[About Our Client]
We're a New Jersey-based importer and distributor of flat-rolled steel. For more than 30
years, USP has served customers nationwide through longstanding international supplier relationships, disciplined logistics and inventory management, and responsive service.
This role reporting to the President and working closely with the Chairman, the COO will own day-to-day operations, lead the department heads, materially reduce ownership's involvement in routine matters, and serve as a strategic partner in shaping and executing the company's direction.
[Job Summary]
The COO will have authority over day-to-day decisions within approved strategy, budgets, policies, and delegated limits.
Within that scope, department heads will report to and act on the COO's direction without seeking secondary approval, and the President and Chairman will support those decisions unless an agreed escalation threshold or material risk is involved. The COO must earn continuing confidence through sound judgment, clear communication, respect, collaboration, and consistent follow-through. Material strategy, capital, acquisition, investment, and ownership decisions remain with the President and Chairman.
[Job Description]
- Own day-to-day operations and serve as the primary decision point for cross-functional operating matters.
- Lead, coach, and develop department heads; establish clear objectives, accountability, decision rights, and succession
depth.
- Translate ownership's priorities into operating plans, budgets, milestones, owners, and measurable targets; drive
execution through completion.
- Establish a disciplined management cadence, dashboards, financial and operating KPIs, internal controls, reporting, and
follow-through.
- Assess the organization, processes, systems, and management capabilities; prioritize improvements and move stalled
initiatives to resolution.
- Coordinate supply chain, customs and logistics, inventory, third-party processing, customer service, budgeting, costs,
working capital, credit, risk, and compliance.
- Contribute ideas, constructive challenge, and well-supported feasibility proposals to one-, three-, and five-year planning.
- Partner with existing sales leadership to strengthen commercial processes, forecasting, management capability, talent
development, and succession.
- Support USP's M&A preparation and transaction work with ownership, counsel, investment banks, advisors, and
prospective strategic acquirers.
- Represent USP with suppliers, processors, customers, and partners while promoting timely decisions, collaboration, and
continuous improvement.
Requirements
[Qualifications]
- Substantial executive operating leadership as a COO, President, General Manager, Managing Director, EVP, VP of
Operations, or comparable senior leader, with genuine company-wide or business-unit accountability.
- Professional fluency in spoken English and Korean, sufficient to communicate effectively with Korean-speaking
ownership, employees, overseas suppliers, and business counterparts.
- Track record of leading department heads and overseeing several business functions, such as supply chain, finance, IT,
HR, sales, customer service, or administration.
- Executive responsibility for P&L performance, budgets, cost management, working capital, and operating results.
- Experience building accountability, management processes, internal controls, performance metrics, and decision-useful
reporting.
- Sound independent judgment, strong ownership alignment, early escalation of material risks, and a collaborative record of
leading change through credibility and follow-through.
- Ability to learn a specialized industry and product line quickly; bachelor's degree or equivalent education and executive
experience.
- Experience in a privately held, family-owned, or founder-led business with clearly defined governance and decision rights.
- Experience in import, distribution, trading, manufacturing, logistics, or another inventory-intensive operating model.
- Knowledge of steel, metals, building materials, chemicals, automotive parts, raw materials, commodities, or similar
products, together with experience managing overseas supplier relationships.
- Experience supporting M&A preparation or transactions, including management presentations, due diligence, data
readiness, and work with bankers, advisors, or strategic acquirers.
- Experience scaling a sales organization, developing next-generation talent, and implementing or improving ERP systems
and data-driven reporting.
- Written Korean proficiency, experience conducting complex negotiations in Korean, or an MBA or relevant advanced
degree is a plus.