Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Final date to receive applications: 9 August 2026

Department: Operations

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Bristol

Do you want to help build a company with the capacity to disrupt whole industries and take on environmental issues on a global scale?

Do you want to join a purpose-driven engineering team tackling some of the world’s most critical challenges? Matter. is a VC backed Cleantech scale‑up and we have an opportunity for a commercially astute and execution‑focused Chief Operating Officer to shape the long‑term operational backbone of the business. This role will deliver the international expansion to service markets across South Asia to meet the challenge of global micro pollution head‑on.

Job Title: Chief Operating Officer Location: Central Bristol - hybrid - up to 30% international travel Salary Range: On Application

We are a rapidly scaling UK‑headquartered engineering business specialising in the design and production of large, engineered industrial water filtration systems. Having completed successful technology development and early customer deployments, we are now transitioning into full commercialisation and preparing for significant growth over the next 12 months.

This role is pivotal in transforming our ability to deliver complex, industrial‑scale water filtration systems across international markets, particularly within textile manufacturing hubs in South Asia.

To support this expansion, Matter is seeking an experienced and strategic Chief Operating Officer to build our operational infrastructure, establish manufacturing partnerships, develop resilient supply chains, and lead the company toward scalable, high‑quality production.

This C‑suite role where you will build out our manufacturing capability, bringing operational rigour, pace and process to a fast‑growing organisation, ensuring our operational capability meets business goals.

You will have end‑to‑end operational leadership, taking full ownership of all operations following contract award, ensuring successful project execution through to commissioning and handover. You will ensure seamless delivery from supply chain and manufacturing through to on‑site installation, commissioning, and long‑term servicing—while building the infrastructure, partnerships, and in‑country capabilities required to support sustained global growth.

• Translate business strategy into scalable operational capability and execution plans aligned with rapid commercial expansion to support customer base largely in Asia but also Europe, the Americas and middle East.
• Take full ownership of all operations following contract award, ensuring successful project execution through to commissioning, handover and ongoing customer support.
• Lead end‑to‑end operations including production planning, procurement, supply chain, logistics, and quality assurance.
• Build and manage an operations organisation capable of supporting manufacture of large filtration systems in the 100’s per year manufacturing in 12–18 months.
• Work closely with the executive team to drive operational KPIs, efficiencies, and performance improvements.
• Act as a key member of the executive leadership team.

• Identify, evaluate, and secure manufacturing partners in the UK, Asia and other regions as required with strong engineering capabilities and capacity for large industrial systems.
• Oversee technology transfer, ensuring manufacturing partners can produce systems to specification, cost, and quality targets.
• Establish scalable assembly, testing, and QA workflows suitable for regional and customer requirements.

• Build a global supply chain strategy optimised for cost, lead time, reliability, and risk management.
• Oversee manufacturing strategy, ensuring quality, efficiency, and scalability.
• Own sourcing and supplier qualification for critical components, including mechanical assemblies, filtration elements, structural components, and instrumentation.
• Implement supplier performance management processes, audits, and quality control mechanisms.
• Develop redundancy and dual‑sourcing strategies…