Operations Manager

Lead one of Europe's most advanced ophthalmic laboratories.

At Omega Optix, we are looking for an inspiring Operations Leader who combines manufacturing excellence, customer focus and people leadership. If you are passionate about building high-performing teams, driving operational excellence and shaping the future of a growing business, this could be your next career-defining opportunity.

Omega Optix s.r.o. , is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of ophthalmic lenses in the Czech Republic and a proud member of the EssilorLuxottica Group. We operate one of the most advanced optical laboratories in Europe, delivering 4.5 million lenses annually to 44 countries worldwide , supported by a stock of over 1 million lenses and a highly skilled Operations team. This is an opportunity to take responsibility for a strategically important laboratory operation, lead a team of approximately 130 employees and directly influence customer satisfaction, operational performance and business growth.

Role purpose

The Lab Manager is accountable for the overall performance and smooth day-to-day running of the laboratory operations. The role is responsible for production and service operations, including production planning, capacity management, distribution flow, edging and mounting services, and leadership of the Order Entry team.

The Lab Manager ensures that customer commitments are delivered on time and at the expected quality while maintaining operational excellence, compliance, productivity, and cost efficiency. Acting with a strong business and customer-oriented mindset, the role works in close partnership with Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, and Finance to align customer needs, commercial priorities, and operational capabilities. The position also drives continuous improvement initiatives to enhance service levels, customer experience, and overall business performance.

Key responsibilities

1. Production Operations Management and Execution

• Manage all production activities across the laboratory, including production planning, workflow management, edging and mounting operations, quality control and order fulfilment.
• Ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of customer orders while meeting quality, productivity and service targets.
• Drive the development and scaling of the growing Edging & Mounting department, including capacity planning, process optimization, workforce development and operational excellence.
• Define, implement and continuously improve production processes, operating standards, controls and best practices to support sustainable growth.
• Monitor daily, weekly and monthly production KPIs, identify deviations, implement corrective actions and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure effective resource planning, workload balancing and prioritization across production areas to maintain operational efficiency and flexibility during periods of growth and changing demand.
• Maintain high standards of quality, safety and compliance while fostering a culture of accountability, teamwork and continuous improvement.

2. Distribution, logistics and order fulfilment

• Oversee inbound and outbound flows, warehousing, stock handling, dispatch accuracy, transportation coordination and delivery performance.
• Maintain strong controls over order prioritization, picking, packing, shipping and documentation to ensure accuracy and customer reliability.
• Coordinate with logistics partners or internal logistics teams to resolve delivery issues and improve distribution efficiency.
• Ensure inventory availability for service needs while minimizing unnecessary stock and working capital impact.
• Drive continuous improvement in distribution accuracy, speed, cost and transparency.
• Monitor and control distribution and logistics costs, driving productivity, efficiency and cost optimization initiatives while maintaining agreed service levels.
• Conduct regular reviews with Supply Chain, Customer Service and commercial teams to analyze performance gaps, identify deviations from agreed targets, assess root causes and implement corrective actions.

3. Order Entry and Production Order Management

• Lead the Order Entry team, ensuring accurate, timely and efficient processing of customer orders and production requests.
• Establish and maintain clear processes, quality controls and escalation procedures for order entry, order validation, outsourcing activities and order-related issue resolution.
• Ensure high data quality and order accuracy to support smooth production planning, operational efficiency and on-time customer delivery.
• Coordinate closely with Production, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Sales and external and internal customers to ensure customer requirements are correctly translated into operational execution.
• Monitor team performance, workload distribution and service levels, while driving continuous improvement in order management processes and customer experience.
• Develop team capabilities through training and coaching on order management processes, product knowledge, customer requirements and system utilization.

4 Customer Focus and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Foster a customer-centric culture across all laboratory operations, ensuring customer satisfaction remains the highest priority in all operational decisions, processes and performance objectives.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with Customer Service, Sales, Marketing and Finance to align customer expectations, commercial priorities and operational capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with Customer Service to ensure seamless order fulfillment, responsive communication and effective resolution of customer issues, contributing to an outstanding customer experience.
• Act as the operational escalation point for urgent customer requirements, service disruptions, quality concerns, delivery issues and customer complaints, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication.
• Coordinate operational readiness for commercial initiatives, including customer commitments, business development activities, campaigns and product launches, ensuring adequate capacity, resources and execution capabilities.
• Assess production capacity, workload, inventory availability, distribution readiness and edging & mounting capabilities before commercial commitments are confirmed.
• Translate customer feedback, service trends and operational performance data into improvement initiatives that enhance quality, reliability, customer satisfaction and business growth.
• Provide operational insights, performance analysis and practical solutions to support customer retention, revenue growth and informed business decision-making.
• Facilitate alignment between commercial objectives and operational execution through regular performance reviews, action tracking and proactive risk management.

6. Inventory, equipment and cost management

• Ensure effective management of raw materials, lenses, frames, consumables, packaging materials and other operational supplies required to support production and laboratory operations.
• Oversee inventory planning, procurement coordination, stock controls, cycle counts and discrepancy resolution to ensure continuity of operations and optimal inventory levels.
• Ensure the reliability, availability and performance of production, edging & mounting and laboratory equipment through effective preventive maintenance programs and supplier-supported service activities.
• Minimize equipment downtime, production disruptions and unnecessary costs through preventive actions, root-cause analysis and disciplined follow-up of corrective measures.
• Monitor operational and production costs against budget targets, identify improvement opportunities and drive initiatives to enhance efficiency, productivity and cost performance.
• Support the scaling and sustainable growth of laboratory operations through effective management of assets, resources, capacity and infrastructure.

7. People leadership, compliance and governance

• Lead, motivate and develop the site team, creating a culture of accountability, safety, service mindset, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Set clear expectations, priorities and performance routines for team members and supervisors.
• Ensure implementation and respect of EHS, quality, compliance and internal control policies applicable to the site.
• Maintain a safe, clean and compliant working environment, with appropriate reporting and follow-up of incidents or risks.
• Ensure accurate reporting of service volumes, turnaround times, quality, distribution, inventory, costs and action plans.

Required experience and qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or diploma in operations management, logistics, supply chain, business administration, technical/optical field or a related area. Equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in service operations, production, distribution, logistics, optical retail/wholesale service, edging and mounting coordination, customer service operations or a comparable environment.
• Proven experience leading teams, managing service KPIs and driving continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of distribution flow, customer service, stock control, quality, planning and cost discipline.
• Good MS Office skills, particularly Excel and PowerPoint; experience with ERP/CRM/reporting tools is an advantage.
• Czech native and fluent English, written and spoken.
• Experience in a manufacturing, laboratory, industrial or other operations-driven environment is required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead change and implement continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong customer and business orientation with the ability to balance customer expectations, commercial priorities and operational capabilities.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills, with experience collaborating effectively across all departments.