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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Chief of Operations (COO)

💰 $ - $

OperationsExecutiveLeadershipStrategy

🎯 Role Definition

The Chief of Operations (COO) is a senior executive responsible for designing, implementing, and scaling the company’s operational strategy to deliver reliable, efficient, and measurable business outcomes. The COO partners with the CEO and executive team to manage day-to-day operations, optimize processes, translate strategy into execution, lead cross-functional teams, and steward operational metrics, P&L performance, risk management, and compliance. This role requires a blend of strategic leadership, hands-on program management, data-driven decision making, and strong stakeholder communication.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • VP of Operations
  • Head of Operations / Head of Program Management
  • General Manager or Director of Operations

Advancement To:

  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
  • President, Chief Operating Officer with larger scope
  • Group Head of Global Operations / Chief Transformation Officer

Lateral Moves:

  • Chief Product Officer (for product-led companies)
  • Chief Supply Chain Officer
  • Head of Global Program Management Office (PMO)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own and evolve the company-wide operations strategy in alignment with the CEO and Board, translating long-term business goals into measurable operational plans, milestones, and budgets to drive growth and profitability.
  • Manage end-to-end P&L accountability for assigned business units or the enterprise-wide operations function, establishing clear financial targets, cost controls, and improvement initiatives that increase margin and cash flow.
  • Design, implement, and continuously improve standardized operational processes (SOPs), service-level agreements (SLAs), and playbooks to ensure consistent, scalable delivery across regions and product lines.
  • Lead cross-functional execution of strategic initiatives, coordinating Product, Engineering, Sales, Finance, HR, and Customer Success to remove roadblocks and accelerate time-to-value for critical projects.
  • Build and maintain a robust operations metrics framework (KPIs and OKRs), create automated dashboards, and drive a data-driven culture of performance management and continuous improvement.
  • Direct the operations leadership team, hiring, mentoring, and developing senior managers to create high-performing, accountable teams that meet operational and cultural goals.
  • Oversee capacity planning, resource allocation, and workforce optimization to balance service quality, cost efficiency, and employee engagement as the company scales.
  • Drive end-to-end supply chain and vendor management strategies, negotiating contracts, optimizing supplier performance, and ensuring continuity and quality of goods and services.
  • Champion operational risk management and compliance programs, including regulatory requirements, internal controls, vendor risk assessments, and business continuity planning.
  • Lead cross-border operations expansion and localization efforts, ensuring operational models, governance, and staffing plans properly support international growth and regulatory environments.
  • Implement automation, tooling, and technology investments that reduce manual work, increase throughput, and improve data fidelity across core operational workflows.
  • Set and enforce quality assurance and customer experience standards—partnering with Customer Success and Support to reduce churn, improve NPS, and escalate retention-focused operational improvements.
  • Prioritize and manage capital expenditures and operational budgets, presenting trade-offs and ROI to the executive team and Board for critical infrastructure and platform investments.
  • Serve as the primary liaison between the executive team and frontline operations, translating strategy into executable roadmaps while ensuring feedback loops to inform product and strategy decisions.
  • Develop and run operational excellence programs (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, or equivalent) to systematically drive waste out of processes and improve cycle times, throughput, and unit economics.
  • Lead crisis response and operational incident management, owning communication, remediation, and post-incident reviews to strengthen resilience and customer trust.
  • Establish and manage service delivery models (in-house, hybrid, or outsourced) for functions such as fulfillment, manufacturing, customer operations, and professional services to meet cost and quality targets.
  • Drive pricing, packaging, and operational feasibility reviews with Sales and Finance to ensure offerings are deliverable at scale and profitable to the business.
  • Oversee data governance and operational data integrity practices to ensure accurate reporting, regulatory compliance, and business continuity for decision-making.
  • Align talent strategy to operational objectives, including performance management, succession planning, compensation design, and organizational design to support future growth.
  • Partner with IT and Security to set operational technology roadmaps including ERP, CRM, workforce management, and monitoring systems that underpin scalable operations.
  • Develop and present regular operational reviews and forecasts to the executive team and Board, providing transparency on performance, risks, and mitigation plans.
  • Drive culture of accountability, continuous learning, and high standards by modeling leadership behaviors, setting clear expectations, and recognizing operational excellence across teams.
  • Lead vendor selection, SLAs, and contract negotiations for key operational partners, monitoring KPIs and enforcing corrective actions when performance falls short.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to inform operational decisions and executive reporting.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying operational data needs and helping prioritize analytics investments.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for automation, reporting, and tooling.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team to accelerate analytics adoption and operational improvements.
  • Provide mentorship and development opportunities for emerging operational leaders through coaching, structured training, and rotational programs.
  • Participate in M&A diligence and integration activities to align operational processes, systems, and people post-transaction.
  • Support marketing and commercial teams on operational feasibility and go-to-market readiness for new product launches or market entries.
  • Conduct periodic process audits and value stream maps with cross-functional teams to uncover bottlenecks and recommend scalable solutions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • P&L management and financial modeling: ability to build and present financial forecasts, margin improvement plans, and operating budgets.
  • Operations strategy development: proven experience designing operational models, governance, and roadmaps for scaling companies.
  • Process design and optimization: expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, or equivalent methodologies to improve cycle time and throughput.
  • Data analytics and KPI design: experience defining core operational metrics, building dashboards using BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker, Power BI), and translating insights into action.
  • ERP/CRM/platform implementation: hands-on experience with enterprise systems (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Salesforce) and integrating operational workflows.
  • Project and program management: proven ability to run complex, cross-functional initiatives using Agile, Scrum, or formal PMO practices.
  • Vendor and supplier management: expertise negotiating contracts, SLAs, and vendor performance programs to secure cost and quality outcomes.
  • Supply chain and logistics operations: knowledge of fulfillment, inventory planning, distribution, and customs/regulatory logistics.
  • Compliance and risk management: familiarity with regulatory frameworks and designing internal controls and business continuity plans.
  • Automation and technology adoption: experience evaluating and implementing automation, RPA, or workflow tools to remove manual bottlenecks.
  • M&A operational integration: ability to lead operational due diligence and post-merger integration for systems, processes, and teams.
  • Customer operations and service delivery design: experience building scalable support, onboarding, and professional services operations.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic leadership: ability to set a clear vision, influence executive stakeholders, and align cross-functional teams to shared goals.
  • Excellent communication: concise, persuasive communicator with experience presenting to executives, boards, and large teams.
  • Decision-making under uncertainty: strong judgment and bias for action when data is incomplete or time is constrained.
  • Change management: proven ability to lead cultural and operational change across distributed teams with empathy and rigor.
  • Cross-functional collaboration: skilled at building trust and negotiating trade-offs between product, finance, sales, engineering, and HR.
  • Coaching and talent development: experience mentoring senior managers and building bench strength for future leadership.
  • Problem-solving and critical thinking: analytical mindset with strong root-cause analysis and solution design capabilities.
  • Stakeholder management: adept at prioritizing competing stakeholder needs and aligning resources to strategic priorities.
  • Resilience and adaptability: comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and pivoting as conditions change.
  • Ethical leadership and integrity: high standards for governance, legal compliance, and confidential handling of sensitive information.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Engineering, Finance, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • MBA, Master’s in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent advanced degree.
  • Certifications such as Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, PMP, or relevant executive education.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management
  • Industrial / Systems Engineering
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Finance
  • Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 10–20+ years of progressive operations experience, with at least 5–8 years in senior leadership (VP/Head) roles.

Preferred:

  • Prior experience as a COO, Head of Operations, VP of Operations, or General Manager in a comparable industry (SaaS, e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, fintech).
  • Demonstrated track record scaling operations from startup to growth/scale stages and partnering with executive teams and Boards.
  • Experience managing P&L responsibility, leading digital transformation and ERP/CRM implementations, and conducting M&A integration.
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