Chief Operating Officer at CommonWealth Kitchen

Chief Operating Officer

Are you a systems builder who thrives in entrepreneurial, hands-on environments — and believes food is one of the most powerful levers for economic equity? Do you have the operational chops to help a growing social enterprise scale what's working and build what's next?

Riverwalker Talent has been retained by CommonWealth Kitchen to lead this search. 

Job Type: Full-Time, Exempt | On-Site in Boston, MA (min. 3–4 days on-site / 1–2 days remote per week) | $175,000–$200,000 annually

About CommonWealth Kitchen

At CommonWealth Kitchen (CWK), FOOD is our passion and EQUITY is our mission.

CommonWealth Kitchen is a nonprofit business development social enterprise working to build a more just, equitable, and resilient food economy. CWK's market-driven approach harnesses the power of inclusive entrepreneurship to reshape how food is grown, produced, distributed, and valued, ensuring the people who have long sustained us are at the table in shaping its future.

CWK is home to more than 50 food businesses led by entrepreneurs from a wide range of cultural, racial, and economic backgrounds. Our core programs include shared-use commercial kitchen space, business education, technical assistance, coordinated market access, and our own mid-scale co-manufacturing social enterprise. We are values-driven, collaborative,  entrepreneurial, and deeply rooted in community. 

CWK is at a momentous inflection point and as our organization continues to grow, we are deepening our impact and expanding our earned revenue model. We are seeking a mission-aligned executive leader to help strengthen our operations, culture, systems, and organizational impact.

About the Role

CommonWealth Kitchen seeks an experienced, collaborative, and people-centered Chief Operating Officer (COO) to oversee organizational operations and help lead the next phase of growth and impact.

Reporting directly to the CEO, the COO will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team supervising the Chief Impact Officer, Chief Culinary Officer, and Chief Program Officer. The COO will provide strategic and operational leadership across finance, human resources, administration, IT, and organizational systems while partnering closely with program leadership to ensure operational excellence across all functions.

This role is ideal for a builder — a leader who combines strong operational and financial management skills with emotional intelligence, inclusive leadership, and a deep commitment to equity and community impact. If you are energized by creating and strengthening systems, building trust, developing teams, and guiding organizational effectiveness in dynamic, hands-on, entrepreneurial environments — including literal kitchens — this may be the right next chapter for you.

What You'll Do

Organizational Leadership & Culture

• Foster a high-performing, inclusive, data and values-driven workplace culture grounded in equity, collaboration, empowerment, accountability, and transparency.

• Lead and support department leaders (4-5 direct reports) and operational staff through coaching, mentorship, professional development, peer learning, and clear communication.

• Strengthen organizational practices that drive high performance, and promote employee engagement, belonging, wellness, and retention.

• Ensure equitable and inclusive HR practices across recruitment, onboarding, performance management, compensation, and advancement.

• Promote cross-functional collaboration and effective communication and accountability across teams and departments.

• Help cultivate an organizational culture that centers learning, innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

Operations & Program Support

• Partner with senior leadership to support effective operations across CWK's core programs, including:

  • Shared-use commercial kitchen operations
  • Business education and technical assistance
  • Market development and strategic partnerships
  • Co-manufacturing and production operations
  • Advocacy and fundraising

• Oversee management of CWK's physical space, including leases and financial performance.

• Ensure operational systems, workflows, tools, and processes support efficient, data-driven, high-quality service delivery and positive experiences for members, staff, partners, and stakeholders.

• Support the development and implementation of clear operational goals, work plans, and performance metrics aligned with organizational priorities.

• Help identify and implement opportunities to improve operational efficiency, scalability, communication, and coordination across the organization.

Strategic Planning & Organizational Effectiveness

• Partner with the CEO and executive leadership team to translate strategic priorities into actionable operational plans and measurable outcomes.

• Develop and monitor organizational performance indicators and use data to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement.

• Support organizational growth, change management, and long-term planning initiatives.

• Serve as a strategic thought partner on organizational structure, staffing, systems, and operational sustainability.

• Contribute to strengthening internal infrastructure to support CWK's long-term mission and impact.

Finance, Administration & Compliance

• Provide leadership and oversight for finance, accounting, HR, administration,  IT and asset management functions.

• Manage Insperity professional employment organization contract and scope. 

• Partner with the finance team and leadership to support annual budgeting, audit, financial planning, true cost accounting for our manufacturing services, forecasting, and resource allocation.

• Ensure compliance with nonprofit, employment, operational, and food safety regulations and best practices.

• Support vendor management, contract oversight, and organizational risk management processes.

• Collaborate with leadership on strategies to diversify and strengthen earned and contributed revenue streams.

• Contribute to grant reporting, funder communications, Board communications. operational reporting, and impact tracking.

What Success Looks Like

• A strong team culture defined by consistent communication norms, clarity of roles and decision-making, and staff at all levels who are engaged in the vision, mission, and values of the organization

• All staff have defined work plans with KPIs and are supported through regular performance reviews

• Member businesses understand and embrace organizational values and feel genuinely connected to the mission — engagement extends beyond internal culture into the broader community

• A data-driven culture of learning: impact data, evaluations, and metrics are collected consistently across the organization, used to understand impact, adjust strategy, and inform decision-making

• Members are at the table informing strategy — their success is our success, and vice versa

• Financial data is consistently accurate and timely, with a streamlined close process that includes reliable data on manufacturing costs and margins, inventory, and member activity

What We're Looking For: Who You Are

We recognize that strong candidates may not meet every listed qualification. If you are excited about this role and believe your experience could contribute to CWK's mission, we encourage you to apply.

Qualified candidates will likely bring:

• 12+ years of leadership experience in nonprofit management, operations, finance, program leadership, food-related business, or related fields — ideally in organizations in the $6M–$10M range

• A track record of building and scaling operational infrastructure in a growing or evolving organization

• Demonstrated success leading and developing diverse, high-performing teams and fostering inclusive organizational culture, with strong coaching and team development skills

• Experience overseeing organizational operations, systems, budgeting, financial management, and cross-functional initiatives

• A thoughtful and modern approach to human resources, organizational development, and talent management — including experience building equitable HR systems across a diverse workforce

• Strong operational and strategic thinking skills with the ability to balance day-to-day execution and long-term planning

• Excellent communication, facilitation, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills

• A track record of driving results in fast-paced, hands-on, and evolving environments — including comfort being present in production, kitchen, or operational spaces

• A genuine commitment to equity, inclusion, and community-centered leadership that shows up in how you've built teams and designed systems, not just in how you talk about it

Strongly Preferred (We’d really love for our candidates to have this experience)

• Experience with property and asset management — CommonWealth Kitchen operates with significant capital equipment, capital investments, and complex operational risk, and candidates who understand what to pay attention to in that context will have a meaningful advantage

• Experience in food systems, manufacturing, shared-use facilities, workforce development, or social enterprise environments

• Familiarity with tools in our tech stack: Quickbooks, Salesforce, Asana, Slack, Bill.com Nexudus, Donor Perfect

Work Environment

This is a primarily on-site role based in Boston, Massachusetts. The COO is expected to be present at CWK's facilities a minimum of 3–4 days per week, with 1–2 days remote flexibility. CWK operates in a working commercial kitchen environment that is open 7 days/week, 12 hours/day, so proper oversight to support operations, manage risk and support front-line staff is key— this is a hands-on, dynamic workplace where leadership means showing up alongside your team.

What We Offer

CommonWealth Kitchen offers a competitive compensation and benefits package:

• Salary: $175,000–$200,000 annually, commensurate with experience
• 15 days PTO + 10 Paid Holidays (year 1) 
• Health, dental and vision insurance with employer contribution at 50%
• Comprehensive benefits under Insperity PEO 
• Opportunity to help shape the future of equitable food entrepreneurship and community economic development

Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

CommonWealth Kitchen is committed to building an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We strongly encourage applications from candidates of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, immigrants, multilingual candidates, and individuals with lived experiences connected to entrepreneurship, food systems, and economic equity.

We believe diverse perspectives strengthen our organization and our impact.

What to Expect — Interview Process

• Applications reviewed on a rolling basis, priority deadline is July 14, 2026
• Initial screening interviews conducted by Riverwalker Talent in mid-July to early August
• Semi-finalist interviews with CWK leadership over Zoom in early to mid-August
• Finalists will complete a compensated work assessment in mid-August
• Final interviews with CWK executive team in-person in late August 
• Estimated start date: September 2026

How to Apply

We do not require a cover letter. Instead, we ask that candidates respond to the following prompts to help us understand your experience, judgment, and approach.

We are committed to accessibility in our hiring process. If written responses are not your preferred format, you are welcome to respond via video or audio recording (up to 2 minutes per question). If you choose this option, please include links to your recordings in place of written answers and ensure sharing permissions allow us to access your submission.

Application Questions:

1. Tell us about a time you helped build or significantly strengthen an organization's operational infrastructure. What did you inherit, what did you change, what was the impact, and what did you learn?

2. Describe your direct experience managing organizational finances  — including budgeting, forecasting, and working across earned and contributed revenue, and managing audits? What's the largest budget you've overseen?  how did you approach financial decision-making with leadership? What was your role in ensuring operations met the budget? 

3. Our work requires staff to hold multiple roles at once — landlord, service provider, advocate, and cheerleader. How have you approached situations where organizational sustainability and mission-driven support pulled in different directions? What does getting that balance right look like to you in practice?

4. This role requires strong presence in a hands-on, production-oriented environment. Tell us about a time you led or worked alongside teams in a physical operations setting or transferable skills that would enable you to thrive in this role.

5. The COO at CWK is a close partner to the CEO and a connective thread across the organization. Tell us about a time you served in a senior leadership role where building trust — with a supervisor, across teams, or with external stakeholders — was as important as your technical expertise. What did that look like in practice?

6. What draws you to CommonWealth Kitchen's model specifically? How has that interest shown up in your past work or choices?

AI Policy

We believe AI can be a helpful tool in work and learning and are not opposed to its use in general. We use 100% human review of these applications.

For this application process, we ask that responses reflect your own thinking, experience, and communication style. This role requires strong independent judgment and problem-solving, and we want to understand how you naturally approach real situations.

EEOC Statement

CommonWealth Kitchen is committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams and encourages applications from candidates of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

A CORI background check will likely be conducted prior to hire. Findings will not automatically disqualify candidates.

For accessibility accommodations or questions, contact Jessye Kass Karlin at Riverwalker Talent (

Mailto:Jessye@riverwalkertalent.com

No phone calls.