Chief Operating Officer

Confidential Company is a rapidly growing consumer meat business ($500M) with a strong brand. The Chief Operations Officer (COO) will lead and oversee Company's Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Logistics, Quality & Regulatory, Safety and Procurement functions. Additionally, the COO will collaborate closely with other functions to align with the business strategy and CEO objectives. This crucial role will provide leadership and strategic direction to drive operational excellence. The position will ensure that leadership, people processes, and systems are in place to foster organizational growth, financial strength, and operational efficiencies, in alignment with business strategy. With the objective of creating a best-in-class operations team, the successful candidate must be able to manage the interface between people and technology, to foster a motivated and well-trained organization. The executive must have a deep appreciation for, systems and process improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Process Reliability, JIT, Loss Analysis) and understand their impact on operational success. A successful candidate will achieve these goals through a respectful, constructive, and visionary approach, securing a competitive advantage in operations.ResponsibilitiesProvide strategic direction and leadership to elevate operational excellence across the Operations function.Lead business planning for Operations, ensuring clear prioritization, organizational focus, and strong employee engagement.Champion customer-focused manufacturing practices that align with Company's strategic goals, service expectations, and operational excellence.Build and sustain a robust talent pipeline, support succession planning, and foster a high-performance culture committed to safety and quality.Drive continuous improvement and standardization across manufacturing processes to enhance plant reliability, reduce waste, and improve efficiency.Oversee engineering and project management initiatives, ensuring the use of cost-effective technologies and successful delivery of operational KPIs.Collaborate with Procurement to strengthen purchasing power, improve supplier relationships, and implement best-in-class procurement strategies.Manage operations costs and capital strategy, oversee budgeting and forecasting, and analyze performance metrics to support growth and efficiency.Support the assessment and integration of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships to advance Company's business objectives.Ensure alignment of infrastructure and priorities across regulatory, safety, and quality functions to maintain high standards and compliance.QualificationsIndustry15+ years of food industry experience with exposure to animal proteinHigh growth CPG experienceExperience within best-in-class F&B operationsFunctionalExperience leading multi-site operations of relevant scale/complexityExperience scaling operations (greenfield, 3rd party partnerships, network strategy)E2E Exposure - Sourcing, IBP, Quality, Processing, Manufacturing, DistributionLeadershipResults oriented - naturally inclined to establishing and exceeding goals and expectationsCurious - able to develop and recommend strategic options; spirit of continuous improvementHighly collaborative and able to work within a dynamic operational environmentHands-on, decisive driver of change and resultsHighly principled and consistently guided by integrity and ethics

Created: 2026-05-15