand out from the crowd if your resume is accompanied by a cover letter with a few sentences describing the best team you’ve worked with and why it worked so well. 

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