Chief Operating Officer - COO

Spike is a bootstrapped, entrepreneurial company through and through. It was started about 15 years ago in Ben’s (our owner) college basement. Originally, he was buying and selling used beer kegs but that has organically grown into the homebrewing category leader since the days of working out of a basement. Currently, Spike works out of a 25,000 sqft facility in Milwaukee, WI, and employs about 20 employees. The team is very strong, however young, and could use an authoritative figure to lead the company. Ben retains 100% ownership of the company; we have no debt and our primary goal is to maintain a strong cash-flowing business.

However, after 15 years Ben is looking to take a large step back from the day-to-day and hand over the keys to a high-performing COO to take over the business from an executional level. There is a solid 5 year plan in place which has opportunities for growth depending on how the economy holds up over the next couple of years. Ben will continue to act as Chairman/CEO and point out opportunities and landmines in the market however wishes to remain out of the day-to-day. The ideal candidate for this role is a driven, roll-up-your-sleeves, no-nonsense style COO.

Spike’s Core Values:

• Entrepreneurial; Think Big, Act Small
• Hungry; Move the Needle
• QC (Quality and Customers); Champion the Mission
• Accountability; Bring Solutions, Not Problems
• Balance; Work Hard, Play Hard

Responsibilities

• Strategize an execution plan for the ‘5-year plan’ put forth by the CEO
• Implement business strategies and plans that align with the short- and long-term objectives developed in tandem with the CEO
• Implement a business operating system the team can work from; more structure is needed (EOS, etc)
• Work with each department to set quarterly ‘Rocks’ so the entire team is rowing in the same direction with strategy and goals
• Work with each department to establish KPIs so all parties have insight into real-time department performance and goals
• Work with our accounting team to set monthly projections, review PL, product category margins, etc, and report to CEO monthly on performance
• Responsible for hiring, firing, mentoring, and developing an employee review cadence (currently it’s yearly)
• Analyze internal operations to identify areas for process enhancement and properly document areas that are already performing well
• Oversee Engineering, Production, Operations, Customer Service, HR, and Accounting. Marketing can continue to be overseen by the CEO if needed
• Project future RD projects from cost and ROI standpoint, manage capital investments and expenses aggressively to ensure that the company achieves CEO targets for growth and profitability
• Take what has been built over the last 15 years and ‘professionalize it’. Ensure that Spike’s legacy lives on for another 50 years

…basically take over Spike and run it like it is your company!

Qualifications

• Mechanical Engineering degree preferred (5+ years experience)
• MBA preferred (2+ years post MBA grad experience)
• Homebrewer/craft beer enthusiast is a huge bonus
• Roll up your sleeves, and get in the weeds, an entrepreneurial mentality is a must