Prepared Foods and Coffee Program Manager

WE Market Co-op; Town of River Falls (WI); On-site; USD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

WE Market Co-op in Wisconsin seeks an In-House Program Manager to lead our Prepared Foods and Coffee Roasting programs, ensuring high‑quality products that reflect our values and support the co‑op’s financial health.

You will oversee daily operations, develop production schedules, maintain safety and cost controls, and mentor staff while collaborating with marketing and leadership to deliver exceptional, community‑oriented offerings.

Qualifications

• Experience in food service, prepared foods, grocery, or related operational environment.
• Ability to lead, supervise, coach, and hold staff accountable.
• Ability to work a schedule that includes early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, or events.
• Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, and certification readiness.
• Ability to develop and maintain production systems, routines, and standards.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of all in-house programs, ensuring work is organized and meets standards.
• Develop and maintain production schedules, pars, routines, workflows, and SOPs.
• Maintain systems for equipment maintenance, cleaning, logs, and production records; ensure compliance with food safety and labeling requirements.
• Lead staff, provide coaching and feedback, and ensure training and onboarding systems.
• Collaborate with Marketing and leadership to support events, partnerships, and customer experience.

Skills

Food production

Staff supervision

Customer service

Food safety knowledge

Operational leadership

Job description

PURPOSE

The In-House Program Manager provides leadership and oversight for the co-op’s in-house production programs, including Prepared Foods and Coffee Roasting. The purpose of this role is to ensure these programs consistently produce high-quality products that meet customer needs, reflect the co-op’s values, and contribute positively to the co-op’s financial health and long-term sustainability.

REPORTS TO

General Manager

DIRECT REPORTS

Deli Assistant, Coffee Specialist

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Brand

• Build a recognizable and consistent identity for the co-op’s coffee and prepared foods
• Ensure in-house products consistently reflect the co-op’s standards for quality, freshness, value, and care
• Develop products in response to customer feedback, community needs, food trends, seasonality, and opportunities within the local food system
• Ensure products are attractively presented, packaged, labeled, and merchandised in ways that reinforce quality
• Work collaboratively with Marketing to develop promotions, storytelling, signage, sampling, and educational opportunities around house made products
• Identify opportunities for in-house products to support co-op events, community partnerships, member engagement, and other organizational initiatives
• Model the co-op’s expectations for welcoming, respectful and knowledgeable customer service

Financial

• Develop, manage, and work within sales, margin, labor, expense, and profitability goals
• Regularly review financial and operational performance and take appropriate action when results are above or below established goals
• Maintain accurate recipe and product costing, including ingredients, packaging, yields, and other direct production costs
• Maintain appropriate retail pricing based on product costs, target margins, customer value, and market considerations
• Establish appropriate production levels and pars to maintain product availability while minimizing overproduction and waste
• Monitor shrink, spoilage, waste, samples, and production loss and implement strategies to keep them within established goals

Operations

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of all in-house programs, ensuring work is organized, efficient, and completed to standards
• Develop and maintain effective production schedules, pars, routines, workflows, and standard operating procedures
• Maintain appropriate systems for equipment maintenance, cleaning schedules, temperature logs, production records, and other operational documentation
• Ensure compliance with all applicable food safety, sanitation, health department, workplace safety, labeling, and regulatory requirements
• Establish procedures that minimize food-safety risks, cross-contamination, allergens, injuries, and other operational hazards
• Maintain appropriate contingency plans for equipment failures, staffing shortages, product shortages, and other disruptions

Supervision

• Provide direct supervision, leadership, and support to staff
• Ensure staff understand not only what is expected of them, but the standards and outcomes they are responsible for achieving
• Provide consistent direction, coaching, feedback, and recognition to support strong employee performance
• Develop and maintain effective training and onboarding systems for new and existing staff
• Ensure employees are appropriately trained in food safety, sanitation, equipment use, recipes, production standards, customer service, and other responsibilities of their positions
• Hold staff accountable for completing assigned responsibilities and follow up when expectations are not met
• Communicate important information, priorities, changes, and decisions to staff in a timely, clear, and respectful manner
• Create an environment where employees can raise questions, concerns, mistakes, and ideas constructively

Leadership & Cooperation

• Serve as an active and engaged member of the co-op’s leadership team, contributing to the success of the entire organization
• Demonstrate ownership of the role, independently identifying needs, making appropriate decisions, solving problems, and following through without waiting for direction
• Understand and support the co-op’s mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, policies, and organizational goals
• Model the accountability, respect, and adaptability expected of co-op leaders
• Build positive, collaborative working relationships with other managers, leads, specialists, and staff
• Approach cross-departmental challenges with a cooperative and solution-oriented mindset, considering what is best for the co-op as a whole

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in food service, prepared foods, grocery, retail food production, coffee production, hospitality, or a related operational environment.
• Ability and willingness to perform hands-on production and operational work while maintaining responsibility for the broader management of the programs.
• Ability to work a schedule that meets the operational needs of the programs, including some early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, or special events as needed.
• Working knowledge of food safety, sanitation, safe food handling, and commercial food-production practices, or the ability to quickly develop this knowledge and obtain required certifications.
• Ability to lead, supervise, coach, and hold staff accountable in a respectful and constructive manner.
• Ability to take ownership of an area of responsibility, independently identify needs, establish priorities, solve problems, and follow through.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective systems, procedures, production routines, and operational standards.
• Commitment to excellent customer service and creating a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience
• Ability to lift 50 pounds and team lift 50+.
• Ability to stand for long periods.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Two or more years of experience in a supervisory, management, or team-leadership role, preferably within grocery, food service, hospitality, retail, or food production.
• Experience supervising and developing multiple functional areas.
• Experience with coffee roasting, including roast profiling, production roasting, green coffee handling, quality control, and/or roasting equipment.
• Experience with recipe development, recipe costing, menu planning, and production planning.
• Experience managing departmental budgets, sales goals, gross margins, labor costs, inventory, shrink, or other key performance indicators.
• Current ServSafe Manager certification or equivalent food-safety certification
• Familiarity with the cooperative business model and cooperative principles, particularly experience working within a food co‑op or other community-owned business.
• Demonstrated interest in food, cooking, product development, coffee, and creating distinctive customer experiences