Operations Manager - Procurement & Site Management

About This Role

This leadership role involves taking over the daily management of a family business specialized in roughage and stable bedding for horses and farm animals. The core of the role is procurement, particularly from farmers in Northern France, combined with full responsibility for site management and close collaboration with the group's sales organization. It suits an entrepreneurial young professional with experience in procurement, operations, or logistics who is interested in agriculture and horses.

Responsibilities

• Act as the point of contact for hay and straw suppliers
• Negotiate price, volume, and quality, and assess harvests in the field
• Creatively seek alternatives (other feeds, suppliers, or regions) when harvests are poor or supply is under pressure
• Collaborate closely with the group's Benelux sales organization to ensure timely delivery of the right products in the right quality
• Manage the site, including financial follow-up, monthly reporting to the group, quality systems, the vehicle fleet, and further professionalization
• Lead a compact, hands-on team consisting of a logistics manager, a warehouse and administrative assistant, and a permanent group of drivers, and assist where necessary

Requirements

• Entrepreneurial young professional with 3 to 5 years of experience in a procurement, operational, or logistics role
• Background can be diverse: procurement or field service in the feed and agricultural sector, an agricultural cooperative, a wholesaler or depot, transport and distribution, or the equestrian world
• Genuine interest in agriculture, animals, or horses, or the ability to quickly build this knowledge
• Enjoys negotiating and feels equally comfortable with a farmer on the farm as in reporting to the group
• Fluent in Dutch and French

Benefits

• Broad role with real responsibility, becoming the face of a company with a strong reputation
• Directness of a family SME and learning and growth opportunities of an international group
• Opportunity to lead your own company

Important Details

• Locations: West Flanders or the wider region

About the Company

Our client is a strong family business with decades of history in trading roughage and stable bedding, such as hay, straw, and other feeds for horses and farm animals. The company supplies stud farms, riding schools, animal clinics, and livestock farms in Belgium and beyond. It is now part of a fast-growing, private equity-backed European group in horse care and nutrition, maintaining its autonomy and SME structure while benefiting from the group's scale and ambition.