Head of Supply Chain

Atomic

About The Position

We’re a fast-growing pet-food brand in Stealth Mode seeking an experienced and strategic Head of Supply Chain with 7+ years of experience to lead and expand our co-manufacturing network while owning all aspects of supply chain operations including production, quality, costing, and planning. This leader will manage key external partnerships, build new manufacturing capabilities, and collaborate closely with internal partners to ensure seamless execution from R&D through commercialization. This role is critical as we scale—balancing strategic foresight with hands-on operational excellence, starting with building the supply chain function from the ground up.

Requirements

7+ years of supply chain, external manufacturing, operations, or production experience (CPG or food manufacturing is a must have).
Proven success managing external / co-manufacturing and supplier relationships.
Experience in contract negotiation, costing, quality oversight, and production planning.
Strong understanding of supply chain systems, demand/supply planning, and COGS drivers.
Ability to operate strategically while staying close to execution in a scaling environment.
Excellent communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.
Entrepreneurial mindset with a drive for continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage key co-manufacturing partnerships, ensuring performance across quality, service, cost, and delivery.
Own the negotiation, execution, and annual refresh of contracts, pricing, and service agreements.
Build strong operational relationships with co-man partners and drive continuous improvement.
Serve as the primary escalation point for production issues, deviations, or quality concerns.
Develop and expand the external manufacturing network to support innovation, scale, redundancy, and capacity needs.
Identify, evaluate, and onboard new co-man partners aligned with R&D requirements and growth projections.
Support the building of long-term capacity planning models to support business expansion.
Drive and improve raw material procurement strategies to improve cost, quality, supply chain stability
Oversee production planning in partnership with the Sr. Manager, Supply Chain, ensuring accurate forecasts and inventory alignment.
Monitor partner performance metrics (OTIF, yield, scrap, efficiency, etc.).
Collaborate with demand planning, finance, and operations to build integrated operating plans.
Partner with Quality to ensure external manufacturers meet food safety, regulatory, and audit requirements.
Ensure co-man partners maintain consistent product quality and documentation.
Lead corrective action processes when quality deviations occur.
Partner with R&D for feasibility, scale-up, trials, and commercialization of new products.
Work with Finance on costing, budgeting, and COGS targets.
Collaborate with Marketing on launch readiness.