CEO

Early-Stage exotic pet food business 

Location: Remote, United States with regular travel

Reporting to: Founder 

Commitment: Full-time

About the role   

We’re looking for an entrepreneurial CEO to take ownership of an early-stage consumer brand and lead its next phase of growth.

The business has a product in market, established sales and manufacturing, and support across marketing, operations and finance. We now need someone who can turn those foundations into a growing, sustainable business: getting close to customers, building trusted relationships, testing ideas and following through.

This is a hands-on opportunity with broad scope to shape the strategy and execute it. You’ll be comfortable making customer calls and early sales yourself, while taking responsibility for the commercial and financial performance of the whole business.

We operate in a specialist category where customer education and trust are central to adoption. Growing the business means understanding how customers make decisions, what prevents them from trying something new, and what brings them back.

You’ll work with the people who established the business and draw on existing operational support. You’ll have substantial autonomy to make thoughtful decisions, identify gaps and bring in the right expertise. 

Responsibilities 

• Set and execute the business’s growth strategy, translating it into clear commercial priorities, budgets and measurable plans while building a path to profitability.

• Take responsibility for the P&L, cash flow, forecasting and resource allocation, using product and channel economics to guide decisions about pricing, margins and investment.

• Personally engage customers, breeders, specialist retailers, rescues and other partners to make sales, build credibility and understand the market.

• Grow direct-to-consumer sales and develop opportunities across marketplaces, specialist retail and wholesale, assessing revenue potential and channel profitability.

• Shape the brand’s customer proposition, oversee internal and external marketing support, and improve acquisition, conversion and repeat purchasing through disciplined testing.

• Work with manufacturing and fulfillment partners to maintain product availability, manage inventory and costs, and deliver a reliable customer experience as sales grow.

• Lead employees, contractors and agencies, setting clear expectations, addressing performance gaps and bringing in additional support where it will have the greatest impact.

What we’re looking for

You may have founded a consumer business, helped grow an early-stage brand, or held broad commercial responsibility in a small company. Your experience should demonstrate that you can turn limited resources into progress.

• A track record of personally driving growth in D2C CPG or a closely related business with exposure to e-commerce. 

• Confidence developing relationships, making sales and engaging people without waiting for an introduction.

• Commercial judgment across customer acquisition, pricing, retention and channels.

• Experience in interpreting marketing data, understanding a P&L and assessing costs.

• The ability to think outside the box and turn creative ideas into practical actions that grow the business.

• An honest, grounded and collaborative approach, with a willingness to handle both strategic decisions and everyday tasks.

Experience in pet products would be useful. An existing industry network is not essential; enthusiasm for learning the category and building credibility matters more. 

Why join

This is an opportunity to lead a distinctive consumer business with foundations already in place and substantial room to shape what comes next. You’ll have direct influence over the brand, its customer relationships, its team and its commercial future.

The aim is to build a durable, profitable business. The role will suit someone who enjoys ownership, stays close to the detail and finds satisfaction in building companies.