Chairperson of the board

This search procedure has been closed (19-06-2022).
Field
Management
Salary
Salary undisclosed
Location
Rotterdam
Employment
Permanent
Headhunter
Top of Minds Executive Search for Pieter Pot

The organisation

Pieter Pot is an impact-driven organization. The company is on a mission to show that sustainability can be sexy, easy, and affordable. Dutch consumers open an average of seven new plastic packages per day. Some of those are functional for mere minutes before being added to the ever-growing global waste pile. Pieter Pot takes disposable packaging out of the equation by only working with reusable, glass food containers. The jars, filled in partnership with suppliers, are distributed to consumers who have ordered online. Afterward, they are collected, cleaned, and re-used. From spaghetti to peanut butter: Pieter Pot can get it in the pantry if it can be put in a jar.

At this moment, Pieter Pot has prevented the use of almost 1.6 million single-use packages. They save CO2 with every order and are changing the packaging system at large. Furthermore, by partnering with sheltered workshops for some of its picking and packaging operations, Pieter Pot also contributes to creating opportunities for people who cannot participate in the regular economy.

What began as an ideal-driven start-up by founders Jouri Schoemaker and Martijn Bijmolt is now a company of around 120 employees. Their consumer success is so high that new customers have to sign up for a waitlist. Their warehouse space has increased from fifty to five thousand square meters in just two years. Meanwhile, their product range has grown from a hundred to over four hundred products. At the same time, they have expanded their weekly orders from fifty to three and a half thousand with more than eight hundred thousand glass jars in circulation today. Pieter Pot is simultaneously scaling up and centralizing its operations while expanding abroad. The first customers in Belgium have already been onboarded, and Germany will follow later this year. This strategy is supported by a capital injection of nine million euros from impact investors – funding that comes with a clear command to neutralize the CO2 footprint of all of Pieter Pot’s operations. 

The position

Pieter Pot’s grocery delivery service, with circular packaging as its USP, is ready to scale internationally. Supported by a recent capital injection of nine million euros, they are attracting a Chairperson to take ownership of governance decisions and investor relations and to guide the management team in the strategic challenges ahead.

Tasks & responsibilities

To make the management team as successful as possible and ensure excellent cooperation with the investors, a one-tier Board has been established. This consists of the MT and the representatives of Environmental Technology Fund (ETF Partners) and Shift Invest, the two main investors. However, a Chairperson is still missing, who will lead and own the Board’s monthly update meetings and bi-monthly in-depth meetings, and who will bring invaluable expertise and coaching skills to support the management team in exponentially scaling this disruptive e-commerce start-up.

Since the latest funding round by impact investors ETF Partners, Shift Invest, Future Food Fund, and tech investor IQ Capital, the ambition level, as well as the stakes for Pieter Pot, have risen. The company is now at the stage where a mature governance structure and a solid international expansion strategy are expected. Meanwhile, they are running a challenging day-to-day operation that includes an ambitious streamlining and scaling roadmap. The Chairperson has extensive experience in these areas and will coach the two founders in important decisions with an independent, expert perspective. 

The Chairperson has extensive experience and training when it comes to implementing the right governance structures and ensuring accountability. The Chairperson will provide this outside-in perspective to support the MT – and thereby the company while ensuring the responsibilities toward investors are met.

Pieter Pot may already be winning in the market thanks to its focus on sustainability. Still, the company also needs to compete with flash delivery services and commit to consumers’ high expectations in terms of speed and convenience. The Chairperson has decades of experience in food, retail, and e-commerce and knows how to put this expertise to good use when advising and coaching the MT. At the same time, the Chairperson understands Pieter Pot’s business model and how it relates to or is different from existing e-commerce success stories to help the Board ask the right questions and optimize decisions.

“This role is a beautiful opportunity for an executive at the height of their career, to make an impact from an environmental, societal and business perspective. It is also a great opportunity to see an innovative and disruptive retail model up close and learn on the go.” – Jouri Schoemaker, Founder & CEO of Pieter Pot

Centering on the responsibility to prepare and own monthly Board meetings and coach the MT members, this position can be combined with an existing role as CEO or comparable title at a company that is no direct competitor of Pieter Pot. The time commitment is expected to be less than two days per month.

Candidate profile*

  • Over 15 years’ executive experience
  • In food, retail or e-commerce
  • Fast growth and scaling operations internationally
  • Trusted coach to founders/management team

* Research shows that while male candidates feel confident enough to apply when they meet about 60% of the requirements, female candidates only apply when they tick every box. So if this role has your name on it, but you’re not sure about the criteria, we still want to hear from you.

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the link below. Pieter Pot is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.

This search procedure has been closed (19-06-2022).

About this headhunter - Top of Minds

Top of Minds is een Executive Search bureau met een internationaal werkveld. Onze recruitment Consultants hebben allemaal een individuele focus, van FMCG en Retail tot e-Commerce en Digital. De succesfactor van Top of Minds is storytelling: great stories attract great people.

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