Chief Operating Officer

Industry: Food Manufacturing & Food Distribution

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Chief Operating Officer to lead and scale our food manufacturing and distribution operations from Long Island City, NY. The COO will own day-to-day operational performance across production, warehousing, logistics, quality assurance, food safety, procurement, and fulfillment.

This executive will translate company strategy into disciplined execution—improving margins, ensuring reliable customer service, developing high-performing teams, and maintaining rigorous regulatory and food-safety standards in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all operational functions, including food production, packaging, warehouse operations, inventory, transportation, procurement, maintenance, quality assurance, and customer fulfillment.
• Develop and execute operating plans that support growth, profitability, capacity expansion, and service-level objectives.
• Establish and monitor KPIs for productivity, yield, labor efficiency, waste, on-time/in-full delivery, inventory accuracy, order accuracy, food safety, and operating costs.
• Ensure compliance with applicable food-safety, sanitation, quality, labeling, employee-safety, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with the Quality Assurance and Food Safety teams to strengthen preventive controls, audit readiness, traceability, recall preparedness, and continuous-improvement programs.
• Optimize manufacturing schedules, production capacity, inventory levels, warehouse layout, and distribution routes.
• Lead supplier, co-packer, freight, packaging, and equipment relationships; negotiate operational terms and improve supply continuity.
• Build scalable SOPs, systems, and controls across production and distribution operations.
• Work closely with Sales, Finance, Product Development, and executive leadership to align demand planning, production planning, customer commitments, and profitability goals.
• Identify and implement process improvements, automation opportunities, technology investments, and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Recruit, coach, and retain operational leaders; create a culture of accountability, safety, quality, urgency, and continuous improvement.
• Manage capital projects, facility upgrades, equipment purchases, and operational expansion initiatives.
• Report operational results, risks, priorities, and strategic recommendations to the CEO and leadership team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in operations, supply chain, engineering, business, food science, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in food manufacturing, food distribution, consumer packaged goods, or a closely related perishable-goods environment.
• At least 5 years in a senior operations leadership role, such as VP of Operations, General Manager, Plant Manager, or COO.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing both manufacturing and distribution/fulfillment operations.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, quality systems, sanitation, traceability, inventory control, cold-chain operations, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven track record of improving operational performance, reducing waste and costs, increasing capacity, and strengthening customer service.
• Experience with ERP, warehouse-management, production-planning, and inventory-management systems.
• Financial fluency, including budgeting, P&L ownership, labor planning, capital expenditure evaluation, and margin improvement.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, negotiation, and change-management skills.
• Ability to work on-site in Long Island City and travel periodically to suppliers, customers, warehouses, or other company facilities as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with USDA-, FDA-, SQF-, HACCP-, or GFSI-regulated operations.
• Experience managing refrigerated, frozen, or other temperature-sensitive food products.
• Background in direct-store delivery, wholesale, retail, e-commerce, foodservice, or multi-channel distribution.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous-improvement certification.
• Experience leading a rapidly growing, founder-led, or entrepreneurial food business.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 12 months, the COO will have established a clear operating cadence, improved visibility into core performance metrics, strengthened food-safety and quality controls, improved production and fulfillment reliability, and built an operational foundation capable of supporting profitable growth.