Chief Operating Officer — Interim, Packaged Foods

The mandate

A pathogen-positive ingredient triggered a national recall, and subsequent trace work revealed uncontrolled rework and sanitation variation at two plants. The COO resigned after the board expanded the investigation beyond the originating supplier.

The interim must start within ten days for eighteen months through recall closure, plant remediation and one full seasonal cycle. Permanent search begins after regulator acceptance, with eight weeks reserved for transition.

Handover requires complete recall reconciliation, zero repeat pathogen finding, all six plants certified to the revised food-safety system, weighted service above ninety-seven per cent, and the successor chairing two unannounced mock-recall exercises.

The COO may stop lines, reallocate production and approve emergency sanitation or testing below ₹1 crore. Plant closure, consumer compensation above ₹3 crore and permanent plant-head appointments require board consent; Food Safety independently releases product.

Brand relaunch, recipe innovation and retailer pricing are excluded. The assignment restores safe manufacture and national supply of the approved portfolio.

Why this seat is open

The recall exposed system weaknesses that exceeded the former COO's supplier-only explanation. Leadership change is necessary to restore regulator, retailer and workforce trust. A temporary executive will carry the operation until food-safety evidence and permanent leadership are both proven.

What you will own

• Reconcile recalled product from ingredient lot through manufacture, distribution, retailer and consumer return.
• Decide production transfer and restart sequence using allergen, pathogen, sanitation and service risk.
• Eliminate uncontrolled rework through recipe, identity, quantity and approval traceability.
• Validate sanitation methods with environmental monitoring, challenge studies and corrective escalation.
• Establish supplier ingredient controls tied to hazard, origin, test reliability and change notification.
• Restore service without releasing product ahead of independent food-safety evidence.
• Qualify the successor through two unannounced mock recalls across different categories.

Candidate qualifications

• More than twenty-two years in packaged-food operations with national multi-plant executive authority.
• Led a major food recall involving regulator, retailer, consumer and supply-recovery coordination.
• Deep knowledge of HACCP, pathogen control, sanitation validation, rework and end-to-end traceability.
• Experience moving production among plants without transferring contamination or allergen risk.
• Demonstrated service recovery while maintaining independent Food Safety release authority.
• Credibility in public-facing and board discussions during a material consumer-safety event.

Non-negotiables

• Can be onsite in Kolkata within ten days and travel frequently across six plants.
• No current interest in implicated suppliers, laboratories or recall advisers.
• Will stop production or distribution whenever safety evidence is incomplete.
• Available for eighteen months and successor transition.

1. 49 words maximum. State your earliest Kolkata start and readiness for immediate recall command.
2. 49 words maximum. Which food recall did you lead, and what percentage of affected product was reconciled?
3. 49 words maximum. What sanitation validation evidence governed the restart of your most difficult line?