Operations Manager
Fresh Food, Happy Dogs.
We believe dogs deserve the healthiest, most natural and tastiest meals - with none of the nasties. That’s why we make FRESHly prepared food, cooked just like you would at home and delivered direct to our customers in perfect portions. As a B-Corp certified company, you’re joining a sustainable business that genuinely cares about our people, our products and our impact on the planet. Our goal is simple: to help dogs live healthier, happier, and longer lives, while leaving humans smiling after every interaction.
We’ve come a long way since our co-founders (Kev & Dave), hand delivered the very first Butternut Box. Today, we feed hundreds of thousands of hungry dogs across the UK and Europe - but we won’t stop until we’re feeding dogs everywhere. To get there, we need a team of brilliant people who share that ambition to come and work for us.
A bit about the role Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands or Brussels, Belgium
We’re thrilled to continue growing Butternut Box across the Benelux region. We’re searching for an inspirational Operations Manager / Operations Specialist based in either Amsterdam or Brussels who will play a critical part in managing our regional third-party fulfilment operations while staying true to our core values of care, quality, and customer delight.
This role is about building, leading, and growing. You’ll own the relationship with our 3rd party order fulfilment partners and our last-mile delivery providers across the region. This isn’t just a job; it’s an opportunity to reshape the pet industry in Western Europe and make tails wag nationwide. As our Operations Manager, you’ll have the opportunity to scale our existing Benelux footprint, making a real difference for dogs and their owners.
A bit more detail
In this role, you can expect to…
- Take responsibility for Butternut's operational performance in the Benelux market, ensuring we deliver a best-in-class experience to our customers.
- Work closely with Marketing and Sales teams to run S&OP sessions, ensuring perfect alignment between supply and demand numbers.
- Partner with the Customer Love team to drive operational improvements based directly on customer feedback.
- Set up and manage day-to-day operations with our regional third-party fulfilment partner(s), overseeing receiving finished goods, picking, packing, and dispatching customer orders.
- Oversee last-mile delivery performance management to ensure timely, accurate, and fresh deliveries to our customers' doors.
- Implement and optimise key KPIs, including On Time In Full (OTIF), packing accuracy, and delivery experience. We pride ourselves on operating at a world-class OTIF of 98.5%.
- Manage volume forecasts for box packing and courier collections, ensuring accurate stock levels at our fulfilment hubs.
- Coordinate logistics around inbound finished goods from the UK and Poland, including regional import and customs clearance.
- Collaborate with other European Operations Managers to share learnings and implement initiatives that improve service and efficiency across all markets.
- Support cross-functional launches of new products and operational initiatives within the Benelux market.
A bit about you:
- Excited by growth: You love the opportunity to scale operations and in future will help build new markets for a fast-growing, mission-driven company.
- Deep background in logistics and 3PL management: Strong experience in a fast-paced operational environment, ideally with a deep understanding of third-party logistics (3PL) and fulfilment models.
- Relationship builder: Partnering with 3PLs to maintain high performance standards.
- Problem solver: A proactive problem solver who manages ambiguity well.
- Data-driven: Highly organised and able to interpret performance metrics to inform smart business decisions.
- Language Requirements:Mandatory: Professional fluency in both Dutch and English.
Nice-to-have: Fluency in French is a huge advantage to help serve our Belgian customers in the best way
What's In It For You?
- Equity options (your success = our success)
- 25 vacation days + 1 extra day per year of service
- 5 extra 'paws' days per year for personal growth or wellbeing
- €500 annual learning & development budget
- Pension plan with ASR Doenpensioen (3.5% employer contribution / 3.5% employee contribution)
- Full travel reimbursement (NS Business Card or km allowance up to €350/month)
- Hybrid working - 2 days from home (Mon & Fri)
- Remote-First periods in August & December
- Weekly free lunches in our Amsterdam office
- Dogs welcome at the office (expect regular cuddles!)
- Lease a Bike scheme
- ClassPass discounted membership with employer contribution
- Extensive parental leave
- Paid sabbaticals after 5 years of service
- Volunteering time at dog shelters during working hours
- Discount on Butternut Box for your dog (or your family’s!)
- Regular socials & team activities
- Join a B Corp and make a real impact
Interview process
- 1st stage: A video call with our Recruiter to get to know you and your background.
- The Operational Task: A short take-home assignment/case study to show us how you think and tackle real-world operational challenges. (To be completed before your skills interview).
- Skills Interview: A video call with your potential line manager and our operational director to talk all things Operations and Butternut.
- Behaviours Interview: An in-person interview in Amsterdam with the Benelux country manager and one of the people managers focused on our company values.
We believe in a seat at the table for everyone.
Butternut Box is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that to make the best food for all dogs, we need a team that represents all humans. We celebrate different nationalities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We are specifically committed to increasing representation from underrepresented groups. We want a strong, diverse team built from different identities and lived experiences. We’re not perfect, but we are dedicated to the ongoing work of building an inclusive, supportive place where you can do the best work of your career.