Chief of Staff (Operations)

About Lyka:

Lyka was founded in 2018 by Anna Podolsky, inspired by her dog, Lyka, who was suffering from chronic health issues despite being on “premium” kibble. Together with Gabriel Guedes (COO) and Dr. Matthew Muir (Integrative Veterinarian), they built Lyka from the ground up with one core belief: better food can radically improve a pet’s healthspan and quality of life.

Lyka’s meals are vet-formulated and gently cooked from real food ingredients. Delivered via a flexible subscription model, Lyka meals have driven remarkable improvements for tens of thousands of customers, supporting gut health, reducing intolerances, improving energy and mobility, and even promoting hair growth.

What began as home-cooked meals has since scaled into one of Australia’s fastest-growing consumer companies, a vertically integrated, tech-enabled brand that is transforming pet health nationwide.

Lyka now operates from two offices, Sydney (HQ) and Melbourne, with three state-of-the-art food production facilities (two in Sydney, one in Melbourne) and a growing national footprint.

At Lyka, we’re not just selling pet food—we’re pioneering a new standard of wellness for pets. With strong product-market fit, deep customer love, and a track record of rapid growth, we’re now entering our most ambitious chapter yet: building a generational brand and category-defining business with global impact.


The role:

We are looking for a Chief of Staff for our Operations team to join us in our mission to change the pet wellness game, and help our furry friends live out their best lives. You will sit in our Operations (Manufacturing & Supply Chain) team, working collaboratively with Lyka’s Operational Leadership team as well as cross-functional leaders & stakeholders. In this role, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the Head of Operations and COO.

This position requires a strategic thinker with exceptional organisational, communication, and leadership skills. You will oversee planning, manage special projects, and ensure effective collaboration across the business.


What you will do:

Planning & Prioritisation

• Work closely with the Head of Operations, Operations Leadership team and broader cross-functional stakeholders to shape the Operations roadmap to achieve our vision to deliver world class automation and efficiency
• Work with COO, Head of Operations, VP of Strategy, Head of People & BizOps and other senior leaders to shape and cascade our Operations strategy into implementation
• Work with Lyka’s Chief of Staff to ensure company-wide planning and governance is cascaded into Operations
• Drive the Operations prioritisation and calendar - taking into account company-wide cycles (annual & quarterly planning, budgeting, performance cycles, audits, etc.)

Communications & Collaboration

• Support communications for Operations — both internally within Operations in sharing context / providing relevant information, and supporting external updates from Operations to the rest of company (e.g. in company-wide meetings, leadership meetings, etc.)
• Manage tracking and provide coordination and support to operational team to ensure regulatory and key operational activities are conducted at the required cadence (e.g. OHS activities, Q&FS activities, Operational System activities)
• Set and ensure best practices around internal communications within Operations team, aligning closely with company-wide communications (with Lyka’s Chief of Staff and People team)
• Set and ensure best practices around ways of working within Operations team (including with cross-functional stakeholders)
• Co-ordinate collaboration with key cross-functional teams
• Drive agenda and cadence for Operations Leadership, ensuring that the team are focused on the most critical topics and decisions

Special Projects

• Streamlining cross-functional ways of working (with XF teams that work closely with Operations)
• Implementing Lyka’s Operating Management System (LOMS) whilst partnering key functional & cross functional stakeholders
• Co-ordinating product launches and changes (with Research & Development team)

• Facilitate implementation of new systems, processes and AI tools (with Business Operations team)
• Operating Model for the future global Operations organisation (with Strategy and People teams)
• Support longer term strategy projects, e.g. 2030 fulfilment network strategy (with Strategy team)

Requirements

• 3+ years professional experience with background in or strong exposure to manufacturing and / or similar environments (e.g. logistics / transportation, supply chain, mining, transformation office, etc.) and preferably with top-tier strategy or management consulting experience, or fast growth scale-up, with a proven track record of driving initiatives and delivering results
• Extremely organised, detail-oriented and strategic generalist who can handle multiple priorities
• Comfortable operating in an environment where processes and systems are still being built and refined (hands-on, builder mindset with bias to action)
• Confident and clear communicator, being able to engage and influence effectively at all levels of an organisation and across different stakeholders
• Exceptional team player and ability to work cross-functionally with a number of different departments
• Extremely proficient in technology (including emerging AI) and able to learn new tools / systems
• A current driver's licence — as this is primarily a site-based role
• Passionate about leading the future of manufacturing for Lyka — AI, automation & robotics with real-time data & decision making across an integrated value chain
• Passionate about Lyka’s mission to improve the healthspan of pets, with a connection to our vision of changing the status quo for pet wellness

Benefits

• Work in a fast-growing start-up, experiencing what goes on behind the scenes to sustain hyper-growth for a start-up with a physical product!
• Growth and Development – Lyka is growing extremely quickly, which means you will have the opportunity to experience different challenges every day and progressively acquire more responsibilities as our facility and team expand. We provide an annual L&D budget for you to continue your personal development.
• Work for a sustainability-focused company – we care about the health of our dogs and our planet. We’re proud to be Australia’s only carbon-negative and plastic-negative pet wellness company and we’re always looking at ways for us to improve sustainability practices.
• Be part of a diverse top-talent team, coming from widely different backgrounds and geographies.