Managing Director
hace 2 días
Flint
Position: Managing Director Type: Permanent Location: Remote (with regular visits to the warehouse in Flint, north Wales) Compensation: Negotiable — base salary plus meaningful equity for the right person. We're looking for an owner-operator mindset and will structure the package accordingly. About us Low Carb Food Co is a UK direct-to-consumer brand selling diabetic-friendly, low-carb bread, pasta and ready meals through our Shopify store. Our bread products are manufactured to our own recipes, at a partner bakery (next door to our warehouse) in Flint, North Wales, which also handles fulfilment. We're a small, lean operation with a loyal customer base, a proven product range that genuinely changes lives for the better, and real headroom to grow. Our founding CEO is stepping down to retire after building the business from the ground up (and he'll be available and actively keen to support a thorough handover for as long as it’s useful). We're now looking for a hands-on Managing Director to take the reins and scale what he started. The opportunity This is a rare chance to take operational ownership of an established DTC brand in a growing category. You'll inherit a working business: products customers love, a capable manufacturing partner, a Shopify store with real traction, and an Amazon presence that's barely been touched, plus a clear mandate to modernise and grow. You won't be running a big team. You'll be the team, at least at first, supported by a part-time freelance marketer and our shareholders (one brings bakery expertise, the other digital/marketing) who'll stay involved strategically but are stepping back from the day-to-day. If you're an operator who likes building rather than managing, this is for you. Skin in the game We want the right MD to think and act like an owner—because we're prepared to make you one. For the right candidate, meaningful equity is on the table, not as a token gesture but as a genuine stake in what you build. If you're the kind of operator who'd rather bet on upside than chase the biggest base salary, we want to talk. Structure is open: equity, options, a vesting schedule tied to performance milestones, or a blended package; we'll design it around what works for you and aligns us for the long term. What you'll own • P&L and strategy. Full accountability for revenue, margin and growth. Working with the board; you set the priorities., • Ecommerce growth. Own the Shopify store end-to-end (CRO, retention, subscriptions, email/SMS, paid, SEO), working with our freelance marketer and bringing in specialists as needed., • Channel expansion. Decide when and how to move into retail, wholesale or B2B. Launch new product lines when the time is right. We're already on Amazon but it's an untapped channel—a few orders a month with no real effort behind it. Turning this into a proper revenue stream is one of the clearest early wins., • Operations. Manage the relationship with our bakery/fulfilment partner (a fellow shareholder) and our wider suppliers, forecast demand, manage stock and cash, and keep unit economics healthy., • Customer experience. Redesign customer service from the ground up — we're keen to implement AI-driven workflows (chatbots, automated triage) to minimise manual handling while keeping service quality high. You decide the model: in-house, outsourced, or AI-first., • Tech stack. Modernise where it matters; Shopify apps, subscriptions, analytics, CRM, workflow automation. Pragmatic, not shiny. Who you are • Genuinely connected to the low-carb world. This matters. Whether it's lived experience managing your own (or a loved one's) diabetes or low-carb lifestyle, a background in nutrition or health, or deep curiosity about the science, we need someone who actually cares about what we sell and why it matters to our customers. You can't fake this, and our customers can tell., • A hands-on operator, not a delegator. You're comfortable being in the weeds, answering customer emails, diving into GA4, briefing a developer, reviewing a P&L—it's where you thrive., • Digitally fluent and AI-native. You use modern tools instinctively. You've either built or genuinely understand AI-powered workflows for customer service, content, or operations., • Commercially sharp. You read a P&L fluently, understand DTC unit economics (CAC, LTV, contribution margin, MER), and make decisions based on numbers., • Ecommerce-savvy. Ideally you've grown an online DTC brand before (bonus points for Shopify and Amazon Seller Central experience), but we care more about capability than exact sector fit., • A self-starter. You're comfortable with ambiguity, minimal supervision, and the reality of a sub-£500k ecommerce business — no big budgets, no bench, just you and the work., • Based in or willing to spend meaningful time in North Wales. The bakery and warehouse are in Flint and you'll need to be there regularly. What success looks like Year one: a modernised stack, a lean AI-enabled customer service operation, sharper marketing with measurable ROI, Amazon turned into a real channel, and a clear growth plan for years two and three—which will likely involve some combination of scaling DTC, deepening Amazon, moving into retail and wholesale, and expanding the product range. You'll define the roadmap. How to apply Send a CV and a short note (no more than a page) covering: a DTC or ecommerce business you've grown and what you did, your personal connection to or interest in the low-carb / diabetic-friendly space, how you'd approach the first 90 days here, and what compensation structure would motivate you.