Chief Operating Officer

Location:

Chattanooga, TN

Type:

Full-time, Exempt

Reports To:

Chief Executive Officer

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Branch Technology exists to create a beautiful built world, impacting a wide variety of industries including construction, aerospace, retail, logistics, and more. Its patented technology utilizes the power of creative design, software, robotic automation, and lean manufacturing to provide solutions to our diverse customer base. We’re growing rapidly and are attracting top talent and seasoned leaders from 3D printing, software, architecture, robotics, manufacturing, design, material science, and product development.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be a member of the executive team, providing strategic leadership, insight, and execution within all operational areas of the company. The ideal COO has a strong moral compass and unquestioned integrity, showing humility of spirit and humor when needed. The role will require a combination of strong solution-oriented manufacturing skills, inspiring leadership abilities, and strong business acumen. The COO will take ownership of robotic & manual factory production and related mechanical systems in those environments, process automation, logistics, safety, quality control, and operations analysis. The COO will craft, implement, evaluate, and improve on cross-functional activity that will enable the company to achieve its long-term operational objectives.

The COO is expected to act and think as a global business leader, generating excitement, enthusiasm and commitment toward the company’s mission, vision, values, and goals. Therefore the ideal candidate will be exemplary in the following ways:

• Lives out and advocates for our six core values: Humble Genius, Other Centered, Relentless Execution, Designed Beauty, Intense Collaboration, Wise Stewardship
• Maturely and wisely leads a team in a fast-growth and decentralized environment, inspiring people toward excellence
• Leads by example, demanding more from themselves than they expect from others
• Achieves buy-in from all levels on new initiatives and strategic priorities
• Accomplishes work accurately, thoroughly, and collaboratively
• Is solutions-oriented, bringing a problem-solving mindset to any challenge
• Comprehends complex and technical design, engineering, manufacturing, and constructability topics
• Thrives when under pressure to deliver against set objectives while operating on some occasions in stressful situations
• Does not cling to the status quo but can pivot with shifting priorities and/or issues inherent to a fast-growing company
• Demonstrates excellence with written and verbal communication
• Supervises and manages multiple projects concurrently
• Has strong creative, strategic, analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills
• Conceptualizes and operationalizes business strategies that align with the overall strategic decision-making framework
• Interacts and leads in a collaborative and open-minded way with other Branch executives and departmental leaders representing the operations function
• Is trustworthy to drive execution and exceed aggressive business model goals
• Successfully translates ideas from R&D / product development to scaled production capabilities that maximize output
• Implements new production capabilities and drives toward profitability targets
• Initiates, implements, and champions change management within operations
• Settles for nothing less than uncompromising excellence in quality of end product

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Excellently lead production, robotics/hardware, industrial automation systems, project management, and logistics functions to maximize performance and inspire long-term loyalty to the company.
• Assess and provide actionable insights into area performance by defining and monitoring relevant KPIs, data, and metrics.
• Collaborate with the CFO on appropriate departmental budgets.
• Define, implement, and certify all Quality Assurance plans and programs.
• Implement robust preventative maintenance systems and procedures for all facilities and equipment.
• Develop and implement effective strategies for continuous improvement in all areas you oversee.
• Develop and maintain key supply chain partnerships and material control systems.
• Participate in expansion activities as appropriate (e.g. corporate alliances, establishing new geographical presence, acquisitions, etc.).
• Provide thought leadership on layout of plant to ensure efficient space planning for operational workflows.
• Champion and oversee all safety programs by assessing and mitigating operational risk relating to people, product, and processes.
• Review and analyze employee retention rates to keep employee turnover low.
• Advocate for appropriate market-rate compensation and benefits for employees.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES

• 10+ years of proven prior experience as COO or other relevant role
• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in business, engineering, or related field
• Experience with industrial robotics in a production environment
• Demonstrable competencies with lean manufacturing systems and management
• Deep understanding of quality and safety programs
• Effective written and verbal skills
• Demonstrable proficiency with common office software (e.g. Google Workspace)
• Willingness and ability to work in factory and to travel when necessary
• Professional history of driving toward and improving financial results
• Successful experience in helping to grow a business in terms of revenue, cost reduction, and bottom-line profitability

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES

• Professional experience in a startup / growth-stage environment
• Master’s degree in relevant field
• Experience with polymer extrusion and robotic milling functions
• Experience in construction or prefabrication
• Experience with venture and private equity fundraising