Operation Manager

About the role: Green Fridge Co runs a network of smart fridges/vending machines that customers pay for and get served by on the spot. The Operations Manager owns everything that keeps that network running: machines online and stocked, products fresh, customer issues resolved quickly, and costs under control. You will be the person who turns day-to-day firefighting into predictable, measurable processes.

What you will do

1. Machine fleet and uptime

• Own uptime across all deployed machines; monitor status, temperature and payment health, and dispatch fixes quickly.
• Run preventive maintenance schedules and a spare-parts inventory.
• Plan and oversee installation, relocation and decommissioning of machines at partner sites.

2. Restocking, inventory and supply chain

• Plan restocking routes and frequency per machine from sales data, so machines are neither empty nor overstocked.
• Manage vendor relationships, purchasing, quality checks and expiry/wastage control.
• Track shrinkage and wastage by machine and drive them down.

3. Customer support and issue resolution

• Own the support ticket flow (IVR calls, app tickets): triage, assignment, SLA tracking and closure.
• Resolve payment-deducted-but-no-product cases, refunds and complaints within defined turnaround times.
• Analyse ticket patterns by machine and category and fix root causes, not just individual tickets.

4. Team and field management

• Hire, train, schedule and manage technicians, restockers and support staff.
• Set clear daily and weekly targets, run review meetings and hold the team accountable to SLAs.

5. Process, data and cost control

• Build SOPs for installation, restocking, cleaning, hygiene and food-safety compliance.
• Report weekly on KPIs: uptime, sales per machine, wastage, ticket volume and SLA, refund rate, cost per restock.
• Manage the operations budget and find cost savings without hurting service.

6. Compliance and partners

• Ensure food safety, electrical safety, and local licensing requirements are met.
• Be the point of contact for site/location partners (societies, offices, campuses) on service issues.

What we are looking for

• 4–8 years in operations, ideally in vending, FMCG distribution, cold chain, quick commerce, or field-service/hardware businesses; at least 2 years managing a team.
• Comfortable with data: Excel/Sheets, dashboards, and using numbers to make decisions.
• Strong problem-solving under pressure and a hands-on, field-first attitude.
• Experience with route planning, inventory control, and vendor negotiation.
• Clear communicator in English and the local language, with the ability to deal with both customers and partners.
• Familiarity with IoT/connected devices, payment gateways (UPI), or ticketing tools is a strong plus.
• Key measures of success (first 12 months): Machine uptime of 95% or higher.
• Wastage and shrinkage reduced to an agreed target.
• 90% of support tickets resolved within SLA.
• Documented SOPs for all core operations.
• Cost per machine per month at or below budget.