CEO / President / COO Candidate

SEEKING A ROLE AS: CEO, President, COO, GM, or senior operations/commercial leader with a chocolate, confectionery, ingredients, or CPG manufacturing company serving private label, co-manufacturing, branded, B2B/industrial, foodservice, or retail customers.

PROFILE: Seasoned executive leader with full P&L ownership across Fortune 500 and high-growth, founder-led environments. Proven success driving sales growth, EBITDA improvement, operational transformation, and commercial strategy across confectionery and food and ingredient manufacturing.

IN LOCATION: Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Open to relocation.

SKILLS & ACHIEVEMENTS:

– Most recently served as President/COO (2022–2025) for a manufacturer of better-for-you chocolate and confectionery ingredients, doubling sales and increasing EBITDA approximately 170% over three years.

– Led more than $20M in facility and capacity expansion and technology upgrades; re-engineered product development and commercialization to accelerate innovation.

– Supported investor attraction and a successful ownership transition/change of control; M&A from both sides of the transaction and integration exposure.

– As CEO (2018–2022) for a global hazelnut and cocoa spreads contract manufacturer, expanded the customer base across private label, co-manufacturing, branded, B2B/industrial, and foodservice channels.

– Additional leadership includes CEO North America for a chocolate manufacturer, COO consulting in supplements, and earlier GM/VP roles in major CPG and food organizations; strengths include multi-site operations, turnarounds, restructuring, pricing, channel expansion, NPD launches, capex planning, and disciplined execution.

EDUCATION: MBA Operations/Finance -University of Texas; BS Humanities – The United States Air Force Academy

COMPENSATION: Compensation is dependent on the total package; equity may increase base-salary flexibility but looking for a target base of $300,000.

If you are interested in speaking with this food and CPG executive who:
– Is prepared to lead a multi-site enterprise, a division, or business unit, through growth, transformation, or change of control
– Can strengthen commercial strategy, pricing, channel expansion, innovation, and margin performance
– Brings hands-on multi-site operations, restructuring, M&A integration, CapEx, and product commercialization leadership, then…

Contact:
Kris Binninger
krisb@kinsa.com
Worksite Preference:Open
Employment Preference:Permanent