Chief operating officer

Hybrid, United States with international travel across Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Competitive executive package with performance incentives, profit share, and potential equity participation available for the right candidate.

Full-Time

We are seeking an Executive MBA-calibre Chief Operating Officer to lead and scale complex multi-site operations within a high-growth, service-led organisation operating across regulated and operationally critical environments.

This opportunity is suited to a commercially astute operational executive with the ability to bridge strategic leadership, organisational transformation, and hands-on operational delivery. The successful candidate will combine board-level strategic capability with strong operational execution experience across multi-region operations, infrastructure, technology-enabled services, and operational integration programmes.

Reporting directly to the CEO and Board, the COO will play a critical role in driving organisational performance, operational scalability, governance, commercial optimisation, and acquisition integration activity across a diversified operational portfolio.

The role requires an individual capable of operating at both strategic and tactical levels, with the leadership maturity to influence investors, executive teams, and operational stakeholders while maintaining direct accountability for operational performance and organisational growth.

• Lead complex national and international multi-site operations across service-critical and regulated environments
• Translate corporate strategy into measurable operational execution frameworks
• Drive operational excellence, organisational alignment, governance, and performance consistency across business units
• Develop scalable operating models to support business growth, acquisition activity, and geographic expansion
• Maintain operational resilience, business continuity, and customer service performance within 24/7 operational environments

• Partner with the CEO and Board to shape long-term business strategy and operational direction
• Lead strategic transformation initiatives focused on scalability, efficiency, digital integration, and commercial performance
• Support organisational restructuring, operational redesign, and future-state operating model development
• Identify strategic opportunities for operational optimisation, automation, and performance enhancement
• Contribute to corporate growth planning, market expansion, and strategic investment decisions

• Support acquisition strategy, operational due diligence, integration planning, and synergy realisation
• Lead post-acquisition operational consolidation and process standardisation
• Integrate systems, governance frameworks, reporting structures, and operational controls across acquired businesses
• Evaluate operational risk, scalability, and organisational readiness during acquisition activities

• Hold accountability for operational financial performance, cost control, and resource optimisation
• Support executive financial planning, forecasting, and operational budgeting activities
• Develop KPI frameworks and executive reporting dashboards to support board-level decision making
• Drive operational efficiency, recurring revenue optimisation, customer retention, and service profitability

• Operate as a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board, investors, and senior leadership teams
• Build and mentor high-performing operational leadership structures
• Lead organisational culture initiatives focused on accountability, continuous improvement, and operational discipline
• Manage strategic relationships with suppliers, regulators, commercial partners, and external stakeholders

• Minimum 15 years’ senior operational leadership experience within complex, multi-site environments
• Executive MBA or equivalent postgraduate business qualification essential
• Proven experience operating at executive or board level within high-growth or operationally intensive organisations
• Strong background in operational strategy, organisational transformation, and performance optimisation
• Demonstrated experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, and post-acquisition operational integration
• Experience within technology, telecoms, infrastructure, security, facilities, logistics, or regulated service industries advantageous
• Proven ability to lead geographically distributed operational teams across multiple regions
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing operational budgets, KPIs, and performance frameworks
• Experience operating within recurring revenue or service-based business models preferred

• Executive MBA, MBA, or equivalent postgraduate business qualification
• Degree in Business, Information Technology, Operations Management, Engineering, or related discipline

• Lean Six Sigma certification
• Change Management or Transformation certifications
• Project or Programme Management qualifications

• Executive Leadership
• Operational Strategy
• Organisational Transformation
• Multi-Site Operations
• M&A Integration
• Commercial Performance Management
• Governance & Risk Management
• Digital Transformation
• KPI & Executive Reporting
• Stakeholder Management
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Business Scaling
• Process Optimisation
• Customer Experience Strategy

The ideal candidate is an Executive MBA-qualified operational leader who combines strategic thinking with practical execution capability. You are comfortable operating within founder-led, scaling, or transformation-focused environments and possess the leadership maturity to manage both board-level strategy and frontline operational complexity.

You will bring a strong balance of commercial awareness, operational discipline, and transformational leadership, with the ability to unify fragmented operations into scalable, performance-driven organisational structures capable of supporting sustained growth and acquisition activity.