Chief Operating Officer

Job Description

About The Hang Loose Hut

The Hang Loose Hut is a college apparel brand creating custom merchandise for sororities and fraternities across the country.

About the role

The Hang Loose Hut is seeking a commercially driven Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead the execution, performance, and growth of the company.

As the CEO's right hand and primary business operator, the COO will take ownership of day-to-day company leadership, financial performance, sales execution, marketing and e-commerce performance, operational efficiency, and organizational accountability.

We are looking for a proven business leader who combines the strategic capabilities of a COO with the hands-on leadership skills of an experienced sales executive. This person must be equally comfortable coaching individual sales representatives, developing department leaders, driving profitable revenue growth, improving operational efficiency, and building systems that allow the company to scale.

The COO will turn the CEO's vision into measurable results, develop a high-performing leadership team, and build an organization that operates effectively without constant CEO involvement.

What You Will Own:

1. Company-Wide Leadership & Execution

• Lead the day-to-day execution of the business across Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Finance.
• Translate the CEO's vision and strategic priorities into actionable company-wide plans with clear ownership, deadlines, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish accountability across departments through KPIs, scorecards, leadership meetings, and regular performance reviews.
• Lead, coach, and develop department managers while ensuring alignment between teams.
• Identify organizational gaps, implement structural improvements, and make recommendations regarding hiring, personnel, and resource allocation.
• Serve as the primary decision-maker for routine operational and cross-functional business matters.

2. Sales Leadership & Revenue Growth

• Take direct responsibility for the performance, development, and accountability of the sales team.
• Personally coach team members on prospecting, relationship development, sales conversations, objection handling, follow-up, and closing techniques.
• Evaluate existing team members to determine their potential to develop into high-performing sales professionals.
• Design and implement a repeatable sales process supported by CRM systems, pipeline management, and measurable sales KPIs.
• Lead weekly sales meetings, pipeline reviews, and individual coaching sessions.
• Improve customer retention, account penetration, new business acquisition, and revenue per customer.
• Develop the sales organizational structure and hire or promote sales leadership as business needs evolve.

3. Financial Performance & Profitability

• Own the execution of the company's financial plan, including revenue performance, operating expenses, margins, and profitability.
• Partner with accounting and finance resources to oversee budgeting, forecasting, cash flow visibility, and financial reporting.
• Identify opportunities to improve gross margins, reduce unnecessary expenses, and increase operating profitability.
• Evaluate major business initiatives and investments using financial analysis and return-on-investment principles.
• Establish financial accountability throughout the organization.
• Provide the CEO with accurate, actionable reporting and recommendations.

4. Operations, Supply Chain & Scalability

• Oversee manufacturing, overseas supplier relationships, quality control, fulfillment, and order execution.
• Lead the transition toward a more scalable, outsourced production model while maintaining quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
• Improve production workflows, delivery performance, and cross-departmental communication.
• Identify and implement automation, technology, and process improvements that reduce manual work and operational complexity.
• Optimize operating expenses, vendor relationships, and resource utilization.
• Build systems that support significant revenue growth without proportionate increases in overhead.

5. People, Culture & Organizational Development

• Build a high-performance culture centered on ownership, accountability, communication, and continuous improvement.
• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain high-performing managers and employees.
• Establish clear expectations, measurable performance standards, and consistent feedback processes.
• Evaluate team structure and talent alignment to ensure individuals are positioned for success.
• Address performance issues decisively, fairly, and professionally.
• Reinforce the company's core values through leadership behavior and operational decisions.

6. Marketing, E-Commerce & Digital Growth

• Lead the company's marketing and e-commerce functions, ensuring strategies and execution align with revenue growth, profitability, and brand objectives.
• Lead the development and execution of strategies to drive profitable growth across e-commerce, customer acquisition, retention, and digital marketing channels.
• Oversee marketing performance across paid advertising, email/SMS, social media, and organic channels, ensuring measurable returns on investment.
• Drive e-commerce growth through conversion rate optimization, customer retention, improved merchandising, and customer lifecycle strategies.
• Establish clear KPIs for marketing and e-commerce, including revenue, ROAS, customer acquisition cost, conversion rates, average order value, and customer lifetime value.
• Evaluate, coach, and develop existing marketing personnel while identifying organizational gaps and determining future leadership and hiring needs.
• Ensure alignment between Marketing, Sales, and Operations to maximize revenue opportunities and deliver a consistent customer experience.

What We're Looking For:

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive business leadership experience, including senior leadership responsibility across multiple departments.
• Previous experience as a COO, General Manager, President, VP of Operations, or comparable business leader with meaningful P&L accountability.
• Demonstrated success leading sales teams, personally coaching sales representatives, and improving sales performance.
• Experience building sales systems, implementing CRM processes, and developing measurable revenue-generation strategies.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing marketing and e-commerce performance, including digital customer acquisition, retention, and profitable revenue growth.
• Proven ability to manage company-wide financial performance, budgets, and operating profitability.
• Experience leading organizational change, developing managers, and improving operational efficiency.
• Strong analytical, financial, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in an entrepreneurial, founder-led organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Leadership experience in apparel, consumer products, custom merchandise, or e-commerce.
• Experience scaling a business from approximately 5M–10M to $20M+ in annual revenue.
• Experience leading marketing teams at growing consumer brands, including performance marketing, Shopify e-commerce, and customer lifecycle marketing.
• Knowledge of overseas manufacturing, sourcing, and production.
• Experience implementing EOS or comparable operating and accountability systems.
• Track record of restructuring teams and building scalable organizations.
• Familiarity with Shopify, CRM platforms, workflow automation, and modern business technology