Head of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Operations

# Head of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Operations ## Job Summary We are seeking a highly driven, entrepreneurial, and execution-oriented Head of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Operations to build and scale the end-to-end supply chain for a fast-growing, new-age nutrition and supplements brand. This high-impact leadership role entails ownership across the entire value chain—from raw material sourcing and supplier development to new product development, contract manufacturing, quality assurance, demand planning, inventory management, warehousing, fulfillment, distribution, and last-mile logistics. The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with strong operational execution and understands how to build agile, resilient, quality-led, and cost-efficient supply chains in a fast-moving consumer business. You will work closely with the founders and marketing team to launch products faster, improve product availability, optimize working capital, protect product quality, and support rapid business growth. ## Responsibilities - **End-to-End Supply Chain Strategy & Leadership:** Build and execute an integrated supply chain strategy aligned with business growth, product innovation, channel expansion, and profitability objectives. Own the entire supply chain from sourcing and product development through manufacturing, inventory, warehousing, distribution, and delivery to the customer. Design scalable operating processes, systems, and governance mechanisms to support rapid growth across D2C, marketplaces, quick commerce, general trade, modern trade, and other relevant channels. Establish clear operating rhythms, performance dashboards, and cross-functional planning processes. Develop a robust, agile, and risk-resilient supply chain that can respond quickly to demand fluctuations, product launches, and changing market conditions. - **Strategic Sourcing & Procurement:** Lead sourcing of active ingredients, raw materials, nutraceutical ingredients, excipients, flavours, packaging materials, labels, bottles, jars, cartons, and other consumables. Identify, evaluate, negotiate with, and develop domestic and international suppliers based on quality, cost, reliability, innovation, and scalability. Build a strong supplier ecosystem with appropriate alternatives for critical and long-lead-time materials. Drive strategic procurement, annual rate contracts, volume-based negotiations, and cost optimisation without compromising quality or compliance. Establish supplier qualification, audits, scorecards, performance reviews, and risk-assessment processes. Ensure traceability and appropriate documentation for ingredients, including certificates of analysis (CoAs), specifications, allergen information, and origin documentation wherever applicable. Manage import procurement, international freight, customs clearance, foreign exchange exposure, and lead-time risks wherever relevant. - **Manufacturing & Contract Manufacturing Management:** Own the contract manufacturing ecosystem, including manufacturer identification, qualification, onboarding, capacity planning, production scheduling, and performance management. Develop strong relationships with third-party manufacturers, co-manufacturers, packers, and other production partners. Ensure manufacturing partners meet agreed standards for quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, production efficiency, and delivery reliability. Plan production based on demand forecasts, inventory positions, promotional calendars, and new product launches. Monitor production yields, batch rejection rates, line utilisation, turnaround times, wastage, and manufacturing costs. Build flexible manufacturing capacity to support growth, seasonal spikes, and portfolio expansion. Establish clear service-level agreements (SLAs), manufacturing contracts, quality agreements, and escalation mechanisms. Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve batch consistency, throughput, cost efficiency, and overall equipment or facility utilisation where relevant. - **New Product Development (NPD) & Commercialisation:** Partner with R&D, Product, Marketing, Quality, and Regulatory teams to commercialise new products from concept to market launch. Own the operational workstream of NPD, including ingredient sourcing, supplier feasibility, formulation scalability, packaging development, costing, pilot batches, stability requirements, and commercial production readiness. Evaluate ingredient availability, supplier capability, manufacturing feasibility, minimum order quantities (MOQs), lead times, and target product economics at the concept stage. Develop stage-gate processes and launch plans with clear milestones, owners, timelines, budgets, and dependencies. Coordinate product trials, pilot batches, packaging trials, production validation, and scale-up to commercial volumes. Ensure packaging specifications, artwork, claims, and product documentation are reviewed by the relevant Quality and Regulatory teams before commercial release. Drive faster time-to-market while ensuring product safety, quality, regulatory compliance, and repeatable manufacturing performance. Track NPD pipeline performance, launch readiness, development costs, launch delays, and post-launch operational issues. Build a feedback loop from consumer complaints, product returns, sales trends, and manufacturing performance to improve future formulations and packaging. - **Quality Assurance, Regulatory & Product Compliance:** Work closely with dedicated Quality and Regulatory teams to embed quality and compliance across sourcing, manufacturing, storage, and distribution. Ensure appropriate supplier qualification, incoming material controls, batch documentation, product release processes, and finished-goods quality checks. Support compliance with applicable Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) requirements and other relevant Indian and international regulations, depending on product category and markets served. Ensure traceability across raw materials, production batches, finished goods, and customer shipments. ## Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree from a Tier 1 college, preferably in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field. - Strong leadership and team management skills. - Excellent organizational, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities. - Expertise in supply chain strategy, procurement, manufacturing operations, and new product development. - Knowledge of quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and product safety standards. - Effective communication and interpersonal skills. - Ability to develop and implement operational strategies and scalable processes. - Experience with supplier qualification, audits, and risk management. ## Experience - 8 to 15 years of relevant experience in manufacturing, supply chain, or operations management. - Experience managing teams and driving operational improvements. - Proven track record in building and scaling supply chains in fast-moving consumer goods or nutrition/supplements sectors preferred. ## Environment - Location: Mumbai. - Full-time position. - Work setting involves collaboration across departments with possible in-office presence.