Reusable Packaging Operations Manager

Farm to People • New York, New York, United States • from $70k / year • 2h ago

About Farm to People

We are Farm To People: a fast-growing farmer's market delivery service that offers New Yorkers a wide curation of products by local farmers and makers. Our mission is to reimagine the food system by supporting small farmers and producers, all while providing customers an unmatched grocery experience.

That mission includes what the food arrives in. Grocery delivery has a packaging problem — most of it is used once and thrown out. We built our service around bags and ice packs that come back to us, get cleaned, and go out again. Running that loop well is one of the most concrete ways we cut waste out of our industry.

The Role

Every week, thousands of our bags and ice packs come back from customers' doorsteps instead of going to landfill. The Reusable Packaging Operations Manager owns what happens next — building and leading the team that sorts, cleans, sanitizes, inspects, and returns that packaging to production, and building the systems that keep it all moving.

Reuse only beats single-use if it actually works at scale. So this role owns the numbers as much as the loop: labor hours, cost per unit cleaned, return and loss rates, and packaging spend. You will forecast how much packaging we need and when, negotiate with vendors on both cost and sustainability standards, and keep the flow of returns, storage, and restock organized enough that production never runs short.

It is a hands-on, get-your-hands-dirty position. You will be on the floor with your team as often as you are in a spreadsheet.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership

Build and lead the reusables team, including hiring, onboarding, scheduling, training, and coaching.
Set and enforce daily production targets for washing, sanitizing, drying, and restocking reusable bags and ice packs.
Create and maintain written standard operating procedures for every step of the wash and return process, and train the team to follow them consistently.
Manage labor hours against volume, adjusting staffing up or down as order volume and seasonality shift.
Uphold health, safety, and sanitation standards, including proper handling of cleaning chemicals, PPE use, and equipment safety.
Foster a respectful, accountable team culture where standards are clear and people are set up to succeed.
Own performance management end to end, including reviews, corrective action, and terminations when necessary.

Cleaning & Quality Operations

Own the end-to-end cleaning process for reusable bags, ice packs, and other returnable packaging, from intake through inspection to restock.
Set and enforce quality standards for what is clean enough to go back to a customer, and what gets pulled, repaired, or retired.
Keep every item in circulation as long as possible — understand why units drop out of the loop, track loss, damage, and retirement rates, and drive initiatives that extend usable life.
Maintain cleaning equipment and supplies, coordinating repairs and preventive maintenance to avoid downtime.
Ensure the program meets all applicable food safety, sanitation, and compliance requirements.

Purchasing, Budget & Metrics

Make packaging choices that hold up against our sustainability goals, evaluating materials, durability, recyclability, and vendor practices alongside cost.
Forecast packaging needs based on order volume, return rates, loss rates, seasonality, and growth plans.
Create and manage purchase orders for reusable and single-use packaging, timing buys to avoid both stockouts and overstock.
Source and negotiate with packaging vendors on pricing, terms, lead times, and minimums, ensuring accountability across suppliers.
Own the reusables program budget, tracking labor, materials, and packaging spend against plan and explaining variances.
Track, analyze, and report on program performance — return rate, cost per unit cleaned, loss rate, labor productivity, packaging spend, and waste diverted — and propose initiatives for efficiency and savings.

Logistics & Inventory

Organize the full return loop: collection from routes, intake at the warehouse, staging, cleaning, storage, and delivery back to production.
Manage storage facilities and on-site space so that inventory is organized, labeled, accessible, and safe.
Monitor inventory levels of all reusable and packaging SKUs, conduct physical counts, and reconcile against system records.
Flag supply risks early and put contingency plans in place so production never runs short.
Partner with Operations on warehouse layout and flow to keep the reusables footprint tight and organized as volume grows.

Ideal Candidate

3–5 years of experience managing hourly teams in a warehouse, production, commissary, food service, laundry, logistics, or similar hands-on operating environment.
Motivated by circular packaging and by the chance to prove that reuse can work at scale, not just in a pilot.
Proven ability to hire, train, coach, and hold a team accountable to daily production and quality standards.
Comfortable doing the work alongside the team — this is a physical, hands-on role in a wet, cold, and sometimes messy environment.
Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Google Sheets and Excel; comfortable building forecasts, tracking cost per unit, and managing to a budget.
Experience with purchasing, vendor negotiation, or inventory management; you know how to hold a supplier to their terms.
Highly organized with a bias toward systems and labels over memory; you are the person who makes a chaotic space make sense.
Strong communicator who can work effectively across operations, finance, production, and leadership.
A problem solver with good judgment, persistence, and a proactive approach to improving processes and driving results.
Energized by a fast-paced operating environment; you thrive under pressure, stay focused when things move quickly, and know how to prioritize.