Co-founder: Chief Integration Officer

Company Description

Sterling Corporate Solutions is a Delaware-based early stage private equity firm specializing in opportunistic M&A for independent small and medium-sized businesses within the F&B industry with an emphasis on restaurants. Our mission is to deliver acquisitions with outsized returns while benefitting the most vulnerable stakeholders. Sterling subsidiaries acquire over-indebted restaurants, bars, and bakeries, integrating them into the business of clients in good standing to stage affordable and streamlined expansions.

Role Description

This is a full-time, on-site role primarily based in Montreal, QC for a
Co-founder: Chief Integration Officer (F&B)
. The CIO will be responsible for overseeing and managing all operational aspect of our activities.

Day-to-day tasks include developing and implementing integration strategies, turning around clients, coordinating with cross-functional teams, designing and enforcing strong SOPs and internal controls, monitoring progress, ensuring seamless operational transitions, and bringing innovative solutions to improve our clients and portfolio companies' operations. The role will also involve conducting market research and analysis, traveling to F&B-focused conferences, and participating in business development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, hospitality, or other relevant degree
• Previous experience managing a restaurant or hotel
• Experience starting up, turning around, acquiring, or expanding an F&B business
• Deep knowledge of kitchen workflows, guest experience, cross-theme employee training and other such operational intricacies
• Ability to handle high levels of stress, unexpected contingencies, and simultaneous tasks while meeting deadlines on strategic planning
• Great relational skills to handle restaurant owners
• Willingness to work towards the implementation of AI to scale business processes
• Proficiency in French and English

Our Approach & Culture:
Our firm is built for professionals who demonstrate exceptional focus and resilience under pressure. We value:

• Disciplined Intensity:
  We operate with a velocity and rigor that is uncommon in the market.
• First-Principles Thinking:
  We solve hard problems by breaking them down to their fundamentals.
• Decisive Action:
  Significant autonomy and strong bias for action.
• An Owner's Mentality:
  Our loyalty is to our investors, clients, and employees whose livelihoods depend on their businesses' survival.

We do not let external circumstances dictate our fate, "impossible" is a forbidden word. To succeed in this venture, you must view risk as an ecosystem rather than a ladder. Our solutions emerge by mapping out the chain reactions others never see coming. This is your opportunity to be creative and unconventional.

Testing your fit:

• Do you have an idea of how to turn a steakhouse into a sushi bar?
• Which supplier to acquire so we can integrate it to 50 clients? What if their supply chains differ?
• How to differentiate our client's product location-wise while preserving brand authenticity?
• Do we need to expand the kitchen size, or is there an alternative equipment disposition that preserves both quality and workflow?

If those questions resonate with you, you're in the right place. The day-to-day execution is the floor, we expect an architect and enabler of our M&A strategies.

Compensation (post-raise):

• $120,000 a year (increases starting April 2026)
• 25% of equity

Current Corporate Structure:

Executive team: Deal lead (CEO), corporate lawyer (CLO)

Other contributors: Advisory board, CPA partner, insolvency lawyer, tech consultant, interns.

Last note:
No "turnaround experts" or people with a pure business background will be considered. Specialty in F&B is a hard requirement, candidates must have touched an oven or managed an F&B business to be granted an interview.