Operations Lead

Orchard Robotics is a Series A startup backed by top VCs like Quiet Capital, Shine Capital, and General Catalyst. We're securing America’s food supply by building the AI farmer that automates our nation’s farms. We've raised over $25M in pursuit of our mission to help farmers farm more profitably and sustainably than ever before.

What We Do:

We build advanced camera systems that capture billions of images of fruit across millions of trees. This data powers FruitScope, our proprietary platform that gives farmers a precise, real-time view of their crops. Farmers use our software every day to make critical decisions and run more efficient, profitable operations. Today, our technology is trusted by some of the largest farms in the nation.

The Role:

As Operations Lead,you’ll work side-by-side with our CEO to scale the company. You’ll lead a cross-functional operations team spanning customer experience, field, supply chain, finance, and quality. Your job: build the systems, processes, and team that transform cutting-edge technology into world-class customer outcomes.

This role is both strategic and hands-on—you’ll set direction and design systems, but also roll up your sleeves to solve bottlenecks, build playbooks, and deliver execution at speed.

If you’re an experienced operator who thrives in complexity, excels at building scalable systems, and wants to make a massive impact for the world, we want to hear from you.

You will:

• Own & Scale Operations Lifecycle

  • Oversee the full data collection lifecycle: from hardware deployment in orchards, to data capture, data QA, and customer delivery.

  • Design processes that balance throughput, cost, and quality—optimizing for both speed and accuracy at scale.

  • Build playbooks and workflows that enable consistency, repeatability, and operational leverage across sites and teams.

• Lead & Grow Teams

  • Manage and coach a cross-functional team including Customer Experience, Field Technicians, QA Specialists, Operations Managers, and Finance.

  • Define clear roles, responsibilities, and career paths while maintaining high engagement and accountability.

  • Scale hybrid workforces that blend full-time staff and distributed contractors, ensuring consistent quality and alignment.

• Drive Cross-Functional Execution

  • Partner closely with Forward Deployed Engineers to ensure smooth rollout of new hardware and data collection systems.

  • Collaborate with Sales to execute complex customer-facing projects, ensuring deployments are on-time, on-budget, and exceed customer expectations.

  • Work with Engineering to translate operational learnings into product improvements and automation opportunities.

• Define Metrics & Improve Continuously

  • Establish and own operational KPIs including throughput, turnaround times, cost, and margin.

  • Build dashboards and reporting processes to give real-time visibility into operational health.

  • Diagnose bottlenecks and drive continuous improvement, implementing automation, tooling, and systems that increase leverage.

• Be the Backbone of Scale

  • Anticipate operational risks, design mitigation strategies, and build resilience into systems and teams.

  • Create scalable infrastructure for hiring, training, compliance, and knowledge transfer as the company rapidly grows.

  • Operate with urgency and clarity—setting a high bar for execution and decision-making across the org.

You Have:

• Proven Operational Leadership: 7+ years in operations, logistics, robotics, or related fields, with a strong track record of scaling complex programs and leading cross-functional teams.

• Field & Workforce Management: Experience building and running field teams, and managing hybrid workforces (full-time staff plus distributed contractors) while maintaining quality and accountability.

• Technical & Analytical Acumen: Comfort working at the intersection of hardware and software; data-driven mindset with fluency in metrics, dashboards, and tools (SQL or Python a plus).

• Systems & Process Builder: Strong systems thinking and process design skills; adept at creating scalable, high-throughput workflows and leveraging automation or productivity tools to increase efficiency.

• Cross-Functional Execution: Demonstrated success collaborating across engineering, sales, and customer-facing functions to deliver complex, high-stakes programs on time.

• Global Perspective: Experience operating in international markets—especially LATAM—including field deployments and cross-border workforce management.

• High Integrity Leadership: Trusted operator with discretion, strong judgment, and the ability to align diverse teams while driving results in fast-moving, high-complexity environments.

Nice to Have:

• Experience in robotics, AV testing, or large-scale data annotation programs

• Experience optimizing a global workforce with onshore and offshore operations

Benefits

• Competitive compensation & equity

• 100% paid medical, dental, vision

• Lunch & dinner provided in-office

• Flexible time off

• Wellness stipend

If you want to make a positive impact in the world by building the future of farming, come join us!