Operational Excellence Engineer
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.
What you will do:
- Take ownership and lead the deployment of Lyka’s LOMS (Lyka Operational Manufacturing System) methodology across all sites (with focus on NSW sites). This includes, but is not limited to, driving Operational Excellence practices, problem-solving, and CAPA of day-to-day issues that impact safety, quality, and performance. Conduct daily Gemba walks to ensure that standards are being followed and provide continuous coaching and mentoring to the shop floor team to foster a growth mindset for continuous improvement.
- Develop, launch, train and continuously update relevant standards, including Autonomous Maintenance, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), centerlining, and others included in Lyka’s LOMS.
- Provide day-to-day and strategic support to the Manufacturing team to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs), including safety, quality, and efficiency.
- Lead production trials aiming to improve the different elements of the Gross Margin, giving support to other Stream Drivers.
- Participate in new CAPEX projects and New Product Development (NPD), supporting Engineering and R&D, ensuring that relevant standards are updated, and transitions are smooth and effective (Business as Usual).
Requirements
What we are looking for:
- Degree in an Engineering discipline (preferably Industrial).
- 3-5 years experience in a fast-paced FMCG environment and Lean Manufacturing deployment is required, along with implementing Continuous Improvement initiatives.
- Certifications in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other relevant Operational Excellence certifications are often a plus.
- The ability to engage others and demonstrate a hands-on approach is a must, engaging shop floor teams in embedding the new initiatives in their BAU activities.
- Experience in Training & facilitation (learn, do, teach) of Lean Manufacturing Fundamentals and Operational Excellence principles.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
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.
- Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave top-up
- Wellbeing assistance and tools to take care of your mental and physical wellbeing so you can do your best work
- Pupper parent support to care for your furry friends – flexible arrangements for new pets, pet-friendly offices, discounts, and financial allowance for dog training and care to help them live their best life!
We are committed to building inclusive and diverse teams
Lyka is an equal-opportunity employer devoted to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. We celebrate diversity, are devoted to creating an inclusive environment for all staff and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.