Category CEO Protein, Supplements & Beverages

Aonic Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Aonic is hiring a Category CEO for Protein, Supplements & Beverages in San Francisco. You will own the category end-to-end, including product portfolio, manufacturing, pricing, and retail strategy, while guiding AI-driven operations and supplier relationships. The role reports to the CEO and offers significant equity with a base salary range.

You will partner closely with the CEO and in-house lab to deliver a cost-focused, member-driven business model with ambitious growth and retail presence.

Qualifications

• At least 4 years of operating experience in high-growth tech startups or top-tier consultancies.
• End-to-end ownership with measurable revenue, cost, or speed improvements.
• AI-native in practice with demonstrable outcomes.
• Degree from a top university in engineering, CS, science, economics or business.

Responsibilities

• Own the category end-to-end: product line, cost, launches and retail reach.
• Negotiate with suppliers and manage contracts, price rules and terms.
• Lead the Sourcing Manager and the lab; hire a retail sales manager as needed.
• Oversee AI-native operations and measure agent performance to scale the category.
• Write and apply the playbook for future Category CEOs at Aonic.

Skills

Operating experience

AI-native practices

Negotiation skills

Strategic leadership

Education

Top university degree (engineering / CS / science / economics / business)

Tools

AI agents

Job description

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Location: San Francisco, onsite (Jackson Square)

Compensation: $160,000 - $240,000 base salary plus significant equity

About Aonic

Aonic is deploying AI to drastically reduce the cost of living. We are building Aonic Club: the club contract Costco proved over four decades, rebuilt online and AI-native. An annual membership gets Americans elevated everyday products at cost, starting with functional nutrition.

We make the products ourselves and run sourcing, content, forecasting and service with AI agents, which deletes the 30-40% of retail and marketing layers inside every consumer price. The savings go to members, not margins: under Kirkland wherever Costco competes, and up to 80% below the brands.

Our ambition is big: 1 million members and a $10 billion company within a few years, built by a handful of humans with extreme leverage: AI agents running the operations, a community as the channel, and the AI dividend delivered to everyday America.

The Role

As Category CEO for Protein, Supplements & Beverages, you run Aonic's core business end to end: every protein, supplement, sports-nutrition product and healthy beverage we sell, in the club and in retail. Aonic is organized around Category CEOs, one per category we take on, and you are the first. You own your category the way a founder owns a company: what we launch, who makes it, what it costs and how it reaches members and retail shelves.

You own the cost, not the price: every product sells at cost plus a flat 10%. Your north star is your category's revenue at constant cost, guarded by our price rule (at least 15% under Costco and 40% under the brand), quality and cash.

Supplement or beverage industry experience is not required. We are looking for an exceptional operator from the tech world who builds with AI first and learns a physical-product business fast. You will work side by side with the CEO, who has run this category until now, with our in-house lab and with a senior industry advisor who brings decades of supplement and beverage experience.

What You'll Own

The Range

• Own the line-up: Aonic Fuel (ready-to-drink and powder), Aonic Complete, Race, Build and Flow today; creatine, an eight-product gummy range, whey, matcha protein and vitamins next; healthy beverages after that.
• Decide what launches, when, and against which incumbent, using our playbook: borrow existing demand, attack a named best seller, clinical doses only.

Manufacturing & Sourcing

• Own every contract manufacturer, co-packer, ingredient and packaging supplier, from first quote to signed supply agreement, with a backup for every product.
• Negotiate price, minimum order quantities, payment terms and lead times, and keep re-quoting. Because we sell at cost, every dollar you take out goes to members.

Quality & Formulas

• Brief our in-house lab and work with our advisor on formulas, specifications and certificates of analysis.
• Own the quality system: current good manufacturing practice, NSF International certification, claims and, if it ever comes to it, recalls.

Retail

• Own retail for your categories: Sprouts, H-E-B and our distributors, run as proof and as a funnel into the club.
• Play by our rules: no cash slotting fees, trade spend at or below 15%, retail judged by the members it brings in.

AI-Native Operations

• Run your category with AI agents: sourcing, forecasting, pricing and supplier outreach, built with our founding engineer on the systems behind our warehouse, shipping and store.
• Design the agents, set their rules and measure them, so the category scales with very few humans.

Team & Playbook

• Lead the Sourcing Manager and the lab, and hire a retail sales manager. Grow the team only as volume grows.
• Write the playbook every future Category CEO at Aonic will run on.

Hard Requirements

To be successful in this role, all of the following must be true:

• At least 4 years of operating experience in operations, strategy and operations, business operations or general management at a high-growth technology startup, or at McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group or Bain followed by hands-on operating work.
• End-to-end ownership with numbers: you have launched or run a product line, a market, a supply chain or an operations function, and you can show the revenue, cost or speed you moved.
• AI-native in practice: you have built AI agents or automations that run real operations, not just prototypes, with outcomes you can measure.
• Commercial instinct: you have negotiated with suppliers, partners or customers, and you enjoy sitting across the table from a buyer.
• Fast learner of physical products: no supplement experience required, but you want to master manufacturing, specifications and quality, and you learn them in weeks, not quarters.
• Degree from a top university in engineering, computer science, science, economics or business, with top grades.
• Extremely hungry and ambitious, actively seeking responsibility and steep growth.
• Strong work ethic and intensity, comfortable operating onsite in San Francisco in an environment that works 8-7 on Monday to Thursday and 8-5 on Fridays.

The Profile We're Looking For

This role requires a rare mix of traits:

• Book-smart: a strong analytical foundation; you build the cost model before anyone asks for it.
• Street-smart: practical judgment and commercial intuition; a feel for when a supplier is bluffing or a price can still move.
• People-smart: suppliers, buyers and teammates trust you quickly; you communicate clearly and work without ego.
• AI-native: you reach for AI and automation first, and you know how to make agents reliable.
• High-agency: you see problems, take ownership and execute without waiting.
• Taste: you care how a product looks, tastes and feels, because members will.
• Content-native (bonus): you can explain a product on camera, because our launches run through creators.
• Consumer products experience (bonus): you have worked on e-commerce, food, beverages or supplements.

Why Join Aonic?

A Whole Business, Now

You run the category that carries almost all of Aonic's product revenue today, with your own range, suppliers, retail accounts and results.

The Template for Every Category

Aonic will add a Category CEO for each new category, from pantry to personal care to health. Your playbook becomes theirs, and the best Category CEOs take on more.

Direct Founder Exposure

You work side by side with the CEO, a serial founder who has built and run this category until now.

Savings with a Purpose

Because Aonic sells at cost, every dollar you take out of a product goes straight to our members.

Elite, Small Team

A tight group of highly driven operators and AI agents, no bureaucracy, decisions in hours.

Meaningful Upside

Significant equity in a company built to reach 1 million members.

Aonic is an equal opportunity employer. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.