Sourcing and Operations Manager (+ Sustainability) [CLOSED]

My name is Val and I am the founder of Kumiko Matcha. I created Kumiko Matcha 10 years ago to introduce authentic premium organic matcha from Japan to France and Europe.

I travel to Japan each year to meet with our farmer-partners and seek new organic farmers (they are rare!) to tell their stories to our community: people who love drinking good teas and super-premium organic matcha, for its delicious taste and great health benefits.

With Kumiko Matcha we only offer organic and natural products for 3 reasons: protect the environment, protect the health of all the Kumiko community - meaning from the tea farmer in his tea garden to our customer who is drinking the tea; and to make Kumiko a force for the good in the world and be the change we want to see in the world.

Our community loves our products. Not only because we offer the best standards of quality: what separates us from other brands is our authenticity. Through many videos of myself (Val, founder) actually in Japan with the tea farmers in their tea gardens, we seek to link the tea that you are drinking right now, the tea bowl that you are holding, to the whole chain of events that hide behind this single experience: who made this tea bowl, who produced this organic tea, why? what is their life like? etc. It's not just a "thing" it's a whole authentic story behind every product we sell. We tell that story. And you can be part of it.

We are a small business and a small, young, driven team (27-32 years old) that consists of:

⇢ Val as CEO, I am based mostly in France or Poland or Japan

⇢ Jovana is our current Sourcing Manager, based in Serbia, and she will help to train and guide you

⇢ Alexiane is our Community and Customer Support Director, she is based in France.

⇢ Branka is our designer in Serbia, 
⇢ Laura and Sabine are creating unique matcha recipes for us in France,
⇢ Jimmy is our favorite scientific blog posts researcher in Japan.

We are looking for a full-time Operations Manager to join the team. As we are a small team, the role has a few components and that makes it stimulating: Sourcing, Operations, Sustainability. 

This role is very important for us and you will be interacting directly with the founder, Val. During the first few weeks, you’ll have training and guidance that will be tailored to your skillset. You’ll mostly learn through SOPs, video calls and training videos, and gradually understand more about the products and suppliers.

Your main responsibilities as a Sourcing and Operations Manager will include:

• Have complete ownership of production/labelling/supply chain-related tasks
• Managing our warehouse inventory to make sure our SKUs are always in stock efficiently
• Using spreadsheet models to decide and predict when to reorder based on demand
• Executing the whole process of reordering existing products from suppliers to having them in stock at our warehouse
• Organising design & printing of product labels and arranging these labels to the packing company
• Conducting and managing improvements to our product lines (for example adding QR codes to our product labels, organising package leaflets, and more)
• Preparing for regular audits for our organic certification
• Updating costs of goods sold for each reorder, light bookkeeping
• Create quotes and managing orders for B2B customers
• Communicating with our suppliers, our warehouse, our designer, contractors, and other people involved
• Creating, managing and improving our processes on ClickUp

When that is learned and running well we will introduce a Sustainability focus in this role which will include:

• eco-packagings: leading the change to replace as much plastic as possible by better alternatives in our packagings, communicating with suppliers to use paper and cardboard from sustainable sources
• carbon footprint: working with suppliers and all parties to figure out the carbon footprint of our activities and where we can improve it
• B-Corp standards: you will be the lead in charge of transforming our company to adhere to the high standards of B-Corporations

There will be another exciting development which will be the launch of our European website and you will have responsibilities such as helping to set up operations, systems and content.

This is a full-time position with some flexibility when it comes to working hours. You will be expected to work 40 hours a week and at least 5 days a week, but there is no need to work specific hours as long as you are available to participate in scheduled meetings.

To excel in this role, you need to have:

• Excellent Spreadsheet skills
• Excellent organizational skills - you are super organized
• Solid English skills, both written and spoken
• Ability to take ownership of the role and adapt it to the growing needs of the business
• Great work ethic: you are happy to be taken accountable, and you take initiative
• Great communication skills
• Detail-oriented mindset, strong work ethic and ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Commitment to the completion of projects on a timely basis
• 1+ years of experience in eCommerce/online retail companies
• You have experience working from home, with a reliable internet connection and a reliable computer to work from.

Bonus points for:

• Experience in a similar role,  experience with international freight and supplier relations management,
• if you can read French language (not mandatory)

Our perfect colleague also has:

• Integrity and Reliability → You are a good fit if you can be honest with your team members. Open communication and honesty are paramount to a small team. If you can't hit a deadline or make a mistake, be upfront about it, we are all human after all. Reliability means doing to completion what you agreed to do.
• Commitment → The company has previously hired freelancers, but they are now looking for someone loyal and looking for a long-term work position. This is not for you if you're just looking for a few months of work or you want to take on multiple remote jobs.
• Desire to learn → You need to be open to learning new skills and taking on new projects and figuring things out as you go. If you are not excited about improving your skills and exploring, this is not for you. That also means the ability to give and receive direct feedback between professionals without being offended.

Joining a small team comes with a huge scope for future growth, so if you’re looking for stable long-term work where you can learn & grow, this may be the perfect place for you.

Whats in it for you?

• 6-8€ per hour - 1000€-1300€* per month (~40 hours per week)
• Fully remote and full-time role
• Free organic matcha tea - all you can drink!
• Mentoring from the founder and the team,
• Access to courses, funding/subsidies of courses, books and other learning resources that are related to your role
• Once per year in-person meeting in Europe
• Flexible working hours as long as there is overlap for required meetings
• Ownership of your role
• Long-term stable employment
• A small, friendly and hardworking team
• Salary increases and bonuses based on your performance and the company's growth

*Please note that this is a gross salary and that you are responsible for any tax-related procedures in your country of residence. We kindly ask you to apply only if you are happy to work remotely as an independent contractor.

This position will be closed as soon as we find the perfect match. So make sure to read the description carefully and take your time to submit a high-quality application that stands out.

If you apply we’ll respond promptly and keep you updated throughout the process.

Please expect the hiring process to include:

1 - Filling in the application form once you click “Apply”

2 - Completing test tasks, if short-listed

3 - Attending video interviews where you will have the opportunity to talk more about your previous experience and the new role

 We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

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