Head - Operations (10-20 yrs)

Role Purpose:

The Head of Operations will own end-to-end operational excellence across Supply Chain, Production, CFC/Fulfilment, Retail (COCO & Dark Stores), and overall Operations. This role is accountable for ensuring seamless execution from procurement to last-mile readiness, especially during high-volume seasonal peaks.

The role requires a hands-on operator and builder who can scale operations, drive cost efficiency, manage perishables, and lead large multi-city teams while balancing speed, quality, and customer promise.

Key Responsibilities:

1. End-to-End Operations Ownership

- Own complete operations lifecycle: Procurement Production Warehousing, CFC/Fulfilment Retail/Dark Stores

- Act as the single point of accountability for operational performance, SLAs, and execution discipline

- Ensure alignment between Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Retail, and Production

2. Supply Chain & Warehousing

- Oversee inbound logistics, vendor management, inventory planning, and line-haul movement

- Drive inventory accuracy, ageing control, shrinkage reduction, and cost optimization

- Build scalable warehouse and distribution models to support growth and peak volumes

3. Production & Central Kitchens

- Own production planning for flowers, gifting, personalization, and allied categories

- Manage perishables handling, yield improvement, wastage reduction, and quality control

- Ensure production capacity planning aligned with demand forecasts and peak requirements

4. CFC / Fulfilment Operations

- Ensure CFC readiness across cities for pick-pack-dispatch SLAs

- Drive OTIF, order cycle time reduction, manpower productivity, and dispatch accuracy

- Lead peak-day fulfilment strategy including cut-offs, batching, buffers, and contingencies

5. Retail Operations (COCO & Dark Stores)

- Oversee COCO stores and dark store operations ensuring customer readiness

- Drive SOP standardization, manpower planning, training, and compliance

- Ensure strong linkage between retail promise and backend fulfilment capability

6. Peak Planning & Seasonal Execution (Critical)

- Own end-to-end planning for seasonal spikes (Valentine s Day, Mother s Day, Rakhi, Diwali, etc.)

- Lead demand forecasting, capacity ramp-up, manpower planning, and risk mitigation

- Ensure zero-surprise execution during peak business periods

7. Process, Cost & Metrics

- Define and track KPIs: OTIF, cost per order, wastage %, inventory turns, fulfilment TAT

- Drive SOPs, automation, and continuous process improvement

- Own operational budgets, cost controls, and productivity improvements

8. Leadership & Team Management

- Lead and develop senior leaders across Supply Chain, Production, Fulfilment, Retail, and Ops

- Manage large multi-city teams (blue-collar + white-collar)

- Drive performance culture, accountability, and cross-functional collaboration

Key Skills & Competencies:

Must-Have Skills:

- Strong end-to-end operations leadership experience

- Deep understanding of perishables, time-sensitive fulfilment, and peak-driven businesses

- Excellent data-driven decision-making and financial acumen

- Proven experience in multi-city, multi-format operations

- Strong stakeholder management and execution discipline

Preferred Skills:

- Experience with omni-channel retail or quick-commerce models

- Exposure to automation, WMS, OMS, and fulfilment tech platforms

- Ability to scale operations in fast-growing, high-pressure environments

Ideal Candidate Profile:

- Experience: 10 - 18 years in Operations / Supply Chain / Fulfilment

- Background: Gifting, Flowers, Food-tech, Q-commerce, Omni-channel Retail

- Proven track record of managing large teams (100 500+) and multi-city operations