Chief Operating Officer

Michael Page; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary package

Opportunities for professional growth and advancement

Job summary

A leading staffing firm is seeking a senior operations leader based in Chennai to drive multi-plant operations in the packaging industry. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in the paper and corrugated sector with a proven track record in operational planning, process improvement, and scaling operations. This role offers a competitive salary and opportunities for growth within an expanding company. Fluency in Tamil and a history of hands-on management are essential.

Qualifications

• 15-25 years of experience in Paper/packaging/corrugated boxes manufacturing.
• Minimum 5 years in heading multi-plant operations.
• Strong exposure to the South India ecosystem is a plus.
• Hands-on experience in a promoter-driven and investor-backed environment.

Responsibilities

• Translate vision into a 3-5 year operational plan.
• Own performance of all plants ensuring compliance.
• Optimize raw material sourcing and logistics operations.
• Support sales team in key account management.
• Build a strong second line of leadership.
• Champion ERP implementation for data governance.

Skills

Operational planning

Process improvement

Performance management

Communication

ERP/MIS implementation

Job description

• Work with a PE backed firm in the paper and packaging industry
• Be part of the expansion journey to becoming a packaging solutions player

About Our Client

The company is a well-established organization within the paper industry, listed on the NSE and are backed by a large PE firm. They are expanding their operations across packaging solutions

Job Description

1. Strategy & P&L Execution

• Translate the promoter / board vision into 3-5 year operational plan for paper and corrugation businesses.
• Deliver annual operating plan: volumes, capacity utilisation, conversion costs, OTIF, quality, EBITDA margin targets.
• Evaluate and drive new plant locations (Chennai/Bangalore belt), capacity expansion, debottlenecking and automation.

2. Manufacturing & Operations

• Own performance of all plants (paper mill + corrugated plants): production planning, maintenance, quality, safety.
• Improve capacity utilisation, machine uptime, yield, power & fuel efficiency, and wastage levels.
• Standardise SOPs, 5S, TPM / lean practices across locations.
• Ensure statutory and environmental compliance (Pollution Control Board, safety norms, boiler and factory regulations).

3. Supply Chain & Logistics Oversight

• Work with Head - Logistics & SCM to optimise raw material sourcing (waste paper / kraft), freight, warehouse footprint.
• Decide make vs buy for corrugated capacity, satellite units, stock points near key customer clusters (Chennai, Bengaluru, etc.).
• Build reliable demand forecasting + production planning interface with sales.

4. Customers & Commercials

• Support sales team in key account management with large FMCG, e-commerce, auto ancillary and industrial customers.
• Oversee costing, pricing logic, and margin discipline at product / customer / plant level.
• Resolve major service issues, quality complaints and credit / payment escalations.

5. People, Organisation & Culture

• Build a strong second line: plant heads, SCM head, quality head, project managers.
• Move the organisation from promoter-centric to process-driven without losing agility.
• Install performance management: KPIs, monthly reviews, dashboards, incentive structures for operations.

6. Systems, Data & Governance

• Champion ERP / MIS implementation, ensuring single source of truth for production, inventory, cost and profitability.
• Provide monthly ops pack to promoters / PE investors with clear metrics and variance analysis.
• Strengthen internal controls, approvals, and risk management in operations.

The Successful Applicant

• 15-25years' experience with at least 5+ years heading multi-plant operations in Paper / packaging / corrugated boxes manufacturing
• Strong exposure to South India ecosystem is a plus (Tamil Nadu / Karnataka).
• Proven track record of scaling plants, reducing costs, and professionalising mid-sized companies.
• Comfortable working with promoter-driven + investor-backed environment, hands-on and on the shopfloor.
• Good communications, should speak Tamil

What's on Offer

• Competitive salary package.
• Opportunities for professional growth and advancement.