Lean Operations Manager (mfd)

A growth opportunity early-career talent ready to step into a mature operations role is strongly encouraged to apply.

The Bike Club were 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 80000 bikes on the road $50M in funding and rapid expansion across Europe were just getting started.

Were looking for a Lean Operations Manager to drive continuous improvement across our warehouse refurbishment and fulfilment operations in Berlin. 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.

Weve intentionally designed this as a single broad role with real scope and were open to candidates at very different career stages. If youre 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 youre more experienced youll find plenty of room to take ownership from day one.

Youll 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 youd 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

• Familienfreundliches Unternehmen mit Purpose (Family friendly business with purpose)
• Arbeiten in zentralem Berliner Standort (Work in the heart of Berlin)
• Flexible Arbeitszeitgestaltung mit Kernarbeitszeit Mo-Fr 9:00-17:30 Uhr (Flexible working times with core hours Mo-Fri 9:00-17:30)
• Viel Entwicklungspotenzial (Lots of development potential)
• Mitarbeiterrabatt (Employee Discount)

If youre 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.