Chief Operating Officer

We're Hiring: Chief Operating Officer

Enterprise Execution Leader, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Sales — with a CEO succession track

Location: Mumbai, India

Reports To: Managing Director

Direct Reports: Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Procurement, Projects, Quality, Business Excellence, Customer Fulfilment, ESG & Digital Operations Heads

Career Path: Board-facing role with a clear pathway to CEO on demonstrated performance

Compensation: Competitive with market-leading building materials / industrial businesses; structured to include a meaningful performance-linked component

THE OPPORTUNITY

Our client is a large, listed building materials company — a leading player in tiles and surfaces — entering a defined phase of transformation spanning manufacturing efficiency, supply chain resilience, digital operations and brand repositioning toward premium, design-led categories.

The Chief Operating Officer will be the enterprise execution leader who converts this strategy into measurable operating outcomes, partnering directly with the MD & CEO and reporting into the Board on performance, risk and capability building.

This is a rare operating mandate: full ownership of the company's operating engine, direct Board exposure, and a structured pathway to CEO for a leader who delivers.

ROLE MANDATE

Own end-to-end enterprise operations — Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Projects, Quality, Customer Fulfilment, Business Excellence, ESG and Digital Operations — and build the operating rhythm, governance and talent base needed to sustain profitable growth at scale.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Enterprise Operations & Governance

• Own delivery of growth, profitability and productivity targets across the operating businesses

• Translate Board and CEO strategic priorities into operating plans with clear accountability

• Run the enterprise operating rhythm — Monthly Business Reviews, KPI dashboards, cross-functional escalation

Manufacturing Excellence

• Hold full accountability for plant safety, quality, cost, capacity utilisation and asset reliability

• Drive Lean Manufacturing, TPM, automation and digitisation to lift throughput and yield

• Build manufacturing cost competitiveness as a durable structural advantage, not a one-time gain

Supply Chain & Procurement

• Own integrated demand planning, sourcing, procurement, logistics and distribution end to end

• Improve forecast accuracy, supplier performance and inventory productivity to free up working capital

• Build a supply chain resilient enough to support premium, design-led growth without cost creep

Customer Fulfilment

• Deliver best-in-class order-to-delivery performance in lockstep with the Commercial organisation

• Raise service levels, dealer experience and fulfilment responsiveness as a competitive differentiator

Transformation & Business Excellence

• Lead digital manufacturing, automation, process redesign and analytics as enterprise-wide programs, not isolated pilots

• Institutionalise continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making across functions

• Drive simplification and standardisation that scales cleanly as the business grows

Leadership & Talent

• Build a high-performance execution culture grounded in accountability, speed and ownership

• Develop leadership capability and succession depth across the operating organisation

• Act as strategic thought partner to the MD & CEO and the Board on performance, risk and long-term capability

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE — FIRST 12 MONTHS

• Operating rhythm (MBR cadence, KPI dashboards, escalation paths) fully institutionalised and Board-visible

• A costed, sequenced manufacturing and supply chain improvement roadmap in execution, with early wins in OEE, yield or working capital

• A strengthened leadership bench across at least two to three critical functional roles

• Demonstrated, data-backed movement on at least one headline metric — EBITDA margin, working capital, or OTIF

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Must Have

• 20+ years of progressive operations leadership, including at least 10 years in senior enterprise roles with full P&L accountability

• A proven, quantifiable track record of leading large manufacturing and supply chain organisations through operational transformation, cost optimisation and scaling

• Direct experience presenting to and operating with Boards, promoters and investors

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from a recognised institution; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification preferred

Preferred Background

• Building materials, ceramics, tiles, cement, paints, industrial manufacturing, consumer durables, engineering or comparable asset-intensive, process-driven businesses

Leadership Competencies

• Enterprise leadership, strategic execution and operational excellence, paired with strong financial and commercial acumen

• Fluency across manufacturing and supply chain leadership, customer orientation, and digital/business transformation

• A data-driven, change-oriented operator with high integrity and a strong bias for action

• The maturity to partner closely with the MD & CEO while constructively challenging the status quo — and the readiness to grow into a CEO mandate over the medium term