Chief Operating Officer

Company and Role Overview

O&H Danish Bakery, a renowned family-owned business with a 76-year heritage, specializes in producing high-quality, scratch-made Danish bakery products through multiple channels including retail, ecommerce/mail order, and wholesale. The company prioritizes operational excellence, continuous improvement, and superior customer experience as key factors in maintaining its top-tier reputation. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) role is a hands-on leadership position tasked with driving operational, cultural, and financial success, collaborating closely across functions, and guiding the company into its next growth phase.

Primary Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day organizational operations across all departments and channels to ensure high performance and operational excellence.
• Establish and enforce clear accountability frameworks with measurable metrics and performance management systems for the leadership team.
• Build trust and collaboration within the senior leadership team to foster alignment of objectives and strategies.
• Translate the company’s strategic vision into actionable short- and medium-term goals with defined outcomes.
• Manage budgets, forecasts, and cost controls to achieve profitable and sustainable growth.
• Lead, coach, and develop senior leadership to ensure appropriate team alignment and facilitate succession planning.
• Promote and uphold the company’s family values while advancing professional systems and scalable processes.
• Foster an organizational culture centered on accountability, ongoing improvements, and cross-functional teamwork.
• Serve as a liaison between ownership vision and leadership execution, balancing respect for tradition with innovative progression.
• Enhance and build strategic partnerships with suppliers, service providers, and customers.
• Collaborate with Human Resources to strengthen talent pipelines and support organizational development.
• Supervise bakery production, warehousing, and fulfillment operations to maintain quality standards, safety, and efficiency.
• Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress and ensure operational readiness across wholesale, e-commerce, catalog, and retail channels.
• Implement scalable systems and processes to support growth, regulatory compliance, and innovation.
• Coordinate closely with Financial Controller on budget management and cost control.
• Support retail store operations by developing scalable systems for staffing, training, merchandising, and customer service consistency.
• Ensure seamless, high-quality customer experience across all channels and touchpoints.
• Partner with IT, Finance, and Sales & Marketing to integrate systems and automation that enhance efficiency, scalability, and visibility throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Utilize data analytics and reporting to support operational and commercial decision-making.
• Champion communication and alignment among operations, sales, marketing, and fulfillment teams.
• Oversee operational readiness for new product launches, expansion efforts, and promotional activities.
• Collaborate with sales leadership to harmonize supply and demand planning, pricing strategies, and margin growth efforts.

Additional Information

The role reports directly to ownership and involves leading a team of seven direct reports including Directors of Human Resources, Financial Controller, Retail Stores, Baking Operations, IT, Fulfillment Operations, and the VP of Sales & Marketing. This position requires balancing legacy cultural values with forward-thinking execution to drive growth and operational excellence in a family-owned business environment.