Lean Operations Manager

_A growth opportunity — early-career talent ready to step into a mature operations role is strongly encouraged to apply._
The Bike Club, we're on a mission to make sustainable, high-quality cycling accessible to every family. Our subscription model lets kids always ride the right-sized bike — and when they grow, we swap it out, refurbish it, and pass it on. With 80,000+ bikes on the road, $50M+ in funding, and rapid expansion across Europe, we're just getting started.
We're looking for a Lean Operations Manager to drive continuous improvement across our warehouse, refurbishment, and fulfilment operations in Rainham, London. This is a hands-on, gemba-first role for someone who thrives on the warehouse floor, loves solving operational puzzles, and turns observation and data into measurable change.
We've intentionally designed this as a single, broad role with real scope — and we're open to candidates at very different career stages. If you're early in your career but ambitious, structured, and hungry to step up, this is a rare chance to grow into a senior-style operations. If you're more experienced, you'll find plenty of room to take ownership from day one.
You'll partner closely with our warehouse leads, mechanics, customer service, and last-mile partners to remove waste, increase throughput, and make every refurbished bike move faster and more reliably from intake to family. Your work will directly shape how we scale a circular operation across Europe.
Tasks
* Drive the continuous improvement roadmap across intake, refurbishment, dispatch, and returns — set priorities, run the program, and report progress to leadership
* Map value streams end-to-end (bike intake → refurb → QC → outbound → courier → customer → return) and identify the bottlenecks, waste, and rework slowing us down
* Run kaizen workshops, A3 problem-solving sessions, and structured root-cause analyses with mechanics, warehouse operators, and team leads
* Define, track, and improve operational KPIs (cycle time, refurb throughput, first-time-right rate, on-time dispatch, returns turnaround, OEE on key stations)
* Roll out standard work, 5S, visual management, and pull-based flow across the warehouse and refurb workshop
* Spend significant time on the floor — observing, coaching, and validating that improvements stick after rollout
* Lead capacity and layout planning as we scale: workstation design, station balancing, tool placement, and bike flow
* Partner with last-mile and courier providers to reduce failed deliveries, returns leakage, and customer waiting time
* Build the data and reporting backbone we need to manage operations by fact (Excel, WMS, Salesforce, BI tools)
* Coach team leads and operators in lean thinking, building improvement capability across the organisation
Requirements
* A genuine gemba mindset — you'd rather be on the warehouse floor than behind a desk
* Structured, analytical problem-solving — you can break a messy operational problem down and use data (Excel at minimum) to point at the answer
* Strong communication and collaboration skills — comfortable working with mechanics and operators just as easily as with senior stakeholders
* Pragmatic, organised, and biased to action — you thrive in a fast-moving scale-up where things change weekly
* A relevant degree (industrial engineering, logistics, supply chain, business engineering, or similar)
* Some real exposure to operations — through internships, working student roles, a first full-time job, a thesis project, or a few years of hands-on experience
* Real curiosity about lean / continuous improvement — bonus points for a Lean Six Sigma certification (Yellow, Green, or Black Belt) or demonstrated kaizen / value stream experience
* Confidence with operational systems (WMS, ERP, Salesforce, ticketing tools); SQL or BI tooling is a plus, not a requirement
* Fluent English (working language); German is a strong plus
* Bonus: interest or experience in circular economy, refurbishment, subscription business models, or sustainable mobility
Benefits
* Holidays – 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
* Private medical insurance
* Salary sacrifice pension scheme
* Parental leave – enhanced maternity and paternity leave
* Bike subscription – £30 on Bike Club subscriptions
* Sustainability impact – you will be working for a B Corp Certified company that actively contributes to environmental and social good
_If you're earlier in your career and not sure you tick every box: please apply anyway. Drive, structure, and a willingness to learn matter more to us than years on a CV._