Senior Ops Lead - Central Operations
20 days ago
City of London
Senior Operations Lead (Central Operations) Location: London SE1 (Hybrid â min. 2 days in office) Salary: ÂŁ55,000 â ÂŁ65,000 About Us At Lean Kitchen Network (LKN), we're not just making food â we're redefining the culinary landscape. We partner with global brands like Twisted, Heinz, Doritos, PepsiCo, and Unilever to create and scale innovative food concepts. With 300+ locations across the UK, we work with kitchen operators, hotels, universities, and retailers to turn everyday spaces into high-performing food destinations. Weâre now entering our next phase of growth â building the systems, data infrastructure, and operational engine to scale faster and smarter. The Role Weâre looking for a Senior Operations Lead to sit at the centre of the business â owning how we use data, systems, and processes to drive performance. This is a high-impact, generalist role that blends operations, commercial thinking, and data. Youâll work across supply chain, partner performance, onboarding, and central reporting â while also helping us build a more scalable, tech-enabled operation. This role is ideal for someone who is: ⢠Operationally strong, ⢠Commercially aware, ⢠Curious about data, automation, and AI, ⢠Excited to build and improve systems in a scaling business What Youâll Be Responsible For Operations & Performance ⢠Drive operational performance across our network of partners, brands, and sites, ⢠Identify gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities to improve revenue and margin, ⢠Support rollout and onboarding of new sites and initiatives, ⢠Own and evolve central reporting across the business, ⢠Build and/or manage dashboards (e.g. Looker Studio, Power BI), ⢠Translate data into clear insights and actions for internal teams, ⢠Define what should be tracked â KPIs, benchmarks, and performance frameworks, ⢠Identify and implement better systems and processes across the business, ⢠Improve operational workflows to support scaling to hundreds of locations, ⢠Lead continuous improvement projects across operations and supply chain, ⢠Identify opportunities to introduce automation and AI into workflows, ⢠Explore tools such as AI agents, automated reporting, and process automation, ⢠Help the business become more efficient through smarter use of technology Leadership & Collaboration ⢠Work closely with the Operations Director and senior leadership team, ⢠Help define priorities and execute key strategic projects, ⢠Manage stakeholders across partners, suppliers, and internal teams, ⢠Manage and guide data/analyst resource(s) What Weâre Looking For ⢠Experience in a senior or mid-senior operations role (hospitality, food, retail, or similar fast-paced environments), ⢠Strong commercial instincts â you understand what drives revenue and margin, ⢠Comfortable working with data, dashboards, and performance metrics, ⢠Experience with tools like Looker Studio, Power BI, Excel, or similar, ⢠Systems thinker â you enjoy improving how things work, not just running them, ⢠Interest in automation, AI, and using technology to improve operations, ⢠Able to operate as a generalist across multiple areas (ops, supply chain, data, onboarding), ⢠Strong communicator with the ability to influence and align teams, ⢠Hands-on, pragmatic, and comfortable in a scaling business Important Note on the Role We recognise this role covers a broad scope â including data, systems, and emerging technology. While we donât expect a deep specialist in every area, we are looking for someone who: ⢠Understands how these pieces fit together, ⢠Can lead, prioritise, and problem-solve across them, ⢠Is excited to learn and build in a fast-moving environment Why Join LKN? ⢠Be part of one of the UKâs fastest-growing food platform businesses, ⢠Work with globally recognised brands and major partners, ⢠Play a key role in shaping how we scale the business, ⢠High ownership, high autonomy, and real impact, ⢠Opportunity to build future-facing capabilities (data, automation, AI) If youâre excited by building systems, improving performance, and helping scale a modern food business â weâd love to hear from you.