Operations Lead - Defence (f/m/d)

Our Mission

At Circus (Xetra: CA1), we are redefining how food is created, produced, and delivered — powered by robotics and AI. From modular kitchens to autonomous food systems, our mission is to enable reliable, high-performance food infrastructure in the most demanding environments.

As part of our next growth phase, Circus is entering high-resilience, mission-critical contexts, including confidential defence deployments with national and international partners. In these environments, operational reliability, discipline, and execution excellence are essential.

To support this effort, we are hiring a Defence Operations Lead to own defence operations and key account execution across Germany and selected international defence engagements.

About the Role

As our Operations Lead - Defence, you are responsible for ensuring that our operations for clients in the defence industry run reliably, predictably, and at a high operational standard.

You own the day-to-day operational performance of defence key accounts — from deployment and ramp-up phases through stable live operations. Working closely with on-site teams and internal stakeholders, you ensure that our robotic kitchen systems are executed and operated in line with institutional requirements and real-world conditions.

Through strong ownership and disciplined execution, you directly impact system uptime, food safety, customer satisfaction, and the successful transition from pilots to repeatable defence operations at scale.

Your Daily Business

Defence Operations & Deployment Ownership

• Own operational execution for defence deployments and live operations.
• Lead rollout and ramp-up phases for modular robotic kitchens, including installation preparation, commissioning coordination, and go-live execution.
• Ensure site readiness, operational stability, and compliance in structured, security-sensitive environments.
• Own the transition from pilot deployments into stable, repeatable operations.

Key Account Ownership & Customer Interface

• Serve as the primary accountable operational owner for defence.
• Own the day-to-day customer relationship on an operational level, including expectations, timelines, and issue resolution.
• Lead operational reviews, reporting, and continuous improvement discussions with customers.
• Operate with discretion, authority, and professionalism in defence environments.

Operational Excellence & Governance

• Own and enforce SOPs for operations, hygiene, maintenance, and contingency scenarios.
• Ensure compliance with hygiene, HACCP, safety, and institutional standards.
• Own operational KPIs (e.g. uptime, output, incidents, service quality) and drive corrective actions where required.
• Ensure structured documentation, data collection, and reporting.

Internal Steering & Coordination

• Steer cross-functional execution across Operations, Product, Engineering, Culinary, and Supply Chain teams.
• Direct and prioritise on-site Operations Technicians and Deployment & Operations Managers for assigned accounts.
• Lead troubleshooting and escalation management, coordinating resolution across teams.
• Drive feedback loops from live operations into product and deployment improvements.

International Scope

• Own and coordinate selected international defence deployments and pilots.
• Contribute to the standardisation of defence operations across sites and regions.

Base Qualifications

• Several years of experience in operations leadership, deployment, or accountable customer-facing roles.
• Strong background in food operations, hospitality, food-tech, logistics, or comparable environments.
• Experience owning hardware-enabled or infrastructure-heavy operations.
• Familiarity with SOP-driven, compliance-heavy environments.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to make decisions and drive execution.
• Experience owning operations for defence, governmental, or institutional customers (e.g. Bundeswehr, Nato etc.)
• Native speaker German and strong English.
• Willingness to travel within Germany and occasionally internationally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to robotics, automation, or electromechanical systems.

• Experience transitioning pilots into stable operations.

• Strong KPI and reporting discipline.

Our Offer

• Competitive Compensation: Receive a competitive compensation package with offered stock options for full-time employees.
• Work-Life Balance: Enjoy regular team events, a hybrid work setup, 2 months/year remote work (Workation), and unlimited vacation days, along with a corporate pension plan.
• Personal Development: Personal annual training budget, access to internal trainings, and strong growth opportunities in a fast-paced environment.
• Mobility: Benefit from a monthly mobility or expense budget and a subsidized Dance Mobility Subscription for E-Bike/E-Moped.
• Well-Being: Access discounted Urban Sports Club membership and Wellhub for a wide variety of health and well-being offerings.