Chief Executive Officer - Nottinghamshire

DropWorks Rum was launched in 2023 to disrupt the global Rum market through the introduction of a quality British Rum Brand that challenges many of the traditional Rum orthodoxies. Crafted in our own distillery, the largest Rum distillery in Europe located in the beautiful surroundings of Welbeck, we have launched in the UK to positive acclaim and have started to build distribution targeting prestige and premium on-trade accounts. The brand is now present in more than 700 premium venues across key cities and we have a strong pipeline in both the on-trade and premium grocery. We have also just launched our first aged variant, Barrel Drop and carried out a brand visual re-design.

In 12 months we have achieved a lot and have expanded aggressively, and are now ready to hire a full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead this company in its next exciting phase of scalable growth encompassing:

– Implementing and improving processes, reporting and management controls to scale effectively.

– Executing our updated brand proposition and visual identity and deploy it in the market with customers and consumers.

– Managing and expanding on revenue streams such as distillery tours, contract packing and private cask sales while also building a premium Rum brand in the UK market.

– Raising funds to execute on an ambitious business plan, including future international expansion.

Furthermore on a day to day basis:

The CEO will be responsible for the DropWorks brand and business including supply and demand. Reporting directly to the Board, responsible for the development and execution of the strategy and delivery of short and long-term performance indicators.

The CEO will oversee the day-to-day operations of the business and manage the team, setting the internal culture as well as being a key external facing leader, representing the brand with key stakeholders, in particular commercial customers, industry influencers and investors.

The CEO will be hands-on, working closely with the most important, strategic customers, both in the on and off-trade channels, leading on contract-packing opportunities and ensuring the efficient and safe operation of the distillery.

Key Responsibilities

· Working closely with the Board in the creation of brand and business strategy.

· Reporting to the Board, responsible for the delivery of the plan, including all financial and non-financial performance indicators, course correcting as required.

· Leading the team across Sales, Marketing and Production, ensuring that we have the right talent and capability to deliver the growth ambitions of the business. Setting and role-modelling the tone and culture of the organisation.

· Responsible for the own-label / contract packing strategy and delivery, working with external customers to maximise the use of spare distillery capacity as we grow the branded side of the business.

· Overseeing and working closely with the Founder and sales team for branded sales, managing senior stakeholder relationships as appropriate (national opinion-forming accounts / regional groups / wholesaler senior management / national grocery).

· Working closely with the Founder, sales and marketing team to build the external reputation of the DropWorks brand with customers and consumers.

· Ensuring that we have a safe and efficient distillery and that our liquids are consistently to the high standards that we set for ourselves, continuing to delight our customers and consumers.

· Support in raising the next tranche of financing from professional investors to accelerate scaling the business and ongoing management of investor relations.

Key Deliverables / Success Measures

· Delivery of all key financial measures (Net Revenue / Gross Margin / EBIT / Cash).

· Distribution across key channels, both on and off-trade.

· Revenue, relationship and reputation with key identified National Accounts (On and Off-trade) and Wholesale partners.

· Brand awareness and reputation with key Industry influencers and customers.

· Revenue and Margin deliver from white-label business.

· Safe and efficient running of the Distillery.

· Highly engaged team with entrepreneurial culture.

· Financing secured to fully implement business plan.

Key Relationships / Reports

· Key relationship with Board members and Founder.

· Managing a team of 10 people, with 7 direct reports.

· Managing a select number of senior customer relationships.

· Managing senior White Label relationships.

· Relationship with key industry influencers.

· Relationship with professional investors, both existing and prospective.

Key Skills / Values / Experience

· Deep understanding of the Drinks Industry and the on-trade gained through commercial roles in beer/wines or spirits.

· Experience in owning and managing a P&L and commercial delivery.

· Direct experience in managing customer relationships, ideally across both on and off-trade.

· Track-record in building and scaling brands.

· Experience of managing small teams and building a strong sense of engagement.

· Entrepreneurial and dynamic, ability to learn quickly, to act independently with little data.

· Highly resilient and driven, able to shape the future of a brand at a critical point in its journey.

· 10+ years commercial experience.

· Ideally past experience in fundraising and start-up environment.

Compensation

· Commercially competitive package including equity and attractive bonus component.