Vice President, Transformation

Description

GardenCore is the leading independent provider of packaged lawn and garden consumables in North America, including mulch, soil, decorative stone, and lime, with ~$850M of annual revenue and the industry's largest US manufacturing and distribution footprint at 58 facilities. The Company serves Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Walmart, and independent garden centers. Recently carved out of a global building materials parent and backed by Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in complex carve-outs, GardenCore operates in a recession-resilient category growing ~5% annually, is executing an active bolt-on program of roughly 8–12 acquisitions per year, and is positioned to double or triple EBITDA over the next four years.

The Opportunity

GardenCore has a significant value creation agenda and needs a single leader to own it end to end. The VP of Transformation will run the Company's transformation office: turning the value creation plan into a disciplined portfolio of initiatives with clear owners, milestones, and EBITDA targets; leading the CEO's highest-priority special projects; and, most importantly, driving measurable operating cost improvement across the plant and distribution network. This is a hands-on role for someone equally comfortable on a plant floor and in a boardroom.

The VP of Transformation will be located out of the Peachtree Corners, GA office.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Value Creation PMO: Build and run the transformation office: initiative pipeline, business cases, operating cadence, KPI dashboards, and savings validation. Serve as the single source of truth on progress for the CEO and Board.
• Drive Opex improvement in the field: Lead site-level productivity programs across 58 facilities covering labor, throughput and uptime, yield, maintenance, freight, and conversion cost. Establish best-practice standards and roll them out across the network, spending substantial time on-site.
• Lead special projects: Take ownership of complex, cross-functional initiatives as they arise, such as post-carve-out standalone build-out, network and footprint optimization, systems implementations, and pricing or commercial excellence efforts.
• Support M&A integration: Partner with the corporate development and integration teams to build repeatable 100-day playbooks and capture synergies across the bolt-on program.
• Build capability: Be a force multiplier for the CEO, GMs and broader leadership team; instill a continuous improvement culture that outlasts any single initiative.

Requirements

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree is required, a master’s degree is preferred
• 10+ years of leadership experience with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a top-tier management or operations consulting firm preferred, followed by leadership experience in manufacturing, distribution, or other multi-site operations.
• Proven track record delivering measurable operational cost savings and performance improvements.
• Experience in private equity-backed environments, transformation programs, M&A integration, or value creation initiatives is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, project management, and executive communication skills.
• Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, or operational excellence expertise preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel 50% - 70% of the time.

Leadership & Character

• High emotional intelligence with a humble, collaborative, and low-ego leadership style.
• Ability to build credibility and influence across all levels of the organization, from plant operations to the boardroom.
• High energy, results-oriented with a strong bias for action and comfort operating in a fast-paced environment.
• Skilled at creating structure, driving accountability, and delivering results amid ambiguity and change.

What GardenCore Offers You

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and disability benefits programs.
• Group retirement savings program.
• An inclusive culture that values opportunity for growth, development, and internal promotion.

About GardenCore

GardenCore is a leading U.S. manufacturer of lawn and garden consumables, offering a broad portfolio of mulch, soil, stone, and lime products. The company has deep, long-standing partnerships with major home improvement retailers and garden centers and delivers consistent, high-quality execution across large-scale private label and branded programs. GardenCore has over 1,400 employees and operates 58 manufacturing facilities across the United States.

Equal Opportunity Employment

GardenCore is an Equal Opportunity Employer. EOE/Vet/Disability. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

AI tools may be used in certain stages of the employment lifecycle, such as candidate review; however, all final employment decisions will be made by a person.