COO / VP of Operations

We are partnering with a long-established, privately owned US ingredient distribution business to appoint a senior operations leader as either VP Operations or Chief Operating Officer, depending on the experience and scope of the successful candidate.

Based full-time at the company’s Long Island headquarters, this is a critical leadership hire with a clear mandate: professionalise the operational infrastructure, remove bottlenecks, strengthen systems and data capability, and create a scalable platform for continued growth.

The business operates across a highly regulated product portfolio, including food, beverage, nutrition, pharmaceutical and OTC compounding markets. As the organisation continues to scale, the company requires a credible, hands-on operator who can bring structure, pace, commercial awareness and cross-functional leadership to a complex environment.

Role Purpose

You will take ownership of the core operational functions across the business, working closely with the President, CEO and senior leadership team. The role will be responsible for improving day-to-day operational performance while also leading several major transformation projects, including ERP assessment and implementation, business intelligence, IT infrastructure, employee benefits and process improvement.

This is not a purely strategic or desk-based role. The successful candidate will be expected to lead in person, engage directly with teams across logistics, warehousing, quality, regulatory, IT, HR and customer service, and bring order, clarity and momentum to a high-growth SME environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and professionalise the company’s operational infrastructure, ensuring functions are structured, scalable and aligned with future growth plans.
• Oversee logistics, traffic, warehousing and customer service activities, ensuring releases and shipments are completed accurately, on time and with a high level of service.
• Run regular logistics and operational planning meetings, maintaining clear visibility of inbound shipments, outbound customer deliveries and warehouse activity across all locations.
• Manage outside warehouse relationships and ensure third-party logistics, trucking and warehouse spend remain commercially competitive without compromising service quality.
• Work with international offices, suppliers, vendors and internal finance teams to resolve damage claims, chargebacks, supplier issues and associated financial impacts.
• Support and strengthen relationships with key manufacturers, vendors and customers, particularly where operational execution affects service, quality or commercial performance.
• Ensure employees are operating in accordance with company SOPs, regulatory requirements and internal quality standards.
• Coordinate the development, review and modification of SOPs in partnership with the VP Regulatory and Compliance.
• Oversee office administration, facilities maintenance and operational support functions as required.
• Assess, select and oversee the implementation of the most appropriate ERP and operational systems for the current and future scale of the business.
• Develop IT infrastructure, data reporting, business intelligence and analytics capability, including appropriate governance around security, risk, AI and automation.
• Review, redesign and manage HR and employee benefits provision, including practical and cost-effective health insurance solutions.
• Build, coach and develop operational teams, setting clear expectations, improving accountability and creating a stronger leadership rhythm across the business.
• Act as a trusted operational partner to the President and ownership group, taking proactive responsibility for areas currently creating leadership bottlenecks.

Experience Required

• Senior operations leadership experience, ideally at VP Operations, COO, Senior Director or equivalent level.
• Experience operating across supply chain, logistics, warehousing, quality, regulatory, HR, IT, facilities and customer service functions.
• Strong background in B2B distribution, ingredient distribution, food and beverage, nutrition, pharma, speciality chemicals or another regulated manufacturing/distribution environment.
• A proven track record of professionalising operations in a growing, founder-led or privately owned SME environment.
• Experience selecting, implementing or improving ERP systems, operational platforms, data reporting tools and business intelligence capability.
• Comfort working with IT infrastructure, systems governance, data security and operational risk mitigation.
• Strong change management capability, with the resilience to manage legacy processes, ambiguity and operational complexity.
• Commercially aware, practical and hands-on leadership style, with the ability to balance service, cost, compliance and growth.
• Strong people leadership skills, with the ability to develop teams, set standards and build accountability across multiple functions.

Preferred Experience

• Food ingredients or food distribution experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience across food, beverage, nutrition, pharma, OTC compounding or adjacent regulated product categories.
• Prior involvement in digital transformation, automation, AI-enabled operational improvement or advanced analytics.
• Experience scaling infrastructure in a high-growth SME where systems, processes and people capability need to catch up with commercial growth.
• Strong supplier, manufacturer and customer-facing operational credibility.