Early-Stage eCommerce & Logistics BusinessPosted by Evolve to Grow on behalf of an innovative Melbourne business
About Evolve to GrowAt Evolve to Grow, we partner with founders to help ambitious businesses build stronger teams, better systems and more scalable organisations.
We're currently recruiting on behalf of a fast-growing Melbourne-based eCommerce business that's entering its next stage of growth.
This isn't a traditional Operations Manager position.
We're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys understanding operational problems, redesigning systems and implementing improvements that continue working long after you've stepped away.
If you naturally notice inefficiencies everywhere you go, enjoy understanding why things happen before deciding how to fix them, and get genuine satisfaction from making businesses run better, we'd love to hear from you.
About the BusinessOur client is a purpose-driven eCommerce business that's challenging a traditional retail experience through a practical circular economy model.
They've built a loyal customer base by making everyday sustainable behaviour simpler, more convenient and more affordable.
The business is growing quickly while deliberately keeping the leadership team lean.
That means every improvement made today needs to continue working when the business is twice the size tomorrow.
You'll work directly alongside the founder to design an operation that becomes progressively simpler, more reliable and more scalable as the business grows. You'll combine operational excellence with practical leadership, building not only better systems but also the team structure needed to support them.
The MissionThe purpose of this role isn't simply to keep operations running.
It's to continually redesign them so they become progressively simpler, more reliable and more scalable as the business grows.
You'll identify operational constraints, understand their root causes and design, build and implement systems that permanently improve how the business operates.
Success isn't measured by how many problems you personally solve.
Success is measured by how many problems no longer exist because you've built systems that prevent them from happening in the first place.
What You'll DoYou'll spend your time creating operational leverage.
Some days you'll be analysing workflows, identifying bottlenecks and understanding why operational issues occur.
Other days you'll be redesigning warehouse layouts, improving inventory systems, implementing new procedures or testing better ways of working alongside the team.
You'll own operational improvements from beginning to end.
That means you'll:
- Investigate operational problems before proposing solutions.
- Identify root causes using data, observation and practical investigation.
- Design, build and implement operational improvements.
- Continuously improve warehouse, logistics and inventory workflows.
- Build systems that reduce manual work and improve consistency.
- Create practical operating procedures that continue working as the business grows.
- Design recruitment, onboarding and training systems that others can execute.
- Help recruit, develop and support an Operations Supervisor who will own the day-to-day coordination of the warehouse and delivery operation.
- Build the team structure, operating rhythms and management systems that enable operational excellence to be sustained.
- Monitor operational performance and identify opportunities before they become larger issues.
- Work directly alongside the founder to shape the future operating model of the business.
- Roll your sleeves up and work alongside the warehouse and delivery team whenever that's the best way to understand a problem.
You'll Have The KeysOne of the biggest advantages of joining a growing business is that good ideas don't spend months waiting for approval.
You'll work directly with the founder and have genuine autonomy to design, test and implement operational improvements.
You'll also have the opportunity to shape how the operations team evolves. Rather than carrying out the day to day operation yourself, you'll help build the support structure beneath you, including a dedicated Operations Supervisor, so you can focus on driving operational excellence across the business.
We're looking for someone who wants to create meaningful operational change, not simply recommend it.
About YouYou'll probably thrive in this role if you naturally find yourself asking:
- Why does this process exist?
- Is there a better way to do this?
- Will this still work when we're twice the size?
- What's actually causing this problem?
- How can we stop this issue from ever happening again?
You enjoy improving systems more than maintaining them.
You naturally simplify complexity.
You get genuine satisfaction from removing unnecessary work rather than adding more processes.
You balance analytical thinking with practical implementation.
You're equally comfortable analysing data in the morning and moving warehouse shelving in the afternoon if that's what's required.
You enjoy working closely with founders in businesses where decisions happen quickly and ownership is real.
Your BackgroundWe're much more interested in how you think than the exact title you've held.
You may currently work as a:
- Operational Excellence Lead
- Continuous Improvement Specialist
- Process Improvement Lead
- Industrial Engineer
- Supply Chain Analyst
- Operations Analyst
- Manufacturing Supervisor
- Startup Operations Lead
- Business Analyst (Operations)
- Operations Manager
Ideally you'll hold a degree in Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, Manufacturing or a related discipline, together with around 5 years of professional experience in an operational environment.
Experience within manufacturing, logistics, transport, warehousing, FMCG, eCommerce or another operationally intensive business will be highly regarded.
Lean, Continuous Improvement or Operational Excellence experience is valuable, but practical implementation ability is far more important than formal certifications.
What Success Looks LikeAfter your first year:
- Operational problems are identified before they become major issues.
- The warehouse runs more efficiently with less manual intervention.
- Inventory accuracy continues improving.
- Delivery operations become increasingly reliable and scalable.
- Operational decisions are driven by meaningful data rather than assumptions.
- Recruitment, onboarding and operational procedures become repeatable systems rather than founder-dependent tasks.
- The business is prepared to expand into new cities without operational complexity growing at the same rate.
- The founder spends significantly less time involved in day-to-day operations because the systems you've built continue working without constant oversight.
Why This Role Is DifferentThis isn't a role for someone who simply enjoys managing people.
It's a role for someone who enjoys building systems.
Someone who walks through a warehouse, airport or supermarket and instinctively starts noticing how the operation could work better.
Someone who finds satisfaction in making themselves progressively less essential because the systems they've built simply work.
If you enjoy preventing problems rather than constantly solving them, you'll probably love this role.
What You'll Get- Work directly alongside the founder with genuine influence over the business.
- High autonomy and the ability to implement your own ideas quickly.
- Flexible working arrangements.
- A lean, collaborative environment where good ideas become reality.
- The opportunity to help shape a business as it expands nationally.
- A practical sustainability mission with measurable impact.
- Plenty of sparkling water.
How to ApplyPlease send us:
- Your resume.
- Either a short cover letter or a 2–3 minute video introducing yourself.
We'd love to hear about an operational improvement you're genuinely proud of.
Rather than simply telling us what you changed, tell us:
- Why you thought it needed changing.
- How you worked out what the real problem was.
- What you implemented.
- How you knew it worked.
- What you'd do differently today.
