Chief Operating Officer (Integrator)

Zelona Brands Trading FZE; Dubai; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Job summary

Zelona Brands Trading FZE is seeking a hands‑on Chief Operating Officer to scale our fast‑growing consumer brands from Dubai. You will own day‑to‑day operations, drive profitability by brand and channel, and coordinate with agencies, our in‑house developers, and a lean multinational team.

You’ll lead senior brand and creative teams, optimize Amazon and Shopify listings, manage inventory health, and champion AI tools to automate repetitive work.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience leading operations as COO/GM/head of operations or similar.
• Proven track record scaling fast-growing brands.
• Strong margin and profitability mindset.

Responsibilities

• Run the business day to day with the founder via daily calls and a clear weekly rhythm.
• Build and own the profit model by brand and channel from sales, ads, and accounting data.
• Oversee Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify operations, including inventory, health, and listings.
• Drive profitable growth of Shopify stores and manage growth tests with break-even thresholds.
• Champion AI adoption across the business and push for automation.
• Hire for the Dubai team as it grows and mentor the team.

Skills

Amazon operations

Shopify store

AI adoption

Remote leadership

Tools

Seller Central

FBA

AI tools

Job description

We've been building consumer brands since 2015. They sell mainly in the US and Canada, on Amazon, Walmart and our own Shopify stores, and several rank among the top sellers in their Amazon categories:

• Aquabliss (founded 2015): shower filters and replacement cartridges. Our original brand.
• Cossini (acquired 2019): padfolios and desk accessories.
• Hudson Hi-Fi (acquired 2023): vinyl record sleeves and record care.
• AquaHomeGroup (acquired 2025): shower filters and shower heads for the home.

We do about $58M a year in revenue, and we're founder-owned and well capitalised, with companies in the US, Canada, Singapore and the UAE. The brands have years of sales history behind them. What's new is Dubai: we've set up Zelona, our operating company, to lead the group from here.

The group was founded by Dave Pitman, a British entrepreneur who has spent more than a decade building and buying Amazon brands. He's the Visionary, with more ideas than any team can run. You're the Integrator: you decide with him which ideas get tested, you run the business day to day, and you make the plan happen.

Now we're hiring a Chief Operating Officer to take us to $100M a year within two years, while keeping or improving our profit margin. Our two brand managers and our e-commerce manager report to you. You'll work with our agencies, our in-house developers (we build our own operations software) and a lean, experienced team across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

This is not a corporate role, but you won't be on your own either. You'll lead an experienced team and coach them. That means knowing the work well enough to get stuck in when something breaks, whether it's a margin model that doesn't add up or a listing problem in Seller Central, and then helping the team fix it for good. If you've helped a smaller business grow fast and you still like being close to the detail, you'll fit right in.

What You'll Own

• Running the business day to day, with a daily call with the founder and a clear weekly rhythm for the team
• The profit model by brand and channel, built by you from sales, advertising and accounting data, and used for budget, pricing and cash decisions
• Amazon, Walmart and Shopify operations, including inventory, account health and listing compliance
• Profitable growth of our own Shopify stores
• Growth tests: break-even set before money is spent, then scale or stop
• Our agencies: use them to set things up, then bring work in-house when the numbers support it
• AI across the business: champion it and automate repetitive work
• Hiring for the Dubai team as it grows

Expected Results

• Revenue growth to $100M a year, with profit margin kept or improved
• A business that runs on clear processes and written decisions, with fewer escalations to the founder
• Agency work brought in-house wherever it pays
• AI and automation in daily use across the team
• Healthy marketplace accounts and compliant listings

What You Bring

• You've helped a smaller, fast-growing business scale, not just run part of a large one. You're hands‑on enough to step in when something breaks and to coach the team through it
• Experience leading operations as COO, GM, head of operations or operations director, working closely with a founder. First‑time COOs welcome
• A margin‑first mindset: you can work out unit profit, break‑even and the most we can afford to pay to win a customer
• Hands‑on experience running an Amazon business (Seller Central, FBA, inventory, account health), with a Shopify store alongside it
• A track record of managing agencies on results and bringing work in‑house
• Daily use of AI on real work: you check its output and get teams to adopt it
• Experience leading senior brand and creative people without taking over their decisions, and hiring well
• You lead remote teams in writing and close every loop
• Compliance judgement in a category where product claims get close scrutiny
• Fluent business English and a feel for US consumers
• Bonus: you've built AI tools, agents or automations that people use every day

This Role Isn't For You If

• Your best results needed a big team, a big budget or a head office behind them
• You'd rather manage managers than get into the detail
• You want a 9-to-5, or a place where decisions take a month

How We’ll Measure Success

• Revenue growth and profit margin, by brand and channel
• Contribution margin and cash
• Marketplace account health and compliance
• Agency cost against results
• AI and automation adoption across the team

Why Join Us?

• Real brands, real numbers. Established products with years of sales and reviews behind them, not a start‑up still looking for its market
• Real ownership. You run the business and report straight to the founder. Decisions get made on a call, not in a committee
• Real backing. Founder‑owned and well capitalised, with our own developers, product design and sourcing team in China
• The Dubai build. You'll hire and shape the Dubai team as it grows
• Tax‑free salary and a performance bonus
• We move fast, keep things simple, and care about what we do (and each other)