What Executive Roles Does a Growing CPG Brand Need?
As a CPG company moves from early growth into its next stage, the leadership challenge changes. The company may already have several functional leaders. The question is no longer “Who should we hire first?” It becomes: Which executive capabilities do we need to add to support the next phase of growth?
For growth-stage consumer brands, the answer typically centers around commercial growth, operations, finance, marketing, digital, and people leadership. The right executive team depends on the company's size, channels, complexity, and growth strategy, but these are the roles most often added or strengthened as a CPG business scales.
What Executives Does a CPG Company Need?
A growth-stage CPG leadership team commonly includes:
CEO / President
Chief Marketing Officer
Chief Sales or Commercial Officer
COO
CFO
E-commerce / Digital leader
Supply Chain / Operations leader
People / HR leader
Not every company needs all of these roles at the executive level. Some functions may report into another executive until the business reaches the scale or complexity that warrants dedicated leadership.
The key is identifying where the business has outgrown its current leadership structure.
CEO / President
What they own: Company strategy, leadership, culture, capital, and overall business performance.
When you need to strengthen this role: When the business has outgrown founder-led decision-making or needs a more experienced operator to lead the next stage.
Look for: A consumer executive with experience scaling a business at a similar stage.
Common mistake: Hiring based on impressive company names rather than relevant stage and scale experience.
Chief Marketing Officer
What they own: Brand strategy, consumer growth, positioning, creative, marketing, and demand generation.
When you need one: When marketing has become too complex for the existing team or the company needs to scale brand awareness and consumer acquisition.
Look for: A CPG marketer who understands both brand building and performance.
Common mistake: Hiring a purely brand-focused or purely performance-focused leader when the business needs both.
Chief Sales / Commercial Officer
What they own: Revenue growth, retail, wholesale, key accounts, channel strategy, and commercial planning.
When you need one: When retail expansion, new channels, or major accounts require dedicated senior leadership.
Look for: Someone who has successfully scaled brands through the channels that matter to your business.
Common mistake: Hiring a strong salesperson instead of a commercial strategist who can build the entire revenue organization.
COO
What they own: Cross-functional execution, operations, processes, and organizational alignment.
When you need one: When the business has become complex enough that the CEO can't effectively coordinate every function.
Look for: A consumer operator who has scaled teams, systems, and processes.
Common mistake: Hiring a COO simply because the organization feels chaotic. First determine what is actually causing the bottleneck.
CFO
What they own: Financial strategy, forecasting, cash flow, capital, reporting, and financial decision-making.
When you need one: When revenue growth, inventory requirements, retail expansion, fundraising, or financial complexity require more sophisticated leadership.
Look for: A CFO who understands CPG economics, including margin, inventory, working capital, trade spend, and channel profitability.
Common mistake: Hiring someone who can report financial results but can't help leadership make strategic decisions.
E-commerce / Digital Leadership
What they own: DTC, marketplaces, digital merchandising, conversion, online growth, and digital customer experience.
When you need one: When e-commerce or marketplaces become a meaningful part of the growth strategy.
Look for: A leader who understands digital growth within the broader consumer business.
Common mistake: Treating e-commerce as simply a marketing function.
Supply Chain / Operations Leadership
What they own: Manufacturing, sourcing, demand planning, inventory, logistics, and fulfillment.
When you need one: When SKU count, production volume, retail distribution, or inventory complexity starts putting pressure on the business.
Look for: An operator with relevant CPG, manufacturing, retail, and supply chain experience.
Common mistake: Waiting until inventory or fulfillment problems become a crisis
People / HR Leadership
What they own: Organizational design, recruiting, compensation, performance, culture, and leadership development.
When you need one: When headcount and organizational complexity make people management too important to remain an informal responsibility.
Look for: An HR leader who understands organizational strategy—not just HR administration.
Common mistake: Bringing in HR only after people problems have already become significant.
How Do You Know Which Executive to Hire Next?
For a growth-stage CPG company, the answer usually comes down to one question: What is the biggest constraint on growth right now?
Growth is slowing → CMO or Commercial Officer
Retail expansion is accelerating → Commercial Officer
Operations are becoming difficult to manage → COO
Cash flow and financial complexity are increasing → CFO
E-commerce is becoming a major channel → Digital / E-commerce leader
Inventory and manufacturing are creating bottlenecks → Supply Chain leader
The organization is scaling quickly → People / HR leader
The right hire isn't necessarily the most senior role or the most obvious gap on the org chart. It's the executive capability the business needs to unlock its next stage of growth.
Building the Right Leadership Team for a Growing Consumer Brand
Growth-stage CPG companies don't need to build an executive team overnight. They need to evolve their leadership structure as the business becomes more complex.
At Fairfield Partners, we help consumer and CPG companies identify and recruit the executives they need for their next stage—from CMOs and CFOs to COOs, commercial leaders, and specialized digital and operations executives.
The right leadership team doesn't just support growth. It makes growth possible.
