Chief Operations Officer

Position Overview:

The Affordable Organic Store is a fast-growing D2C e-commerce brand dedicated to making gardening products accessible and affordable across India. We currently manage over 2,000 orders per day with active operations spread across three major cities. As we scale our footprint, optimize our supply chain, and expand our product lines, we are looking for a visionary, hands-on Chief Operations Officer (COO) to lead our core operational engines from Hyderabad.

The Chief Operations Officer (COO) will serve as a critical member of the executive leadership team, reporting directly to the Founder/CEO. You will own the end-to-end operational strategy and execution, ensuring seamless efficiency across warehousing, last-mile logistics, multi-city fulfillment, customer support, and strategic procurement. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of scaling operations within high-growth e-commerce or D2C environments in India.

Key Responsibilities:

- Oversee hub-and-spoke warehouse operations across all cities.

- Implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inventory accuracy, picking, packing, quality control, and minimal wastage.

- Optimize first-mile, mid-mile, and last-mile delivery networks.

- Manage relationships with third-party logistics (3PL) partners and courier aggregators to reduce shipping costs and transit times while maintaining a low RTO rate.

- Lead the procurement department to secure high-quality gardening supplies, seeds, and pots.

- Maintain optimal inventory levels using data-driven forecasting to avoid stockouts or overstock situations.

- Structure and monitor the customer experience/support team.

- Set and enforce rigorous KPIs for First Response Time (FRT), resolution rates, and overall customer satisfaction (CSAT).

- Drive synergy between operations, tech, marketing, and finance teams to smoothly execute high-volume sales campaigns and new product launches.

- Standardize daily dashboard reporting.

- Leverage metrics to identify supply chain bottlenecks, reduce operational overheads, and improve unit economics.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

- Minimum of 4-5 years of core operational experience, with at least 3+ years in a leadership role (VP, Director, or COO) within an e-commerce, D2C, or retail-tech company in India.

- Proven experience managing high-volume fulfillment environments (handling thousands of daily shipments across multi-city nodes).

- B.Tech / BE or an MBA in Supply Chain Management, Operations, or a related field from a reputable institution is highly preferred.

- Deep familiarity with modern Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, inventory tools, and helpdesk ticketing platforms (e.g., Zoho, Freshdesk).

- Excellent negotiation, vendor management, and crisis-management capabilities, especially regarding shipping and supply chain delays.