Location:
United Kingdom
Type:
Full-time, Co-Founder Level Role
Compensation:
£40K + 3-5% equity
About WalnutPOS
We've built a modern, cloud-based POS system designed specifically for independent restaurants.
After 7 months of development and testing with 10 pilot restaurants in Pakistan, we're now launching in the UK market. Our POS offers restaurants a free core system with premium features like AI-powered insights, recipe management with real-time cost calculations, and advanced inventory tracking.
The Role: Chief Operating Officer
We're establishing the company in the UK within the next month and need a COO to build our UK operations from zero.
This isn't a corporate COO role. This is the person who will be employee #2, working directly with the founder to launch and scale WalnutPOS across the UK market.
Your First 90 Days:
Month 1: Market Entry & Foundation
* Help establish UK company structure and operations
* Research UK restaurant landscape and identify target segments
* Visit 30+ restaurants to understand UK market needs
* Build initial go-to-market strategy
* Create restaurant onboarding process
* Set up support infrastructure
Month 2: First Customers
* Lead sales and onboarding for first 20-30 UK restaurants
* Handle customer support personally
* Gather feedback and work with product team on UK-specific needs
* Build case studies and testimonials
* Start refining the playbook
Month 3: Scale Infrastructure
* Hire first 2-3 support/operations team members
* Create scalable onboarding process
* Establish partnerships with key suppliers/vendors
* Build operational dashboards and metrics
* Plan for next 100 restaurants
Months 4-12:
* Scale to UK restaurants
* Build operations team (5-10 people)
* Expand to multiple UK cities
* Own all customer success, support, and operations
What We're Looking For
Must-Haves:
* 5+ years operations experience in high-growth or startup environments
* Experience building something from scratch (0→1 stage)
* Based in UK or able to relocate immediately
* Restaurant, hospitality, retail, or food service industry experience
* Comfortable being hands-on: you'll sell, support, and troubleshoot directly
* Can start within 30-60 days
The Right Mindset:
* Bias toward action—you ship and iterate rather than plan endlessly
* "Figure it out" mentality when faced with ambiguity
* Comfortable doing everything yourself before building a team
* Data-driven but moves quickly
* Genuinely excited about helping restaurants succeed
Nice-to-Haves:
* Previous experience with POS systems, payment systems, or restaurant tech
* Built or scaled B2B SaaS operations
* Understanding of restaurant P&L, food costs, and operations
* Experience managing supplier/vendor relationships
* Have launched products or services in new markets
* Network in UK restaurant industry
What We're NOT Looking For
Corporate executives who need established teams and processes
People who want work-life balance in year 1
Strategy consultants who build presentations instead of executing
Anyone uncomfortable with ambiguity and rapid change
People looking for a "safe" job at an established company
Why This Opportunity
The Market:
* UK restaurant market is massive and underserved
* Independent restaurants desperately need better, affordable tools
* Toast, Square, and others are expensive and clunky
* Perfect timing as restaurants embrace cloud technology post-COVID
The Product:
* Already proven with 10 pilot restaurants
* Modern tech stack (cloud-based, real-time, mobile-first)
* Free tier gets restaurants in the door
* Premium features (AI insights, recipe management) drive revenue
* Offline-capable for reliability
Your Opportunity:
* Ground-floor equity in a UK tech company (3-5%)
* Build operations from zero in a huge market
* Work directly with founder—no bureaucracy
* Own the UK launch and scale
* Potential to lead European expansion
Personal Growth:
* Launch a product in a new market from scratch
* Build and lead your own operations team
* Learn restaurant tech and B2B SaaS
* Gain founder-level operating experience
* Make real impact helping independent restaurants compete
Compensation
Salary:
£40-60K (based on experience)
Equity:
3-5% with 4-year vest, 1-year cliff
Performance Bonuses:
* £5K at 100 UK restaurants
* £10K at 250 UK restaurants
* £10K at 500 UK restaurants
Benefits:
* Healthcare coverage
* Equipment and tools you need
* Flexible working (remote-friendly after launch phase)
Reality Check:
If you're coming from a corporate role, this will be a pay cut. The bet is building something meaningful with significant equity upside rather than optimizing salary today.
Day-to-Day Reality
What you'll actually do:
* Morning: Review overnight support tickets and restaurant issues
* Mid-morning: Sales calls with prospective restaurants
* Lunch: Visit a restaurant to understand their operations
* Afternoon: Onboard new restaurant or train their staff
* Late afternoon: Work with founder on strategy and priorities
* Evening: Maybe handle a support issue or urgent request
First 6 months:
* You ARE the sales team
* You ARE the support team
* You ARE the customer success team
* You ARE the operations team
* Then you build the team
Tools you'll use:
* Slack (for everything)
* Google Workspace
* CRM system (you'll help choose it)
* Our admin dashboard
* Your phone (lots of calls with restaurants)
Success looks like:
* Week 1: First UK restaurant signed and live
* Month 3: 20-30 restaurants live and happy
* Month 6: 100+ restaurants, 3-5 team members hired
* Month 12: restaurants, established UK operations
Our Culture
We value:
* Execution over planning
* Data over opinions
* Shipping fast over perfect
* Helping restaurants succeed above all else
* Everyone does whatever needs doing
We avoid:
* Unnecessary meetings
* Politics and bureaucracy
* "That's not my job" mentality
* Analysis paralysis
* Excuses
The Interview Process
Stage 1: Initial Call (45 minutes)
* Your background and experience
* Our vision for WalnutPOS in UK
* Honest conversation about the role and reality
* Mutual fit assessment
Stage 2: Assignment (3-5 hours your time)
* "Design a 90-day plan to launch WalnutPOS in the UK market"
* We want to see how you think and approach problems
* No need for fancy presentations—a doc or slides is fine
Stage 3: Deep Dive (90 minutes)
* Review your assignment together
* Discuss operational challenges and how you'd solve them
* Meet the founder properly
* Talk about working relationship and expectations
Stage 4: Final Conversation (60 minutes)
* Compensation, equity, and logistics
* Address any remaining questions or concerns
* Decision time for both parties
Timeline:
2-3 weeks from first call to offer
About The Founder
7 years software engineering experience. Built WalnutPOS over the past 7 months and tested with pilot restaurants in Pakistan. Now launching in UK.
One Last Thing
This role isn't for everyone. It's for someone who:
* Wants to build something from zero, not manage something established
* Sees uncertainty as exciting, not stressful
* Values impact and ownership over title and salary
* Is ready to work harder than they ever have
If you're reading this and thinking "this sounds crazy but I'm interested"—perfect. That's exactly the right reaction.
Let's build something significant together.