Executive recruitment for consumer brands
Supply Chain Executive Search
for DTC and Consumer Brands
Most supply chain executive searches start with a title borrowed from a public company org chart. We scope what your chief supply chain officer owns first, then introduce operators who have run sourcing, planning, and logistics at consumer brands from $50M to $500M+.
First interviews in 10 business days. Retained search.
Successful placements at top ecommerce and consumer brands
Chief supply chain officer vs. COO vs. VP of supply chain vs. Supply chain manager
These seats can all sit over the same supply chain. What separates them is whether supply chain is the whole mandate or one function inside a bigger one, and how much of the P&L moves with the title. Get it wrong and the search fails in one of two ways. You hire a CSCO when you needed a COO who also runs CX and ecommerce operations, or you hire a VP of supply chain when the board expects a C-suite peer to the CFO who can renegotiate co-manufacturer capacity on their own. We settle the scope on the intake call, before we contact any candidates.
Why supply chain executive searches
stall at consumer brands
The title usually comes from a public company. The job comes from a $75M brand. Six problems come up most often.
Big-company pedigree, no brand-scale reps
The candidate ran a $2B network with a planning team of 40. At your brand they will own the forecast personally, sit on co-manufacturer calls, and approve the PO themselves.
Parcel experience, no retail experience
They scaled a DTC fulfillment network and have never shipped into a retailer DC. The first OTIF scorecard from a national account shows the gap fast.
A planner with a C-suite title
Strong planners get promoted into the seat without ever negotiating a co-man contract or a freight rate. At this level the job is commercial, and planning is one piece of it.
Sourcing and logistics split by accident
Sourcing sits with the founder or product team, logistics sits with ops, and nobody owns landed cost end to end. Your new CSCO inherits both halves and none of the authority.
No scorecard for the seat
Without targets for forecast accuracy, fill rate, weeks on hand, and cost per unit delivered, you judge the hire on how calm the last quarter felt.
Benchmarked against the wrong pay data
Founders anchor on CSCO pay at public retailers or on logistics manager wages, and miss the operators in between who have done this job at your size.
In a March 2026 KPMG survey of 462 executives across industries including consumer and retail, 77% of leaders agreed there is a significant talent shortage in their procurement and supply chain functions.
For a consumer brand the pool is smaller still, because you need someone who has run DTC fulfillment and retail replenishment at your revenue stage.
First interviews in 10 business days
Which supply chain leadership tier does your brand need?
Revenue stage, the team the hire inherits, and what they answer for tell you more than the title does.
What a great DTC chief supply chain officer looks like
At this level the job is cost to serve across every channel, and the team that controls it.
We vet for that record first and the title history second.
What separates a good CSCO from a great one at a consumer brand
How a chief supply chain officer
strengthens the team you already have
A strong CSCO changes what the rest of your executive leadership can plan around.
Finance plans with real landed cost
Duty, freight, and co-man price changes reach your CFO as a forecast instead of a surprise at month-end close.
Sales can commit to new doors
Your commercial team signs retailers knowing the supply plan can fill them on time.
Launch dates hold
Supply is locked before the campaign goes live, not after the ads are already running.
What a chief supply chain officer costs at a DTC or CPG brand
BLS does not publish a wage series for chief supply chain officers.
The closest federal data covers transportation, storage, and distribution managers, the occupation that includes supply chain and logistics managers.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for this group was $107,230 in May 2025, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $194,900.
The employer's industry moves the median by more than $56,000.
In corporate headquarters, the median runs 46% above the occupation as a whole. Treat the top decile as a floor for a CSCO search, not a target, and expect bonus and equity to carry more of the package than they do for a director. On a call, we share how base, bonus, and equity are split for consumer brand supply chain leaders at your stage.
Our supply chain executive search process
1 Client Intake Call
We start with a structured intake call and scope the role before any sourcing. That means settling which version of the seat you need: a VP of supply chain running the function, a chief supply chain officer owning cost to serve across every channel, or a COO with supply chain as one of several functions. Then we get specific about what moves with the title. Supplier selection, co-manufacturer contracts, the freight budget, and hiring rights either transfer to this hire or stay with you, and the search changes depending on which.
We map your setup: revenue split across DTC, retail, and Amazon, your co-manufacturers, 3PL and DC footprint, freight partners, planning systems, and the leaders already in seats. You bring the business context. We write the executive hiring profile around it.
2 First Interviews in 10 Days
Within 10 business days we present a vetted shortlist of supply chain executives screened against the brief we agreed on. We evaluate each profile on the cost to serve they owned, their retail compliance results, and the teams they built, rather than on headcount managed or network size.
We prioritize operators who have run supply chain for a consumer brand selling through more than one channel. A playbook built at a carrier or an industrial distributor rarely carries over.
We source through our executive network, which is how we reach passive candidates: sitting CSCOs, VPs of supply chain, and heads of logistics at DTC and CPG brands who are employed and not looking.
3 Weekly Refinement
Executive searches move as your read on the role sharpens. We provide a shared portal to track candidates, feedback, and interview stages in one place, and run weekly calls to recalibrate.
Each week we tighten the profile based on what the interviews surfaced. A common finding: the founder scoped for planning depth and the interviews show retail compliance is the bigger gap, or the reverse. Catching that in week two costs far less than catching it after an offer.
4 White-Glove Talent Solutions
We schedule interviews across your leadership team and run structured reference checks with former direct reports as well as former bosses. The leadership assessment uses your own business problems. For a supply chain search, the candidate works through your supply plan and landed cost model.
We run compensation negotiation as an intermediary, so you and your incoming CSCO never haggle directly in the final week. We stay involved through onboarding so the hire ramps into the supply chain team instead of around it.
Supply chain and operations leadership placements
Why consumer brands choose Constant Hire
for supply chain executive search
DTC, ecommerce, and CPG only
Most supply chain executive search firms recruit for manufacturers, distributors, and 3PLs. We recruit for consumer brands only.
Consumer brand supply chain depth
Our recruiting team works with 7-, 8-, and 9-figure consumer brands. We know the difference between a supply chain leader who shipped a brand into Target and a director who ran a carrier's fleet.
A network of sitting supply chain leaders
We know CSCOs, VPs of supply chain, and heads of sourcing across DTC and CPG personally. Founders come to us for introductions they cannot make themselves.
Shortlist in 10 business days
We present a vetted shortlist within 10 business days of kickoff. Most placements close within 45 to 60 days. Generalist firms typically take 90 to 120 days.
How Constant Hire compares
to other supply chain executive search options
Most supply chain headhunters fall into one of two camps: industrial specialists who place leaders at manufacturers and logistics companies, or generalist executive recruiters with consumer as one practice among many. Founders rarely hire an executive search firm for extra screening hours. They hire one for access. The CSCO you need is employed somewhere, outside your network, and not answering recruiter InMail. Our network covers 20,000+ consumer brand professionals, including sitting supply chain and operations leaders.
What DTC experts are saying about us.
If you're looking for a bad ass recruiter for roles like Head of Growth, Director of Performance Creative, Ops, he's your guy.
Read more
What does a supply chain executive search firm do?
Supply chain executive search is a retained recruitment service that helps brands hire senior supply chain leaders by sourcing and vetting passive candidates, people who are employed and not applying. A specialist firm also scopes the mandate before outreach starts, so everyone agrees what the hire owns across sourcing, planning, and logistics.
Is there really a skills gap in supply chain?
Yes, at the senior level. In KPMG's 2026 survey, 77% of supply chain executives agreed there is a significant talent shortage in procurement and supply chain. For consumer brands it is narrower: few supply chain professionals have run DTC fulfillment and retail replenishment at the same company.
Which supply chain and procurement executives do you recruit?
Our executive search practice covers chief supply chain officers, chief procurement officers, VPs of supply chain, VP logistics, and transportation directors at DTC and CPG brands. For the seats that report to them, such as logistics manager, transportation manager, distribution manager, and warehouse manager, our supply chain recruiters for ecommerce brands run contingent searches.
When should a DTC or CPG brand hire a chief supply chain officer?
Usually between $50M and $100M in revenue. Brands hire earlier when global sourcing, several warehouses, or heavy subscription volume outgrow the current team, or when inventory is tying up working capital. Between $15M and $50M, a VP of supply chain, often with fractional support, usually fits better.
What is the difference between a CSCO and a COO?
A COO owns the operating P&L across every function, including CX and ecommerce operations. A CSCO owns everything from raw material to delivery: procurement, planning, manufacturing partners, and logistics. Many brands run supply chain under a COO first and split out a CSCO as the business grows.
What are the key qualities to look for in a supply chain executive?
Look for someone who has owned cost to serve across more than one channel, negotiated co-man and freight terms, and built leadership teams that hit their numbers. Ask what inventory they wrote down last year. A claimed efficiency gain means little unless they can show what it did to margin.
How long does it take to hire supply chain talent?
Generalist firms typically take 90 to 120 days from kickoff to placement for a senior supply chain hire. We present a vetted shortlist within 10 business days, and most of our placements close within 45 to 60 days.
How much does a supply chain executive search cost?
Constant Hire prices executive search as an upfront fee, set by the scope of the role, plus a 25% success fee on first-year base salary. When you compare firms, look past the percentage to how much scoping happens before sourcing and whether senior people stay on the search after kickoff.
What should I look for when hiring a supply chain executive search firm?
Category depth matters more than firm size. Ask how many supply chain leaders they placed at consumer brands in the last 12 months, which tier they think you need, and who runs the search day to day.
Should we hire a full-time, interim, or fractional supply chain leader?
Full-time when the supply chain needs to be built and owned permanently. Interim during a transition, a co-manufacturer change, or an ERP rollout. Fractional when the work is ongoing but doesn't fill a full-time seat, typically between $15M and $50M, supporting a VP or director who runs the function day to day.
Let's find the supply chain leader your brand needs to scale
then put qualified supply chain executives on your calendar in 10 business days.
15-30 minutes • No Obligation • First interviews in 10 business days • Retained model