Head - Operations - Cold Chain Solutions

Head of Operations - Navi Mumbai (In-Office) About Our Client: Our client is an Indian climate-tech company transforming temperature-controlled supply chains through innovative and sustainable cooling solutions. Founded in 2013 by IIT Delhi and Harvard alumnus, they are on a mission to eliminate dependence on diesel-powered refrigeration while enabling reliable, energy-efficient transportation and storage of temperature-sensitive products. Today, our client operates across three core business verticals: (i) temperature-controlled storage, (ii) temperature-controlled logistics, and (iii) IoT-enabled temperature monitoring - serving customers across the food, pharmaceutical, healthcare, retail, and e-commerce sectors. Leveraging its proprietary Phase Change Material (PCM) technology alongside advanced cold chain solutions, the company enables businesses to maintain precise temperature control from manufacturing and storage through to last-mile delivery. Through its innovative Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) model, our client makes advanced cold chain technology accessible without significant upfront capital investment, helping customers improve operational efficiency while reducing operating costs, food waste, and carbon emissions. Backed by leading investors including Mela Ventures, Ankur Capital, Infuse Ventures, and 1Crowd, our client has built a strong business foundation and achieved profitability while continuing to scale rapidly. As demand for sustainable cold chain solutions accelerates globally, the company is investing in the next phase of growth across products, markets, and geographies. Working at Our Client: At our client, employees are empowered with significant ownership, the freedom to innovate, and the opportunity to solve complex business challenges in a high-performance, hands-on environment. The company values curiosity, frugality, experimentation, and execution, making it an ideal workplace for professionals who thrive in entrepreneurial settings and want to build solutions with meaningful commercial and environmental impact. The Role: As our client scales its business across products, customers, and geographies, operational excellence will be central to sustaining that growth. We are looking for a Head of Operations who can build systems, improve execution, and lead cross-functional operations across our client's three business verticals. This is not a factory operations role. Instead, you will own the execution engine that enables projects to be delivered on time, customer operations to run seamlessly, and cross-functional teams to work together effectively. Working closely with Procurement, Projects, Logistics, Design, Finance, and regional teams, you will ensure operational excellence from planning through deployment while continuously improving processes, productivity, and scalability. This role is ideal for a leader who enjoys building systems, solving complex operational challenges, and leading large, distributed teams in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment. You'll lead and coordinate a multidisciplinary operations organisation that includes: - Procurement (3-member team) - Logistics (2-member team) - Central Projects team and Regional Project Managers - Design, as it supports operational execution - Cross-functional coordination across Storage, Logistics, and IoT business verticals Working closely with Factory Operations, Sales, Finance, Product, and Services, you'll ensure operational execution keeps pace with our client's ambitious growth plans. Key Responsibilities: 1. Business Operations: - Lead end-to-end business operations across our client's Cold Storage EPC, Operate, and Logistics businesses (excluding factory production). - Drive operational excellence across project execution, deployments, logistics, procurement coordination, and customer operations. - Build scalable operating systems capable of supporting our client's rapid growth. 2. Project Delivery: - Own execution of customer projects from planning through successful deployment. - Improve project planning, resource allocation, and installation timelines. - Build and grow a network of installation partners to enhance reach and scale delivery across geographies. - Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to customer expectations. 3. Operations Excellence: - Standardize operating processes across regions. - Improve productivity, process efficiency, operational visibility, and cost optimisation. - Build dashboards, KPIs, and governance mechanisms. - Drive continuous improvement initiatives across operations. 4. Procurement & Logistics: - Lead Procurement and Logistics teams to ensure timely availability of materials and smooth execution. - Optimize inventory movement, transportation planning, and deployment readiness. - Improve coordination across internal and external stakeholders. 5. Team Leadership: - Lead multidisciplinary teams across Projects, Procurement, Logistics, Design, and regional Operations. - Develop future leaders and strengthen organizational capability. - Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and execution excellence. 6. Cross-Functional Leadership: - Partner closely with Sales, Manufacturing, Finance, Product, and Services to ensure seamless execution. - Resolve operational bottlenecks proactively. - Balance customer commitments with operational capability. What Makes This Role Different: This isn't a role where you'll inherit a mature operating playbook. You'll join a business that has already achieved product-market fit and profitability but is now entering a phase where operational systems need to evolve alongside rapid growth. You'll work directly with the founders to identify bottlenecks, improve execution, and build scalable operating systems across multiple business verticals. Success won't come from introducing process for its own sake. It will come from knowing where structure creates value, where flexibility should remain, and how to scale without slowing the business down. Ideal Candidate Profile: 1. Experience: - Typically 8-12 years of experience in Business Operations, Program Management, Supply Chain Operations, Industrial Operations, Project Execution, or large-scale Operations. - Experience leading cross-functional teams across procurement, logistics, projects, and field operations. - Experience building operational systems during periods of rapid growth. - Experience balancing strategic planning with hands-on execution. - Relevant backgrounds include industrial equipment, engineering services, logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing, renewable energy, industrial automation, EPC, infrastructure, or other execution-intensive businesses. 2. What the Right Person Is Good At: - Operating comfortably in ambiguity, and building structure from close to a blank page rather than waiting for it to be handed to them. - Strong analytical and problem-solving ability - connecting the dots across procurement, logistics, and projects rather than optimizing each in isolation. - Mentoring and working alongside colleagues who have grown up through the ranks internally, without condescension. - Building credibility with everyone from shop-floor teams to senior leadership by leading through action rather than authority. 3. Culture Fit / How Our Client Works: - Hands-on, not desk-bound; as comfortable at a site or on the shop floor as in a founder or investor conversation. - Adapts to what already exists first, and builds on it, rather than arriving with an intent to overhaul. - Resilient to experimentation and failure; comfortable across a wide canvas of markets, geographies, and business models. - Direct, and doesn't need significant hand-holding to move from an ambiguous problem to a working answer. What Success Looks Like at the End of Year One: Within your first 12 months, you will have: - Built clear ownership and a