Chief Operating Officer

The Business

Project Evergreen is a highly profitable, fast-growing, founder-owned company in the unit-dose pharmaceutical packaging sector. The company designs, sources, and supplies unit-dose packaged products — primarily vitamins, supplements, and over-the-counter items, plus a growing set of select lower-volume prescription products — distributed nationwide through the major U.S. pharmaceutical wholesalers.

The company occupies a defensible niche. Large national unit-dose suppliers have systematically pulled back from lower-volume categories, leaving profitable white space. Project Evergreen has built its business by identifying those gaps and becoming the sole or near-sole unit-dose supplier for a large share of its catalog. Roughly 40% of its products face no direct unit-dose competitor today.

At a glance

Sector: Unit-dose pharmaceutical packaging (vitamins, supplements, OTC, select lower-volume Rx)

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina metro area (Southeast US); on-site

Net revenue (LTM): ~$11–12M, growing 20%+ year-over-year

Balance sheet: Zero long-term debt; strong, consistent cash generation

Ownership: Founder-owned; recapitalized by a long-term-oriented private investment firm

What makes it special

• A genuine moat. A proprietary product-selection and pricing methodology lets the company pick niche SKUs where it can command pricing power and avoid head-to-head competition — the engine behind its ~50% EBITDA margins, which sit far above typical packaging-industry economics.
• Entrenched channel. Nearly all revenue flows through deep, long-standing relationships with the four national pharmaceutical wholesalers, supported by a reliable network of contract packagers.
• Exceptional financial quality. Rapid organic growth, best-in-class margins, no debt, and strong cash conversion — a rare combination at this size.
• Clear runway. A robust product pipeline plus multiple untapped avenues for growth: prescription unit-dose expansion, in-house packaging, federal / VA channels, direct-to-consumer, and selective acquisitions.

Ownership and context

The company has been recapitalized by a private investment firm that provides long-term, patient capital and partners closely with founders and management. The founder who serves as operating principal and effective CEO is remaining with the business through the ownership period and beyond, continuing to lead operations, pricing, and sourcing.

This creates an ideal platform for a strong No. 2 to help institutionalize the company and drive its next phase of growth.

The Role

Chief Operating Officer (No. 2 Executive)

We are seeking a strategically and financially minded operating executive to serve as the right hand to the founder-CEO and as the clear No. 2 in the business. This is a build-and-scale mandate at a company that has been run leanly by its founders and is now professionalizing for its next chapter.

The immediate priority is to assume day-to-day ownership of the company's commercial franchise. A founder who has historically led sales, wholesaler relationships, and channel strategy is transitioning to a lighter role, and this executive will take over and expand those responsibilities — while adding the strategic planning, financial discipline, and organizational infrastructure a growing company requires.

Reports to: Founder & CEO

Location: On-site, Charlotte, North Carolina metro area

Compensation

200k Base + 25k Bonus + Equity

Core responsibilities

• Own the commercial engine. Take over and deepen the relationships with the national wholesalers; own channel strategy, contract terms, and customer coverage currently held by a founder.
• Drive growth. Lead the sales effort and the launch of new products from the pipeline; open and scale new channels (prescription, federal / VA, direct-to-consumer).
• Partner on pricing and product selection. Learn, apply, and institutionalize the company's proprietary product-selection and pricing methodology so it is durable beyond any single founder.
• Bring financial rigor. Own the P&L day-to-day; build budgeting, forecasting, KPI reporting, margin management, and working-capital discipline appropriate for an institutionally-owned company.
• Professionalize and build. Put in place the systems, processes, and team the company needs to scale from a lean founder shop; help evaluate and integrate add-on acquisitions.
• Be the bridge. Serve as the connective tissue between the founders, the broader team, and the investment sponsor, including board-level reporting.

The ideal candidate

• Strategically and financially minded. Fluent in a P&L and unit economics; can build a plan, allocate resources, and identify and prioritize the growth vectors and acquisitions that matter.
• Commercially driven with real sales DNA. Genuinely enjoys owning key customer and channel relationships and carrying a growth number — not a back-office operator.
• A hands-on builder. Thrives as a player-coach in a small, lean, fast-moving environment; comfortable doing the work, not just directing a large staff.
• Relevant sector experience. Background in healthcare, pharma, consumer/CPG, regulated products, or distribution is strongly preferred; experience selling through or to national distributors/wholesalers is a major plus.
• Lower-middle-market fit. Roughly 10–15+ years of experience, including time at companies of comparable scale; PE- or founder-backed experience valued.
• High trust and EQ. Able to succeed a founder, earn the team's confidence, and complement — not displace — a founder-CEO who is staying on.