Operations Manager Northeast Region

Operations Manager - Northeast Region

About the Role:

The Yay Company is looking for an experienced, hands-on Operations Manager to own the performance of our Northeast area markets. These will consist of locations in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

You are in your markets, at your schools, and with your teams on a rotating basis, ensuring every location runs to Yay's standards and every school feels great about the program.

This region operates primarily through Yay-produced hub kitchens, meaning you are managing real food production, kitchen teams, and distribution logistics - not just coordinating third-party vendors. You will be responsible for standing up new kitchen locations, managing Kitchen Managers and Lunch Coordinators across multiple markets, and owning the financial performance of your region.

This role is based in Pennsylvania
. The ability to lead remote teams with high trust and clear expectations is as important as your ability to show up in person.

This is a high-accountability, high-visibility role at a company that is scaling fast. If you love being in the field, own outcomes rather than activities, and thrive in an environment where every day is different, this role is for you.

Direct Margin & Financial Performance: You are accountable for the direct margin of every school in your region. That means actively managing the inputs - food cost, labor, waste, and sales - and knowing exactly where each market stands at all times.

Labor & Scheduling: You own the labor budget for your region. You build and manage schedules for your Kitchen Managers, ensuring every market is staffed correctly based on actual production volume - not habit. You approve overtime, monitor clock-in compliance daily, and hold your team accountable to being on time, on location, and on task - including markets you are not physically in that week.

Sales & School

Experience:

You own the sales number for your markets. You understand participation rates at every school, you know which locations are underperforming, and you proactively address the barriers - whether that's a school relationship issue, a service gap, or an execution problem. Your schools should feel like Yay's most important partners, whether you are there in person or managing remotely.

Inventory & Waste: You oversee weekly and monthly inventory counts across all schools in your region. You are physically present for inventory on a rotating basis in your core markets, and you hold Kitchen Managers in remote markets accountable to running accurate counts on schedule without your physical presence. You investigate any variance before it hits the margin report.

Remote Market Management: New York and Connecticut teams run their schools day-to-day with significant autonomy. Your job is to set the standard, stay close through daily Slack communication and weekly market calls, conduct site visits, and ensure nothing drifts without you knowing about it.

New Location Launches: As we bring on new kitchen schools in your region, you own the launch process end-to-end alongside your Kitchen Managers - from health department coordination and equipment procurement to staffing plans and operational setup.

Team Management & Development: You directly manage Kitchen Managers across the region and are accountable for all ground-level staff. You set clear expectations, develop your team, address performance issues directly, and build a culture of ownership in every market you cover - in person and remotely.

Field Presence: Your time in the field is concentrated where it matters most. Philadelphia is your home base. You are always reachable, always informed, and always accountable - regardless of which market you…