Chief Operating Officer

Our client is a privately held, mission-driven food service management company. They provide tailored culinary services to healthcare facilities, senior living communities, corporate dining, independent schools, sports organizations, and other clients. They are committed to providing personalized, intentional service, using naturally sourced ingredients, and crafting nourishing, thoughtfully prepared real food from scratch. Their culture is based on their commitment to the health and well-being of their team and clients.

A newly created role, the Chief Operating Officer will oversee operations across a national footprint, ensuring consistency, quality, and exceptional experiences in every location through strong team and client relationships. Our client seeks someone with character and competence to help lead a thoughtful transformation. This is a strategic and tactical leadership role in a culture-driven organization. At its core, this is about nourishing people and communities.

The COO has the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the health, wellness, and overall experience of clients, their employees, patients, and students. This position reports to the Chief Executive Officer and has six direct reports.

The COO is a company-wide executive charged with ensuring operational consistency, scalability, and strategic alignment across the entire organization. They will translate vision into comprehensive operational frameworks that align with the company’s mission, vision, and growth goals, ensuring alignment and accountability across all departments and functions. This role requires balancing premium customer experiences with strong financial performance while driving long-term value through innovation and new service models.

It is essential for this position to establish and build credibility amongst a well-established, dedicated, and loyal team. The goal is to maintain customer retention above 98% through dependable service, proactive communication, and teams that deliver on promises. The right candidate will scale operations and embed processes that support increased operational consistency, expansion, and innovation while maintaining company culture.

Summary of

Key Responsibilities:

• Operationalize the company’s food values across all markets, locations, and service lines.
• Serve as a partner to the CEO and executive team, contributing to strategic planning, growth initiatives, new market entries, and discussions on funding or investment.
• Establish foundational infrastructure, including scalable systems, tools, and processes that enable growth while protecting what makes our client unique.
• Maximize profitability through operational efficiencies and smart resource allocation while maintaining quality standards.
• Align supply chain strategy, food quality commitments, and operational practices to ensure procurement decisions support quality food that is operationally feasible and financially responsible.
• Support culinary and procurement leaders to ensure high standards are reflected in every order guide, dish, and location.
• Direct tactical execution across production/kitchen, logistics, supply chain, facilities, quality control, health & safety, and customer service.
• Optimize resource allocation through budgeting, forecasting, and cost control to improve margins without compromising quality.
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements (food safety, labor laws, environmental, licensing, etc.).
• Establish performance measurement frameworks and KPIs, monitoring results to identify inefficiencies and lead continuous improvement initiatives.
• Foster seamless interdepartmental coordination, breaking down silos to ensure collaboration between the field and corporate teams, across marketing, finance, HR, and R&D.
• Champion client-centric operational excellence, ensuring that the guest/client is at the center of all operational decisions with transparency, effective communication, and goal alignment.
• Manage vendor and supplier relationships to ensure cost effectiveness, quality, reliability, and consistency.
• Optimize the operational technology stack (including ordering,…