Operations Manager

The Company. Hedgehog is building technology to reduce production costs of fungi. We use AI and proprietary bioreactors to cultivate a microbiome that naturally rejects contamination and boosts growth. Hedgehog is currently focused on mushrooms for the fresh produce sector and is using this technology to grow for 25% the cost of traditional growers. Soon, we will use also fungi to produce mycelium protein, enzymes, and animal feed. Our method of cultivating fungi completes a circular food supply. Fungi transform agricultural waste into protein-rich food without using arable land or irrigation. We’re building technology to unlock the broad set of fungal solutions that nature provides.

Hedgehog is led by Jamie Balsillie (McKinsey & Co., Indigo Ag, Stanford MBA) and Wilson Ruotolo (Stanford Robotics PhD, designed end effectors for Mars Rover) and funded by R7, Pear VC, and Haystack VC. Hedgehog has been covered by Forbes, TechCrunch, and McKinsey.

The Position. As the Operations manager, you will be based in the Southeast, working hands on with the production and fulfillment teams to design our operational systems from the ground up. We currently do $3M in ARR, and have demand for $10M to come online in the next 4-6 months. You will be responsible for connecting all of the pieces to make that tripling of production and fulfillment possible. You will be elbows deep in the facilities, designing systems, managing staff, and optimizing processes. You will manage logistics, trucking, cold chain, food safety, and much more. You will be the glue that holds things together as this company matures into a net profitable entity. You will be expected to operate independently and treated accordingly - jumping into a leadership role early and working directly with the C-suite. We hope this position will grow to become a COO in time.

Responsibilities

• Logistics & shipping - get raw materials in and product out, understand constraints, and set up systems from a blank slate
• Cold chain & product quality - ensure trucking routes maintain a high standard, work with fulfillment team to ensure things arrive on time and with good quality across Texas, the entire Southeast of the US, and up the eastern seaboard
• Food safety & compliance - manage organic certification and food safety compliance to keep our product
• Administration - don’t just handle paperwork, design and implement systems so that hourly workers and other staff can stay on top of things consistently and reliably
• Get things done - good people figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it autonomously, we need someone of this caliber to boost Hedgehog’s growth capacity

Characteristics

• Organized, diligent, and process oriented
• High intellect and abstract problem solving
• Strong interpersonal skills including communication, collaboration, and relationship-building with colleagues
• Strong appetite for rapid learning, growth, and career acceleration
• Hungry to take on responsibility, solve novel problems, and organize systems
• Entrepreneurial, analytical, and solutions-oriented mindset
• Passion for sustainable food and agriculture

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with high GPA and/or exceptional extracurricular achievements
• Track record and evidence of excellence in academic and/or career endeavors demonstrated by quick promotions, high responsibility roles, exceptional GPA, extracurricular leadership, etc.
• Experience and comfort working with computer and data systems
• Eagerness to develop and exercise leadership
• Based in the Southeast, split between our two production facilities in Georgia and Tennessee - willing and excited to travel as needed