Vice President of Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Vice President of Operations

Scottsdale, AZ - Fully on-site

Company Description

Our client is a self-funded, profitable, founder-led cannabis technology company known for proprietary extraction science and category-leading vaporizer hardware, including the Super Fog line, the Jefe all-in-one, and the ION cartridge. Products currently reach adult-use markets across five states, with international expansion on the roadmap. Our client operates a hybrid business model - in-house production, co-manufacturing and distribution partners, and licensing relationships - which is central to the company's competitive advantage.

Position Summary

The Vice President of Operations will hold full end-to-end ownership of how our client makes, moves, and delivers its products -spanning production, supply chain, warehousing, logistics, distribution, co-manufacturing and licensing partner management, and multi-state and international expansion. This is a Vice President title with a chief-operator's mandate: as comfortable resolving a production-floor issue as framing a market-entry decision for ownership.

This role is explicitly structured as a path to the company's senior-most operating leadership position as the company scales. The organization is small and hands-on today; this person is expected to be the VP, the director, and the manager at once - building the team and systems around them as the company grows.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end responsibility for production and manufacturing, both in-house and through co-manufacturing partners, including production planning, quality, throughput, and unit economics.
• Lead supply chain and procurement, including sourcing and vendor management for hardware, components, and materials, including what is supplied to licensing partners.
• Direct warehousing, logistics, and multi-state distribution, both directly and through third-party partners.
• Manage co-manufacturing and licensing partner relationships, including service levels, quality standards, and brand protection.
• Lead multi-state and international expansion, including build-versus-partner decisions and designing the operating model for each new market.
• Partner closely with Compliance and Legal to ensure regulatory requirements and seed-to-sale integrity are engineered into operations, not addressed after the fact.
• Own the operating budget and financial performance, providing a clear, honest read to ownership on cost, capacity, and risk.
• Build, lead, and develop the operations organization as it scales from a small, hands-on team into a multi-market operation.
• Serve as a hands-on operator, personally stepping into production, warehouse, or field issues as needed, particularly during the company's current stage of growth.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive operations leadership, including multi-site and multi-state responsibility, with a demonstrated track record of scaling an organization.
• Direct experience across both in-house manufacturing and third-party models - co-manufacturing, co-packing, or licensing.
• Deep, integrated command of supply chain, procurement, warehousing, logistics, and distribution.
• Experience in a highly regulated industry - cannabis strongly preferred, or comparable rigor from pharmaceutical, food and beverage, CPG, or medical device.
• Strong financial acumen, with demonstrated ownership of operating budgets and cost performance.
• Bachelor's degree required.
• Must be at least 21 years of age.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain all applicable state and federal cannabis licensing, badging, and background clearances required in each state where our client operates.

Preferred Requirements

• MBA, Lean, or Six Sigma credentials.
• Experience standing up new markets or geographies; international expansion experience.
• Genuine executive presence paired with a roll-up-your-sleeves operator's instinct.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

This position is fully on-site in Scottsdale, AZ, with regular presence required across production, warehouse, and distribution environments in addition to standard office settings. The role may require occasional travel to support multi-state operations, new

market launches, and partner facility visits. The successful candidate must be comfortable moving between executive-level strategic discussions and hands-on involvement on the production floor.

Why this role?

Our client is self-funded, profitable, and founder-led - offering real ownership, real speed, and real consequences to decisions, without the drag of institutional bureaucracy. This is an opportunity to join a brand consumers already know and trust, at the moment it is scaling from a regional leader into a national one, with a clear, stated path to the company's top operating seat.