Industrial Engineer - Kitchen Operations

AVF is a startup studio dedicated to building technology-forward ventures from the ground up. We move fast, embrace new tools, and put a premium on work that actually gets used. The RoleWe're building a prepared food venture from scratch "” and we need someone to build the operating system that runs the kitchen.That means designing the dashboards, processes, forecasting tools, and SOPs that let the kitchen team run efficiently without leaning on a central office. You'll spend real time on the floor, earn the trust of chefs and operators, and then build systems that reflect how work actually gets done "” not how it looks from a whiteboard.This is a rare early-career opportunity: you'll own meaningful, complex systems from day one, work alongside operators and leadership, and see your work used every single day. The measure of success isn't what you build "” it's whether the team can't imagine working without it.This is an on-site position based at our headquarters in Billerica, MA, with regular travel to our Kitchen Operations center in Concord, NH.What Makes This Role Unique?You will build from scratch - no legacy tools or inherited systems to work aroundYour impact is measured by adoption, not activityYou will work directly with operators, chefs, engineers, and leadership- not in a siloed functionYou will own the forecasting tool that sits at the intersection of kitchen knowledge, sales data, and financial planningStrong performance opens a path to broader ownership of operations systems as the business scalesWhat You'll Do:Embed with the kitchen teamSpend meaningful time on the floor before designing anything "” observe, ask questions, understand how work actually gets doneCo-design tools and processes with the team rather than presenting finished solutionsBuild enough trust that operators bring you problems proactively, not just react to what you've already builtBuild Live Dashboards & Reporting ToolsDesign and build dashboards that surface labor, cost, throughput, and waste in real timeImplement low-friction data collection methods that operators can maintain independentlyDefine KPIs, calculation logic, and reporting cadences - then hand them off with confidenceDesign & Standardize ProcessesMap current workflows, identify bottlenecks and variability, and design repeatable, scalable replacementsCreate handoff-ready standard operating procedures (SOPs) in partnership with kitchen leadership- documented, trained out, and validated as adoptedBuild Capacity & Planning ModelsConduct time studies and capacity analysis to establish throughput standardsDevelop staffing models that leadership can use for scaling decisionsOptimize batching, picking, and packing workflows for accuracy and speedOwn the Demand Forecasting ToolBuild and maintain a forecasting tool that draws on sales data, order history, and promotional data to produce forward-looking volume and ingredient requirementsCollaborate with Finance to validate growth rates, seasonal factors, and promotional assumptionsProduce clear, actionable outputs that the Purchasing & Inventory Coordinator can use to make buying decisions with confidenceWhat We're Looking For:Degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations, or a related field - internship or co-op experience in a physical operations environment strongly preferredProven ability to build things that other people actually use - academic projects, internship work, or side projects all count Strong analytical skills; Excel proficiency required; SQL or Python a plusExperience building or working with dashboards or reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or similar)Genuinely curious about how people work - this role lives or dies on the relationships you build on the floorHigh ownership mindset: you see things through, document them thoroughly, and hand them off cleanlyAVF is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If you're energized by the idea of building something from scratch and handing it to a team that relies on it every day, we'd love to hear from you.

Created: 2026-05-09