About us

Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. UPSIDE Foods recently became the first company in the world to receive the US FDA greenlight for cultivated meat, and UPSIDE’s cultivated chicken will be available to consumers following USDA inspection and label approval.

Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck). The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood. UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.

About this job

UPSIDE has grown fast over the last two years, and the momentum continues! The Director of Sales and Operations Planning will be responsible for our end to end S&OP processes. Developing and directing S&OP strategy to ensure alignment between Operations, Sales, and Supply Chain. Our new Director of S&OP will design and execute best-in-class demand forecasting, strategic planning of inventory, optimization of working capital, and rigorous analysis of options and risk scenarios to drive optimal performance.

Responsibilities include

• Partner closely with Sales, Manufacturing, Finance, Sourcing and other functions to identify best practices and build planning and fulfillment capabilities globally.
• Key areas of focus will be developing a global planning and fulfillment organization to design, execute and monitor best practice processes and systems for S&OP.
• Develop the capabilities of the demand planning, supply planning, materials management, customer operations and logistics organization.
• Support and work closely with key stakeholders to ensure alignment with business strategies.
• Educate cross-functional partners on the S&OP process and engage them in the ongoing process as appropriate.
• Develop the organizational structure to build the demand driven supply chain capability for the organization.

About you

• 10+ years of experience with at least 4 years managing and developing a team
• BS/BA required, preferably in Supply Chain, Logistics or Operations Management, Business Administration or equivalent
• Specific experience in the areas of S&OP, Demand Planning, Supply Planning and CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment), logistics, customer service, Order to cash and distribution
• ERP experience preferred
• Experience with supply chain network planning, warehouse optimization, detailed scenario and what-if analysis and associated optimization tools, ideally in the food industry
• Experience in leading planning systems design and deployment such as Kinaxis, O9, SAP IBP or equivalent
• Demonstrated skills in facilitating cross functional meetings with senior executives. Strong executive communication skills and ability to drive effective tops-down alignment on business priorities
• Demonstrated track record in managing large scale, distributed teams and working effectively across all functions and organizations
• Familiarity with lean concepts, including six-sigma and inventory management strategies
• Excellent quantitative analysis and problem solving skills
• Demonstrated ability in performing in a fast-paced, changing and demanding environment

Who you’ll work with

• This role will partner with every function in the company! It’s a rare opportunity to learn about all parts of the business and industry.
• While we expect growth in all functions in the next 1-2 years, this role will most frequently interact with our Sales, Manufacturing, Sourcing and Finance functions

Key Contributions in First Year

• Develop end to end demand & supply planning strategy for the company
• Develop freight & logistics plan to enable product launches
• Develop digital tools strategy (demand/supply planning, transportation, etc) and integration points to ERP
• Recruit & build out team

UPSIDE Benefits!

• Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
• 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
• Pet insurance for your furry family members!
• Unlimited PTO
• DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Council and People Engagement Programs
• Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.