Chief Strategy & Operation Officer

Are you an experienced operations leader who thrives on driving efficiency, leading change, and positioning businesses for growth?

We’re looking for a Chief Strategy & Operating Officer (CSOO) to take charge of day-to-day operations across multiple plants and product lines, enabling our CEO to focus on strategic priorities. In this critical role, you’ll oversee the entire order-to-delivery process, champion lean manufacturing initiatives, and lead transformative projects that shape the future of our business. You’ll work with products that support the food and beverage delivery industry, playing a key role in positioning the company for future expansion.

If you want to be part of a profitable, growth-oriented business with a product line essential to food and beverage distribution, we are looking for you!

STE Hackney is part of ST Engineering’s diverse portfolio of businesses spans the aerospace, smart city, defence and public security segments. Since 1946, STE Hackney has been an engineering leader in the design and manufacturing of custom truck bodies and trailers for beverage, specialty, and refrigerated applications. Marketed under the Hackney and Kidron brands, our product lines serve multiple industries including multi-stop beverage and food service distribution as well as contractor services.

Known as a pioneer in beverage distribution, Hackney is the largest manufacturer of beverage vehicles in the world. With more than 18,000 aluminum beverage truck bodies delivered from 26 international manufacturing locations to users in over 60 countries, our reputation is built on quality, durability, safety, and exceptional customer service.

Our mission is to solve distribution challenges by engineering vehicles tailored to customer needs—optimizing delivery performance while enhancing driver safety. We pride ourselves on cultivating long‑term relationships and delivering solutions that keep our customers moving.

As Chief Strategy & Operating Officer, you will lead all day-to-day operations across multiple plants and product lines, ensuring efficiency, quality, and scalability.

• Operational Leadership:
  Leverages Lean/Six Sigma and Hoshin Kanri to continuously improve throughput, cycle time, and asset utilization.
• Order-to-Delivery Process:
  Owns end‑to‑end operations (from order to cash), driving reliability, quality, safety, and cost.
• Workforce Planning:
  Develop and execute strategies for labor‑intensive environments.
• Change Management:
  Lead strategic change initiatives, optimizing plant operations and rationalizing product lines.

Advance the organization’s lean journey to reduce waste and improve efficiency, while improving quality.

• Operational Excellence:
  Owns end‑to‑end operations (from order to cash), driving reliability, quality, safety, and cost productivity.
• P&L Management:
  Drive profitability through cost optimization and margin improvement.
• People Leadership:
  Creates a performance culture with clarity, accountability, and recognition.
• Business Cycle Management:
  Adapt operations to navigate market cycles and maintain resilience.
• Customer Focus:
  Sponsors top‑to‑top customer relationships and executive escalations.

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience within transportation equipment or related manufacturing industries.
• 10+ years in senior leadership roles, including revenue generation, plant management and multi-site oversight.
• Understanding of the sales pipeline process as well as a proven ability to interact with customers.
• Strong background in transportation equipment industry, including familiarity with refrigerated and specialty vehicle production.
• Expertise in workforce planning, lean manufacturing, and change management.
• Demonstrated success managing order‑to‑delivery processes.
• Exceptional P&L acumen and ability to optimize profitability.
• Highly adaptive and capable of managing through complex business cycles.
• Track record of transformative leadership.
• Relocation, if necessary, to Northeast Ohio.

This position involves access to export‑controlled technology which requires U.S. Person status or government…