Head of Operations OR Fractional COO

Posted yesterday

nombase educationNew York (NY)

General and Operations Managers All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing

SENIORITY

Director

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About the role

Head of Operations (full time or fractional) - Funded, Pre-Launch Plant-Based Milk Company About Spill FoodsSpill Foods is a funded, pre-launch non-alcoholic beverage company. We're a clean-label, plant-based brand built around tigernuts, launching with a shelf-stable tigernut milk. The foundational work is done: our product and formulation are set, our supply chain and co-manufacturing (based in Europe) are locked down, our carton design is complete, and our marketing plans are ready. We have a small, senior team in place, including a renowned brand architect and a coffee shop sales specialist. What we need now is an experienced operator to turn a launch-ready plan into shipped product.

The Role: This is a hands-on, build-from-zero operations role for a seasoned CPG operator who wants to own the machine that gets product made, imported, and moving, without a large company's infrastructure around them. You'll be the operational engine of the business, working directly with the founder and alongside our brand and sales leads to execute the details and logistics that get us to launch and through our first sales. We're open to either a full-time hire or a fractional / operating-partner engagement - whatever fits the right person, with room to grow into a full-time leadership seat as we scale.

Key Responsibilities:

Manage our overseas co-manufacturers and coordinate production runs
Own import logistics end to endL freight, customs, and long international lead times
Build and run inventory management, demand planning, and our 3PL relationship
Manage distributor operations: forecasting, replenishment, deductions, and trade-spend
Support sales execution: order flow, account fulfillment, and pulling product through the shelf
Establish and track KPIs across operations and sales: velocity, fill rates, inventory, and margins
Set up the lean operational systems a pre-launch brand needs, and know when to keep things scrappy

Qualifications:

Proven experience at an early-stage CPG brand where you built the operation from the ground up — you created the supply chain and systems rather than inheriting them
Beverage or food background; imported-product experience is a strong plus
Fluency across logistics, inventory, 3PL, and distributor operations
Comfort operating independently
Strong bias toward execution, ownership of details, and sound judgment on when to build vs. improvise
Excited by the idea of growing into a full-time leadership role as the company scales

Location: NYC / tri-state area or remote

Compensation: Salary + meaningful early-stage equity

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