COO / Directeur-trice Général

30% of global agricultural raw materials end up as wasted resources. In other words, 6% of our global carbon emissions are generated for nothing. That’s it. At Hubcycle, we are at war against that. We turn industrial waste into sexy B2B ingredients to make our food system more sober. We reinvent the industrial value chain by creating ingredients 100% made from unused resources. We purchase side-streams (byproducts) and turn them into competitive ingredients that we sell, with no compromise on quality.

Side-streams - typical examples :
Cocoa shells, Black pepper skins, deoiled / spent spices are obvious ones. But you might be curious to know how we have found coriander seeds and even saffron as a waste of some industries too. Wasting them is nonsense, and we need you to help us.

With the company growing, we are looking for someone to define & operate operational strategy. You will be the general manager, ensuring Hubcycle key craft is well executed to deliver the plan & company vision. We expect you to be particularly great in ensuring sourcing, sales & supply chains are performing accordingly with our targets. You will be accountable for those department pace. You will own budget design & execution and will be reporting directly to the CEO, with direct exposure to the board of investors. There will be a strong international dimension to your job, with Hubcycle opening business in multiple countries every year, for which we expect you to go on field.

Day to day will include, but not limited to : 

• Define & operate operational strategy to deliver company vision.

• Manage daily operations, procedures & act as a problem solver.

• Own, design & deliver budget.

• Deliver boardpacks & reports to CEO & board in all matters of importance.

• Set up comprehensive goals & KPIs to achieve the plan, and animate the management routine to make it happen.

• Lead the international expansion. 

• Hire the right people.

• Accountable for deadlines & targets.

We expect you to manage & animate operations with high performance standards from the beginning. We expect you to push us to become a better version of Hubcycle. We will always care about your opinion & vision on the market. 

The team around you : 

You will have the hand on creating your own team. You will be reporting directly to the CEO, and we expect Sourcing, Sales, Categories (Business units), Supply chain, Finance, Innovation, HR and Quality to be your direct reporting lines. We expect you to create a team. At first it’s very likely that we will allocate Product Management & Sourcing resources to help you start. You will be guided into our specific model by our C level team, including the CEO. 

The CEO will provide everyday technical support related to our specific kraft, as well as sales & sourcing support on huge deals. The CEO will own the company vision, exit strategy, and manage the board of investors.

We are looking for someone who will have both, short & long term impact. Being able to adapt to a start up is important. 

Fondamental : 

• We believe that multiple years of general management in bulk ingredient spaces (spices, pulses, juices, flours, etc.) with international exposure is a must to achieve our goals. 

• Having been part of Scale up, LBO, Transition, or merger is important.

• Technical background / experience / knowhow in food business is key. 

• Values we rely on : Boldness, Pragmatism (Integrity), Peak Performance, and Collaboration.

• Experience in delivering budget & strong track record of performance. 

• Experience in board exposure, and even board direct reporting.

• Excellent track record of designing relevant KPIs sets & translating them into sharp & pacy management routine.

• Winning experience in managing transversal teams, and great track record of synchronizing all ops departments.

• Excellent track record of talent recruitment & retention.

• Great communication & listening skills : balance ego, clear points, always propose a solution when spotting a problem. 

• Fluent English. 

Bonus : 

• Having already sold or purchased similar products as ours is a huge bonus.

• Proving you are not entrenched in the old industrial mindset is key.

We understand all that might sound very specific. Even if you are not checking all the boxes, but believe you can bring value to our mission, please reach out to us.

Conditions :

• Starting date : Q1 2025 - ASAP.

• Localisation : Based in Avignon (Your chance to live in Provence – France). 

• Home office : 2 days a week maximum, but for this position we believe the more you are at the office with the team, the better it is. 

• Salary : You can see we are looking for expertise. We know that comes with a price, and we will value that. The package will be fine tuned based on your experience. Bonus, and management package are included. The more you gain, the happier we are. 

Why us :

• You will have a huge positive impact : On both, us (Hubcycle), and on the planet. The more you perform, the more carbon you save (about 5tons of CO2 saved per ton of ingredient). We hope we are the first to give you this opportunity. 

• We are the biggest Upcycled Food Ingredient supplier : Already validated at scale by key clients & suppliers (>2000 tons sold). 

• Break the legacy : Our food system is not optimized, that’s a huge problem, and now you can be part of solving it.

• Values : We are pragmatic & humble, no bullshit here. Yet we are bold and aim for peak performance. 

The hiring process :  

• First meeting : 30mins with CEO, content : Your background, experience & motivation.
  Product samples might be sent previous to the next meeting.

• Second meeting : 60mins with CEO, content : Deep dive questions & scorecard. 

• Third meeting : 90mins on site (Avignon) with the management team.

• Fourth & last meeting : Meeting with investors from the board.  

The whole process duration is about 3-4 weeks. If you have any specific need for interviews, please let us know.