Steve Salindeho Let us talk
A COO portfolio for NovarcPeople · Operations · Scale

Good people.
Clear decisions.
Growth that lasts.

I am Steve Salindeho. I help people build the operating capability that lets a growing business keep its promises.

Explore my workRead my resume PDF
Close-up of a Novarc Spool Welding Robot welding a metal pipe, with blue arc light, smoke and sparks.
The technology is extraordinary.
The people make it work.Photo: Novarc Technologies
30 years across manufacturing, technology & industrial operationsCalgary, AB · Ready to relocate to Burnaby, BC
440+

Professionals led

Paper Excellence · global operations
>40%

Employee engagement improvement

Envicor · leadership transformation
4 weeks to 9 days

Planning cycle shortened

Kinaxis · manufacturing transformation
65% to 94%

Enterprise spend visibility

TC Energy · approximately
01 Why Novarc

The next chapter
needs a stronger
operating backbone.

What draws me to Novarc is the work underneath the growth.

SWR, NovAI, NovPlan and NovHub bring manufacturing, software, AI and customer execution into the same conversation. As that portfolio grows, the people supporting it need shared priorities, clear authority and a reliable way to move work across functions.

I have worked at that point for much of my career: integrating acquired operations, connecting planning with factory realities, strengthening suppliers, and helping leaders carry more responsibility with greater confidence.

My contribution would be to build that capability alongside Novarc’s team, so engineering, manufacturing and customer operations can move together and the CEO has more room to lead the business forward.

What I would come ready to learn

Welding robotics is a new product environment for me. I would learn from Novarc’s engineers, welders, service teams and customers. I bring deep operating experience and respect for the expertise already in the business.

See my experience against the COO mandate
02 Selected work

I have done
the work underneath.

Four examples of building capability
while the business keeps moving.

01
Paper Excellence · 2017–2018

Making global growth work locally.

Multi-site leadership · Acquisition integration · P&L accountability
My responsibility

Vice President, Global Supply Chain and Operations

Full P&L accountability across 30+ manufacturing locations on three continents, with leadership across planning, procurement, logistics, supply chain operations and manufacturing integration.

The situation

Rapid acquisition had brought together operations with different systems, cultures, suppliers and planning practices. Growth needed a common way to operate while respecting the judgment within each site.

What I led

I built an integrated sales and operations planning rhythm, aligned leadership expectations, and established common decision rights, performance measures and escalation paths. Local teams retained appropriate autonomy within shared enterprise standards.

$9.1MOperational improvements within 18 months
ISO 9001North American operations certified within 18 months

For Novarc: practical experience integrating complexity, developing distributed leaders and building consistent execution across a growing operation.

02
Envicor · 2023–present

Building ownership people can sustain.

Operating models · Leadership development · Decision rights
My responsibility

Principal, Enterprise Strategy and Operations

Advisory mandates with industrial and advanced-manufacturing organizations, working directly with CEOs, leaders and frontline teams.

The situation

Growth and complexity had exposed gaps between the organization’s ambitions and the capacity of its existing workflows, decisions and management routines.

What I led

I rebuilt cross-functional operating models, clarified decision authority, and introduced useful dashboards and weekly routines. I worked with leaders and the people doing the work to surface constraints, build accountability and develop capability that could continue internally.

34%Cycle-time reduction in one operating-model mandate
~60%Reduction in voluntary turnover among high performers in a leadership mandate

For Novarc: stronger management ownership, clearer escalation and a people culture where difficult issues can be raised early. These outcomes came from separate client mandates.

03
Kinaxis · 2022–2023

Turning planning into better decisions.

Manufacturing readiness · Capacity planning · Business systems
My responsibility

Director, Industrial Supply Chain and Manufacturing

Enterprise planning and manufacturing transformations with complex industrial clients, operating between technology and the business.

The situation

Sophisticated planning tools needed to reflect the real constraints in factories and supply networks. Finance, commercial and operations teams needed a common basis for decisions.

What I led

I connected demand, capacity, inventory and supply; redesigned integrated business planning routines; and coached leaders through changes in authority and accountability. Scenario planning brought supplier dependencies and production constraints into executive decisions.

28%Forecast-accuracy improvement
$4.5MAnnual reduction in expedited freight spending

For Novarc: technology that supports executable plans, earlier trade-offs and better coordination as hardware and AI product lines grow.

04
TC Energy · 2018–2022

Making risk visible before it becomes urgent.

PMO-style governance · Supplier readiness · Executive reporting
My responsibility

Senior Advisor, Supply Chain Major Projects

Sourcing and operating governance for $8B+ capital programs, advising executive and major-project leadership in high-consequence environments.

The situation

Engineering requirements, supplier capacity, materials, schedules and commercial exposure were deeply connected. Leadership needed early visibility into dependencies and decisions.

What I led

I built governance and reporting that brought engineering, finance, project management, operations and supply chain around shared milestones. Supplier qualification included technical capability, capacity, financial health, quality and escalation protocols.

13%Reduction in project delays
$17.8MDocumented savings through sourcing, negotiation and logistics improvement

For Novarc: a disciplined PMO, clear executive decision points and supplier-readiness reviews that support growth.

Selected results from my submitted resume. Scope and timeframes belong to the individual roles and mandates described.

03 The COO mandate

One business.
Connected execution.

How my experience maps to the functions
in Novarc’s role brief.

Manufacturing · Quality · Product readiness

Build what the plan promises.

My foundation began in technology manufacturing at Toshiba, across production planning, materials, suppliers, inventory and manufacturing support. Lean, Kaizen, standard work and structured problem solving became practical habits there.

At Paper Excellence and Kinaxis, I connected manufacturing capacity, supplier dependencies and planning with the commitments made to customers.

What I would bring to Novarc

Partner with Product and Engineering on new-product readiness: bills of materials, supplier capacity, build quality, assembly readiness and service preparation. Make safety, quality, cost and delivery visible in the same operating rhythm.

Toshiba · Paper Excellence · Kinaxis
04 How I lead

Build leaders
who can carry
more of the future.

I care about the result and the people who make it possible. My job is to help them become more capable, more confident and clearer about the decisions they own.

01

Start close to the work.

Spend time with the people building, planning, installing and supporting. Understand the constraints they face and respond to what they raise.

02

Make authority usable.

Be clear about who decides, the boundaries they work within, the information they need and when escalation helps. Accountability needs matching authority.

03

Coach, then back the decision.

Help leaders work through trade-offs, give direct feedback and support sound judgment. Confidence grows when people have room to practise responsibility.

04

Keep the learning in the business.

Turn experience into better routines and standards. The next team should be able to use what this team learned.

Decision rights in practice

A customer needs
an earlier installation.

An illustrative approach for Novarc

Customer Operations owns readiness. Manufacturing confirms build capacity. Supply Chain validates parts. Finance makes the margin trade-off visible.

One named leader owns the decision within agreed limits. Exceptions that change safety, quality, material financial exposure or another customer commitment follow a clear escalation path.

People know what they can decide, what they need to check and who will support them.

05 Where I would start

Listen carefully.
Build together.

A starting approach to discuss with Novarc,
shaped by what the team and customers teach us.

First 30 days

Understand the real operation.

Meet the teams and customers. Walk the work from order to build to installation and support. Understand capacity, quality, margins and the decisions that keep returning to the CEO.

Days 31–60

Agree the few priorities that matter.

Align leaders on the main constraints. Clarify ownership and decision boundaries. Connect product readiness, supplier capacity and customer delivery through a useful operating cadence.

Days 61–90

Make the improvement visible.

Work with teams on the agreed priorities. Establish baselines and a small set of measures. Strengthen project governance, close feedback loops and coach leaders through the decisions they now own.

06 Unpolished Truths

The thinking
behind the work.

Selected writing on the operating questions
that matter as Novarc scales.

Scale & characterAugust 2026

Not Everything That Built the Company Will Scale. Not Everything Should.

How to develop the structures growth requires while preserving local judgment, customer relationships and entrepreneurial energy.

Read essay Decisions & learningSeptember 2026

The Hundredth One Costs Less. The Hundredth Decision Does Not.

Why operational learning needs to become part of how work moves, so teams can make better decisions with less dependence on a few people.

Read essay Manufacturing & peopleSeptember 2026

We Built a Factory That Could Listen. The People Had Been Talking for Years.

A candid reflection on automation, frontline knowledge and the leadership responsibility to respond when people surface a problem.

Read essay Authority & AIMarch 2026

Authority Architecture

A practical governance model for delegated authority, decision boundaries and accountability as AI takes on more of the execution.

Read essay
Visit Unpolished Truths on Substack
07 Let us talk

I would be glad
to build what
comes next.

Novarc has a team with deep expertise and an important next chapter ahead. I would welcome a conversation about how my experience could help that team succeed.

ssalindeho@me.com+1 (778) 990-8229

Based in Calgary, Alberta
Ready to relocate to Burnaby, British Columbia

LinkedInSubstackDownload resume