Food Operations Leader

**Job ID**: 269870

**Date posted**: 29/01/2025

**Who you are**
As a person you are passionate about people, business, IKEA’s purpose and continuously driving better performance. In addition, you are passionate about the food business and exploring new and innovative opportunities as well as motivated by creating a high-quality, affordable and unique culinary experience for IKEA customers.

For this role we believe you have a strong experience in working with food operations or similar and delivering results and a significant experience in leading and influencing colleagues. Further, you have experience from retail, preferably food sector.
- Broad knowledge of operational management such as in store logistics, inventory, production, serving and sustainability.
- Good knowledge of project and change management methods and tools as well as complex stakeholder management.
- Broad knowledge of the today Retail multichannel reality.
- Broad knowledge of Fod Retail KPIs.
- Broad knowledge of food trends that influence customers’ needs and demands in the market.
- Good leadership capabilities including ability to lead peers and stakeholders while communicating in an inspirational way.
- Strong analytical skills with ability to prioritise relevant operational data and make decisions with speed and simplicity.
- Ability to take a holistic view of a global organisation and identify business opportunities accordingly.
- Ability to follow up and measure performance of output and capture learnings to improve planning and performance moving forward.

**Your responsibilities**
In the role as Country Food Operations Leader, you will be responsible for leading the food operational excellence and ensuring a commercial food experience that is safe, people and planet positive, healthy and delicious, affordable and convenient, human and joyful, with a Swedish touch. You are also responsible for strengthening food operational competence and leading activities to address key gaps of food quality and operational effectiveness and efficiency.

You will:

- Coach, and re-direct where necessary, the units to drive food operational excellence - in-store logistics, food production, meeting the customer, equipment and sustainable operations.
- Ensure that food operations are compliant with IKEA standards and local legal demands.
- Be responsible for monitoring units in order to identify and optimise food operational needs and requirements.
- Contribute to food business financial results through monitoring the performance, identifying gaps and proposing and initiating improvements.
- Contribute insight and ideas to the market business plan as an integrated commercial partner.
- Be responsible for developing and implementing common operational framework, standards, plans, WoW (way of working), tools and KPI’s to deliver to the business goals.
- Ensure correct operational process to secure food product availability, food stock management, food quality and to minimize food waste.
- Ensure up to date, appropriate and sustainable equipment and facilities.
- Contribute to the development of market specific range operational needs and requirements in line with IKEA range strategy, requirements and processes.
- Plan, conduct and follow-up operational performance review as well as act upon them e.g. lead information and escalation process to ensure performance excellence throughout the year.
- Train colleagues in new food production, serving techniques and tools as well as ways of working.
- Contribute with knowledge transfer and information sharing to, and between, the units.
- Act as a member of the food team and proactively contribute to food plan/output in order to deliver to the common objectives and goals.
- Actively cooperate with all key stakeholders within commercial and beyond to secure integration, common focus and to maximize impact (for example Digital, CFF (Customer Fulfilment), Communications, Sustainability, BNOF (Business Navigation Operations & Finance), HR).
- Be an active player in working on sustainability within food (circularity in production, usage of sustainable materials and services, food waste reduction).
- Be an active player in driving an open and sharing climate, be a role model of the IKEA values and contribute to the transformation of IKEA.

WORKING WITH US HAS ITS REWARDS

Being part of the IKEA team has many benefits. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture, driven by values and your growth will be guided by structured HR processes.

As part of the team you’ll have access to:

- Structured HR processes to support you in your growth (onboarding, training, coaching sessions, internal recruitment opportunities, etc)
- Wellbeing Offering, including an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides you with immediate and confidential support for any concerns related to your daily life
- Healthy and affordable food: you will have access to a corporate canteen and will be able to enjoy a complete meal for just over 1€