Chief Operating Officer

SPUD.ca is the largest pure-play digital grocery delivery business in Canada and a staple in the Canadian food retail ecosystem. The company’s relentless commitment to local farmers, transparency, sustainability, and quality, make them one of the most respected grocery brands in the country. SPUD.ca’s early entry to online grocery has afforded them the opportunity to take part in an online market that has ballooned to over $2.45 trillion globally, with online’s share of the total grocery market estimated to grow from 20% to 25% in the next five years. Grocers of all sizes realize that to become real multichannel businesses, they must make the right strategic investments in their supply chains, logistics, operations and technology.

SPUD.ca’s expertise in running the technology and physical infrastructure to support online grocery, at scale, is well documented. Acknowledging the burgeoning demand for technology solutions in the industry, in 2019 the company commercialized the software that runs SPUD.ca under “Food-X Technologies” or “Food-X”, which today provides an end-to-end eGrocery Management Solution (eGMS) for small, medium and large grocery chains globally.

Complementing SPUD’s direct to consumer and enterprise software businesses, the company also owns and operates Blush Lane Organic Market which has five markets across Alberta and two retail operations in British Columbia, under the brands Organic Acres and Be Fresh.

Across SPUD.ca, Food-X Technologies, and Blush Lane, the company has deep expertise across the farm-to-fork value chain, both digitally and physically. Combined with explosive growth in the industry, the business is at an exciting but critical point in its journey. The company is on target to grow aggressively in the next five years and needs to develop the processes, organization design, product/service delivery methodologies, and culture that are truly scalable. As such, it is looking for a new COO who can execute operationally on that strategy.

The COO acts as the right hand to the CEO and, longer term, has the ability and interest to take on an even broader leadership/succession mandate. The COO is responsible for helping achieve specific short- and long-term goals. In this founding role, the COO will lead all aspects of day-to-day business operations/customer experience including Technology, Revenue, Global Solutions, eCommerce and warehouse operations. The COO will provide strategic guidance to the CEO to help grow the business. He or she will ramp up on both the Food-X and SPUD.ca businesses, each with their own culture, and enable high levels of growth by creating a unified people culture and through process innovation. The incumbent will identify efficiencies and opportunities for economies of scale while never compromising customer experience and culture. Leading a team of over 700, the COO will ensure that all aspects of the customer experience – from initial engagement, through to software integration, to ongoing customer support and account relationship management are delivered with excellence.

The ideal candidate is an experienced general manager who has successfully helped scale a high growth Enterprise SaaS, digital, eCommerce or related business. Armed with a strong commercial orientation and the ‘fire in the belly’ to drive best-in-class product and service delivery methodologies, the preferred candidate also understands the key considerations in making strategic technology decisions and the components of a modern technology stack. This is a critical executive leadership role that will appeal to culture builders and prescient business leaders committed to making a better planet.

Food-X/SPUD.ca plans to go public on the TSX early in 2021. The ideal candidate will have experience in a public company environment and be comfortable representing the company in conversations with investors, analysts, and media.

To explore this opportunity further, please Apply Here.

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position. Please note that we will only be in contact with those individuals moving forward with our client.