Job Category: Leadership and Management Roles
Requisition Number: CHIEF001226
Locations
Racine, WI 53406, USA
Description
While we are a bakery and food company at our core, O&H operates a diverse, multichannel business serving customers through retail, ecommerce/mail order, and wholesale. We view operational excellence, continuous improvement, and customer experience as key differentiators in sustaining our reputation as a top-tier provider of scratchโmade, highโquality Danish bakery products.
We are seeking a handsโon, valuesโdriven leader who thrives in a fastโgrowing, familyโowned environmentโsomeone who can build and develop teams, strengthen collaboration across functions, and deliver outstanding results. As part of a 76โyear legacy built on craftsmanship and care, this role offers the opportunity to help lead O&H into its next era of growth, innovation, and operational excellence.
The COO is the operational and cultural leader responsible for driving the companyโs results from a people, process, and financial perspective. This role ensures O&H delivers on its strategic vision by harmonizing the leadership team, running the dayโtoโday business, and instilling a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The COO oversees all operational, retail, financial, customer, and growth functions, leading a team of seven direct reports (Director of Human Resources, Financial Controller, Director of Retail Stores, Director of Baking Operations, Director of IT, Director of Fulfillment Operations, and VP Sales & Marketing).
Key Accountabilities
- Run the dayโtoโday business: Drive execution across all departments and ensure operational excellence in every channel.
- Drive accountability: Establish clear metrics, responsibilities, and performance management across the leadership team.
- Harmonize the leadership team: Build trust, alignment, and collaboration between leaders and departments.
- Prioritize and execute the vision: Translate the companyโs strategic goals into shortโ and mediumโterm objectives with measurable outcomes.
- Deliver P&L results: Manage budgets, forecasts, and cost control to achieve profitable growth.
Responsibilities
- Lead, coach, and develop the senior leadership team; ensure โRight People, Right Seatsโ alignment.
- Promote O&Hโs family values and mission while professionalizing systems and processes for scale.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and team collaboration.
- Support succession planning and leadership development at all levels.
- Serve as a bridge between ownershipโs vision and the leadership teamโs execution.
- Translate strategic priorities into annual and quarterly objectives.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to ownership, balancing legacy culture with forwardโthinking execution.
- Strengthen current strategic company partnerships and create new business relationships with suppliers, service providers and customers.
- Collaborate with HR to develop strong talent pipelines and organizational development.
- Operational Excellence: Oversee bakery production, warehousing, and fulfillment operations to ensure quality, safety, and efficiency.
- Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure accountability and progress.
- Ensure operational readiness and scalability across all channels: wholesale, eโcommerce, catalog, and retail.
- Implement systems and processes that support scale, compliance, and innovation.
- Manage operational budgets and work closely with the Controller on financial planning and cost control.
- Support storeโlevel execution and operational consistency through scalable systems for staffing, training, merchandising, and service.
- Commercial & Customer Operations: Ensure seamless, highโquality customer experience across retail, ecommerce, catalog, and wholesale channels.
- Partner with IT, Finance and Sales & Marketing to integrate systems and automation that improve efficiency, scalability, and visibility across the customer journey.
- Leverage data, analytics, and reporting to inform operational and commercial decisionโmaking.
- Champion crossโdepartmental communication and collaboration to ensure alignment between operations, sales, marketing, and fulfillment.
- Ensure operational readiness to support new product launches, market expansion, and promotional campaigns.
- Collaborate with the VP of Sales & Marketing to align supply and demand planning, ensuring coordination between marketing initiatives, sales forecasts, and production capacity โ while driving pricing discipline and margin growth across all channels.
- Maintain a close partnership with leadership to honor O&Hโs heritage while advancing innovation and continuous improvement.
QualificationsEducation
- Required: Bachelors or better in Business Administration or related field.
- Preferred: Masters or better in Business Administration or related field.
Experience
- Required: Proven ability to lead crossโfunctional teams across production, finance, retail, ecommerce, and HR.
- Required: Strong financial and operational acumen with experience in ERP and data systems.
- 15 years: Demonstrated success as President, COO, or other relevant Cโsuite position of office in a $50Mโ$250M enterprise.
Equal Opportunity Employer
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