How to Apply: Please send your CV and a cover letter highlighting your relevant experience and letting us know why you’ve applied to hello@missionkitchen.org.

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Mission Kitchen team as our Site Operations Manager. 

There’s a summary of the role below, but full details are on our site: https://www.missionkitchen.org/careers

About us:

Mission Kitchen is an incubator for food entrepreneurs. Our first location in London supports a community of 115+ independent food businesses led by a diverse community of entrepreneurs and innovators. We operate as a shared workspace for food start-ups, offering our members flexible and affordable access to commercial kitchen space, coworking and event venues. We then support our entrepreneurs with a range of business services, training opportunities and mentorship.

We don’t do any cooking ourselves; we provide the infrastructure and support to make it cheaper, easier and less risky to launch a food business.

We are a purpose-driven business that aims to reduce inequality, improve representation and champion sustainability through food enterprise.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Site Operations Manager’s priority will be the overall site operational performance at Mission Kitchen, New Covent Garden Market. Responsibilities will include:

Operational Team Management

– Performance management of site team (2 full-time employees plus a night porter team) to ensure high levels of individual and team performance, including delivery of appraisals and reviews.

– Foster a positive culture by leading by example, coaching, and developing team members.

– Working closely with team members to oversee, co-ordinate and coach on key business areas including operations and community management.

– Managing the overnight Kitchen Porter team, ensuring performance standards and rota coverage.

– Managing the duty management rota, ensuring fair and effective coverage, including holiday and absence cover. You will also actively participate in the rota.

– Managing recruitment of site team and resourcing to ensure appropriate staffing levels.

Site Operations and Compliance

– Hands-on site management and hosting, responsible day-to-day operations. You will be expected to proactively manage compliance and focus on continuous improvement initiatives.

– Overall responsibility for site compliance, including Food Safety, Health and safety, HACCP reviews, Risk Assessment and COSHH reviews, PPM certificates, EHO checks, Team compliance, training management and pest control

– Overall responsibility for annual external audits (Health and Safety, Food Safety, Fire Safety)

– Determining, planning and documenting essential services such as maintenance, cleaning, testing and inspections, waste, recycling, etc.

– Lead and refine the member onboarding and induction process for a seamless experience.

– Reviewing and improving systems, policies, equipment provision and site layouts on an ongoing basis to constantly improve member experience.

– Procuring, negotiating and managing contracts with third-party suppliers within a defined budget.

– Monitoring maintenance and facilities costs and ensuring these are kept within budget.

– Provide hands-on support for public-facing events and venue hire bookings, helping transform the site as needed—from setting up staging and equipment to coordinating freelance staff or security to ensure everything runs smoothly.

– Keeping abreast of developments in commercial kitchen equipment and technologies to propose enhancements that could answer member needs or provide improvements to member experience

Member Experience

– Fostering strong relationships with members to create a supportive and engaged community.

– Being responsible for gathering feedback from members through our surveys and other channels.

– Leading on operational member communications – with the help of your team – responding to member questions via the helpdesk in a timely manner.

– Providing Operational broadcast Communications via bulletins or inputting into the content of newsletters.

– Actioning feedback from members where appropriate and continually developing operations to improve the member experience in collaboration with the Site Team.

– Managing and supporting your team to establish and maintain relationships across the member community, deliver a high-quality programme of member events, nurture a positive community spirit and efficiently handle customer complaints and queries.

Data, Financial and Reporting

– Supporting Founders in the monthly financial reporting process

– Maintaining operational, statistical and financial records for key elements of the site.

– Providing timely operational and financial reports to the Founders.

– Management of day-to-day financial administration including control of operational team card spend, processing invoices, performing monthly Cost and Sales reconciliations.

– Handling any issues related to member credit control.

– Supporting the annual budgeting process by developing, presenting and iterating operational and facilities costs.

Sales Process Support:

– Support the Sales Lead in delivering sales targets by handling operational and facilities-related inquiries

– Ensure a smooth transition from sale to fully inducted member.

Measures of Success

– Member Retention & Satisfaction – Maintain high retention rates and positive member feedback (e.g., through our community surveys and NPS scores).

– Operational Efficiency – Ensure smooth day-to-day operations with minimal downtime or service disruptions.

– Compliance & Safety – Pass all audits (Food Safety, Health & Safety, Fire Safety) with high scores and no major corrective actions.

– Financial Performance – Keep operational costs within budget while identifying and mobilising cost-saving opportunities.

– Team Performance & Engagement – High staff retention, positive performance reviews, and strong team morale.

– Maintenance – Timely resolution of maintenance issues and high equipment uptime.

Location and Working Hours:

Our site address is: Mission Kitchen, The Food Exchange, London, SW8 5EL

This is an on-site role, with an expectation to work an average of 45 hours per week

We’re open from 6 am to 10 pm, Monday to Friday, and 8 am to 8 pm on Saturdays, closed on Sundays

Our Kitchen Porter team works overnight and it is your responsibility to manage the team to ensure standards are consistently met.

Preferred experience:

Operational Management Experience: At least 3+ years in an on site operations, facilities, or general management role, preferably in a shared workspace, hospitality, F&B, or creative industries.

Leadership & Team Management: Proven experience in leading and managing teams, with a strong track record of motivating people, setting goals, and achieving high performance.

Excellent Communication & Relationship-Building: Comfortable engaging with members, staff, suppliers, and leadership, ensuring clear communication and strong relationships.

Tech-Savvy & Systems-Oriented: Experience with systems, reporting tools, or operational software would be beneficial. At Mission Kitchen we use: Nexudus, Pleo, Slack, Google Workspace and HubSpot.

Problem-Solving Mindset: Ability to think on your feet, make quick decisions, and handle unexpected challenges with a calm, solutions-focused approach.

Financial Acumen: Solid understanding of budget control, financial reporting, and cost management. You should be comfortable making decisions that impact the business’s profitability.

Relationship Building: Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong relationships with both team members and customers, ensuring a high level of satisfaction and engagement.

Passion for Community & Creativity: A genuine interest in food, startups, or creative workspaces and a desire to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.

If that sounds like you, send your CV and a cover letter highlighting your relevant experience and letting us know why you’ve applied to hello@missionkitchen.org.