Director of Operations

Director of Operations

First ops leader · Player-coach · Builder

About p!ng

p!ng is building the fastest autonomous coffee drive-thru in the galaxy — combining robotics, AI, and radically better customer experience into a new kind of micro-retail platform. p!ng’s compact pod is designed to eliminate waiting in line. Customers order ahead, drive up, and receive custom, delicious beverages in under a minute — no scanning, no tipping, no hassle.

We’re reinventing beverage from the ground up — using robotics and a first-principles approach to deliver quality, consistency, and speed at a scale no human-run chain could match. Our first autonomous site is live in Hudson, NH - customer testing is underway with a full launch this summer. We're in our early innings, deploying pods and refining operations with the obsessiveness of a startup and the ambition of a category-defining company. This isn't a seat at an established table. It's a chance to build the table.

Our tech is cool, and we’ve been recognized by The Robot Report as one of the top 100 robotic startups in the world to watch. But the tech is the means, not the end. Everything we build exists in service of one thing: making the everyday lives of our customers better and more convenient. That’s the mission.

The role

We're looking for a Director of Operations who has lived inside a high-performing QSR or logistics operation — someone who has seen excellence up close and knows exactly what separates elite execution from mediocrity. But just as important: you're not married to the old playbook. You'll take what works, throw out what doesn't, and build something new on top of it for a business model that's never existed before.

Right now, this role is hands-on and in the field. You'll be refining the actual tasks, closing the loops, and getting your hands dirty alongside the team. Over time, you'll architect and lead an operations department built to manage hundreds, then thousands of pods. You're thinking about both at once — today's execution and tomorrow's system.

Ready to build something that’s never existed? If you’ve got the scars, the standards, and the hunger, we want to hear from you.

What you'll do

In your first 30 days:

• Own day-to-day operations of our commissary operation, across field activities: dispenser refills, washing, ingredient prep, dishwashing, food-safety logging
• Get in the weeds to observe, document, and refine field tasks and SOPs firsthand
• Own the consumable operations of the pod - visual QA, restock, escalation handoff to engineering if necessary
• Work with the CTO to develop fixtures that make cleaning and refilling processes faster and ergonomic

In your first 2-12 months

• Help us select and stand up our new 1500-2000 sq ft commissary, and help design and validate the workflow
• Build scalable operational frameworks (playbook) designed for robotic pod management for the first 4-pod hub including staffing model, route plan, equipment list, vendor relationships, food safety, and route economics. Take those learnings and apply at scale.
• Batch scheduling tied to customer demand data
• Identify what works from QSR best practices — and reinvent what doesn't fit our model
• Hire, train, and develop the ops team as we grow

Ongoing

• Partner closely with product, engineering, and supply chain to close feedback loops fast
• Track operational KPIs and drive relentless improvement against them
• Serve as a culture carrier for operational excellence throughout the company

What we're looking for

• Hands-on ops experience inside a high-performing, multi-unit QSR (7Brew, Dutch Bros, Chick-fil-A, or equivalent) or analogous environment: vending route, catering, commissary, or military logistics. You have personally run a 4 am shift, swept the floor, called the vendor when the milk didn’t show up. Comfortable getting your hands dirty.
• Ops tooling- select and implement inventory, route, and food safety systems
• Food-safety trained. ServSafe certified or willing to be in the first 30 days. Has lived through at least one health department inspection
• Beverage prep background (specialty coffee, juice/smoothie, soda fountain, brewing) — you understand cold chain, batching, and consistency.
• COGS ownership and yield/waste management through waste tracking and ingredient and supplies cost management
• Demand forecasting and par levels
• Route logistics background — you've optimized a delivery or service route, even informally.
• Strong written communication. Your SOPs will be read by people at 4 am who can’t ask you a question.
• You want to do right by customers, with empathy and care
• Proven player-coach — comfortable leading strategy and doing the work yourself
• Builder mentality: not content to inherit a system, excited to create one
• Scrappy, creative, and resourceful — you find a way
• Genuinely obsessed with food and beverage quality and the customer experience
• Comfortable with ambiguity and energized by fast-moving environments
• Long-term thinker who doesn't lose sight of the big picture while managing day-to-day details
• In it for the long haul — you want to be part of building something iconic

Nice to haves

• Has run a 24/7 operation, even a small one. Coffee at 5 am is existential for our customers
• Robotics or industrial-equipment exposure — you can troubleshoot a small mechanical issue without panicking.

How to apply

Please send your resume, an SOP you’ve written that’s still in use, and a short note telling us why you’re interested. Send to View email address on click.appcast.io with the subject line “Director of Operations.” We move fast: expect a phone screen within 5 business days of submission, a working-session interview at our commissary within 2 weeks, and an offer within 5 weeks of contact.

p!ng is an equal opportunity employer. We are a proud veteran-, woman-, and minority-owned business. We are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve — and we strongly encourage applications from veterans, women, people of color, and folks from underrepresented backgrounds in operations and food service.