Chief Operating Officer

Neura Market; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Golden Child is seeking a hands-on COO to build and scale the operating engine from sourcing and manufacturing through inventory, fulfillment, and delivery. You will own supplier networks, cost structure, and capabilities to transform Golden Child from an early-stage DTC brand into a national omnichannel leader.

This highly hands-on role reports to the CEO and collaborates with Culinary, Veterinary Nutrition, Product, Finance, and Growth teams to implement systems, partnerships, and processes

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressively senior operations, supply chain, manufacturing, or related experience.
• Experience scaling a high-growth consumer business, ideally in food, beverage, supplements, or another operationally complex CPG category.
• Deep experience with manufacturing partners, supplier negotiations, sourcing, production planning, inventory, and logistics.
• Strong command of COGS, gross margin, and unit economics, with a track record of materially improving them.
• Experience building operational systems and processes during periods of rapid growth.
• Experience evaluating and/or executing in-house manufacturing or vertical integration is a plus.
• Strong analytical and systems-thinking capabilities.
• Comfortable moving between executive-level strategy and hands-on problem solving.
• High standards for product quality and customer experience.
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and energized by building from an early stage.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end supply chain, including sourcing, supplier relationships, co-manufacturing, production planning, inventory, cold-chain logistics, fulfillment, and delivery.
• Build a resilient supplier and manufacturing network with redundancy while maintaining quality and customer experience.
• Improve gross margin and unit economics through sourcing, packaging, manufacturing, freight, fulfillment, waste, and vendor terms.
• Develop a clear roadmap for improving unit economics and decide which capabilities to outsource vs. in-house.
• Build manufacturing and operational infrastructure to support significant growth.
• Manage relationships with co-manufacturing partners and evaluate long-term manufacturing strategy, including capacity and vertical integration.
• Translate demand forecasts into production and inventory plans balancing availability, freshness, working capital, and waste.
• Collaborate with Culinary, Veterinary Nutrition, R&D, and Product to bring new products from concept to production.
• Own the operational commercialization process including sourcing, costing, feasibility, packaging, trials, scale-up, and launch readiness.
• Build and maintain rigorous quality and food-safety systems across the supply chain.
• Create systems that protect quality as volumes, suppliers, and distribution expand.
• Develop systems and processes to scale with minimal complexity and implement an AI-forward approach to forecasting and decision-making.

Skills

Operations leadership

Scale high-growth consumer business

Supplier negotiations

Production planning

Inventory & logistics

Analytical thinking

Strategy to execution

Quality & customer experience

Entrepreneurial mindset

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

About Golden Child

Golden Child is redefining pet nutrition through an uncompromising focus on health, quality, and culinary craftsmanship. A Miami-based startup, we've built a founding team of board-certified veterinary nutritionists, supply chain experts, and classically trained chefs to engineer a food system held to human-grade standards. Golden Child offers Our chef-crafted, science-backed Mains and functional Drizzles that are designed to support lifelong health. Because feeding your dog should be an expression of love, care, and taste.

https://mygoldenchild.com/

The Role

Golden Child is looking for a COO to build and scale the operating engine behind the business. You will own the journey from ingredient sourcing and manufacturing through inventory, fulfillment, and delivery to the customer. You will also be responsible for building the systems, supplier network, cost structure, and operational capabilities required to scale Golden Child from an early-stage DTC business into a national, omnichannel consumer brand.

This is a highly hands-on role. You will operate at both the strategic and executional level: negotiating with suppliers, solving production challenges, improving unit economics, building operating systems, and determining which capabilities Golden Child should own versus outsource.

You will report directly to the CEO and work closely with our Culinary, Veterinary Nutrition, Product, Finance, and Growth teams.

What You’ll Own

1. Supply Chain & Fulfillment:

• Own Golden Child's end-to-end supply chain, including ingredient and packaging sourcing, supplier relationships, co-manufacturing, production planning, inventory, cold-chain logistics, fulfillment, and delivery.
• Build a resilient supplier and manufacturing network with appropriate redundancy while maintaining exceptional standards for quality, freshness, and customer experience.

2. Gross Margin & Unit Economics:

• Own the operational levers of gross margin improvement.
• Identify and execute opportunities across ingredient sourcing, packaging, manufacturing, freight, fulfillment, waste, vendor terms, and operational efficiency.
• Develop a clear roadmap for improving unit economics as the business scales, including evaluating when capabilities should remain outsourced versus be brought in-house.

3. Manufacturing & Operational Scale:

• Build the manufacturing and operational infrastructure required to support significant growth.
• Own relationships with co-manufacturing partners while continuously evaluating Golden Child's long-term manufacturing strategy, including opportunities for dedicated capacity, vertical integration, and in-house production.
• Translate demand forecasts into production and inventory plans that balance availability, freshness, working capital, and waste.

4. Product Commercialization:

• Partner with Culinary, Veterinary Nutrition, R&D, and Product to bring new physical products from concept to commercial production.
• Own the operational commercialization process—including sourcing, costing, manufacturing feasibility, packaging, production trials, scale-up, and launch readiness.

5. Quality & Food Safety:

• Build and maintain rigorous quality and food-safety systems across Golden Child's supply chain.
• Ensure every product meets Golden Child's internal standards as well as applicable regulatory, manufacturing, traceability, and food-safety requirements.
• Create systems that protect quality as production volumes, suppliers, manufacturing partners, and distribution channels expand.

6. Systems & Operating Infrastructure

• Build the systems and processes that allow Golden Child to scale without unnecessary complexity.
• Own the operational technology stack across forecasting, purchasing, production, inventory, fulfillment, and supply-chain visibility.
• Take an AI-forward approach to operations, identifying opportunities to automate workflows, improve forecasting and decision-making, and give the team real-time visibility into the business.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of progressively senior operations, supply chain, manufacturing, or related experience
• Experience scaling a high-growth consumer business, ideally in food, beverage, supplements, or another operationally complex CPG category
• Deep experience with manufacturing partners, supplier negotiations, sourcing, production planning, inventory, and logistics
• Strong command of COGS, gross margin, and unit economics, with a track record of materially improving them
• Experience building operational systems and processes during periods of rapid growth
• Experience evaluating and/or executing in-house manufacturing or vertical integration is a plus
• Strong analytical and systems-thinking capabilities
• Comfortable moving between executive-level strategy and hands-on problem solving
• High standards for product quality and customer experience
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and energized by building from an early stage

What Success Looks Like

The right COO will make Golden Child more scalable, more resilient, and more economically efficient without compromising the quality of the product.

You will build an operating platform capable of supporting the company's next stage of growth - one that can reliably deliver exceptional food to customers today while preparing Golden Child for significantly greater scale and future retail expansion.

We are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you’re excited about this role, but do not meet 100% of the qualifications listed above, we encourage you to apply.

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