Chief Operating Officer (COO) Job Description

The Chief Operating Officer is the executive responsible for the operational delivery of the business. While the CEO sets direction and represents the organisation externally, the COO owns what happens internally — how the business runs, how functions perform, how operational plans get executed, and how the leadership team is held accountable for results. Getting this role right is one of the highest-leverage decisions a board can make. Getting it wrong is one of the most expensive. Where a site or operation needs leadership quickly, an interim Operations Director can step in.

This guide covers everything you need to write an accurate COO job description: the core accountabilities the role carries, the differences between COO mandates at different business types, what qualifications and background the strongest candidates bring, how the role sits within the executive structure, what shapes a COO package in the UK market, and what changes when the firm is regulated by the FCA or PRA. It includes a job description template you can copy and adapt. If you are ready to start a search, our COO recruitment service covers permanent appointments, with interim and fractional options alongside.

What is a Chief Operating Officer?

The Chief Operating Officer is the senior executive accountable for the company’s internal operations. The role sits directly below the CEO in the executive hierarchy and is responsible for translating the CEO’s strategic direction into operational plans, managing the functional leadership team, and ensuring the business delivers against its commitments. In practice, the COO is the person the CEO relies on to make the business run.

The COO title covers meaningfully different mandates depending on the organisation. In some businesses the COO is effectively the CEO’s deputy, with broad oversight of every function. In others the role is scoped to operational delivery only — supply chain, manufacturing, service operations — with finance, technology and people reporting separately to the CEO. In PE-backed businesses the COO frequently carries a transformation or value-creation mandate alongside the steady-state operational brief. In financial services the COO role often carries regulatory accountability, and in some firms the COO holds the SMF24 Chief Operations function under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (covered in its own section below).

This variation in scope is why a COO job description written without a clear brief tends to attract a mixed pool of candidates who are not directly comparable to each other. Defining the scope accurately — what functions report to the COO, what the relationship with the CEO looks like, what the operational agenda is for the next three years — is the most important work done before the search begins. The UK Corporate Governance Code sets the governance framework within which a listed-company COO operates, and many large private companies follow its principles voluntarily.

It also helps to be clear about what the COO is not. The COO is not simply a senior operations manager with a bigger title. Where a business needs someone to run a single operational function well — a warehouse network, a service centre, a production site — an Operations Director is usually the better fit, and our Operations Director job description sets out how that role differs. The COO earns the title by carrying cross-functional accountability and acting as a genuine partner to the CEO.

Core COO Responsibilities

Operational strategy and planning. The COO translates the board-approved strategy into an operational plan — defining the milestones, resource requirements, functional accountabilities and performance metrics that will determine whether the strategy is actually delivered. A COO who cannot build a credible operational plan that the CEO, CFO and functional leadership team all believe in is not operating at the level the role demands. The quality of the operational plan is the primary diagnostic for whether a COO appointment is working.

Functional leadership and cross-functional accountability. The COO manages the functional directors who report to them — typically operations, technology, people, supply chain, and sometimes sales and marketing depending on the business model — and holds them accountable for delivery against the operational plan. The value-creating work happens at the interfaces between functions: the COO resolves the cross-functional blockers that individual directors cannot resolve at their level, and manages the handoffs between functions that produce delays, quality failures and cost overruns when they are not actively managed.

Operational performance management. The COO defines and owns the operational KPI framework, monitors performance against it, investigates underperformance, and reports to the CEO and board on operational outcomes. The difference between a strong and a weak COO in this area is whether they can explain the commercial context behind the numbers — not just report what the KPIs show, but explain what is driving them and what the business is doing about it.

Process improvement and operational efficiency. The COO drives continuous improvement in how the business operates — identifying inefficiencies in processes, cost structures and ways of working, and leading programmes to address them. In high-growth businesses this frequently means scaling operational infrastructure to match business growth before the business outgrows the infrastructure it has. In mature or declining businesses it means reducing the cost base without degrading service quality.

People and organisational development. The COO is accountable for the quality of the operational leadership team. This means recruiting, developing and, where necessary, replacing the functional directors who report to them, setting the performance standards for the operational organisation, and building the management capability the business needs to operate at scale. The COO’s ability to raise the performance of the team around them is a primary indicator of long-term operational health.

Risk, compliance and governance. The COO is responsible for identifying and managing operational risk — including supply chain risk, regulatory compliance, health and safety, cyber and technology resilience, and the operational controls that prevent the business from exposing itself to avoidable liabilities. Where the COO also sits on the board, the general duties of directors in the Companies Act 2006 apply to them in the same way as to any other director, including the duty to promote the success of the company.

Technology and change. In most businesses the operating model now depends on systems as much as people. The COO is often the executive who sponsors ERP replacements, automation and AI adoption in operational processes, working with the CTO or CIO on delivery. Candidates should be able to show how they have run change programmes that landed on time and changed how work is actually done, not just how it is reported.

COO Job Description Template

The following template covers the standard components of a Chief Operating Officer job description. Copy it, then adapt it to reflect the specific scope, reporting structure and mandate of the role in your organisation. Square brackets mark the points you need to fill in.

Job title: Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) [or Chair / Founder, if applicable]

Direct reports: [Insert the functional directors who report to the COO — Operations Director, IT Director, People Director, Supply Chain Director, as applicable]

Location and working pattern: [Insert base location, travel expectations and any hybrid arrangement]

Purpose of the role: The Chief Operating Officer is responsible for the operational performance of the business. Working in close partnership with the CEO, the COO translates the company’s strategic direction into an operational plan and leads the functional team in delivering against it. The COO is accountable for operational efficiency, quality, cost management and the performance of the functions within their remit.

Key accountabilities:

• Develop and own the annual and medium-term operational plan, aligned with the board-approved strategy.
• Manage and develop the functional leadership team, setting performance expectations and holding directors accountable for delivery.
• Define and maintain the operational KPI framework, report on operational performance to the CEO and board, and drive improvement where performance falls short of plan.
• Lead operational improvement programmes — process efficiency, cost reduction, technology adoption and capacity development — that position the business to perform against its growth agenda.
• Manage operational risk, ensure the business maintains appropriate controls, and ensure compliance with all relevant regulatory and legal requirements.
• Work with the CFO to develop and manage the operational budget, and ensure resources are allocated efficiently across functions.
• Act as the CEO’s deputy in operational and organisational matters, including leading the business in the CEO’s absence where required.
• [Regulated firms only: hold the SMF24 Chief Operations function and the responsibilities set out in the firm’s Statement of Responsibilities.]

Person specification — experience:

• Significant experience in a senior operational leadership role, with direct accountability for multiple functions.
• Demonstrable track record of delivering an operational transformation or scaling an operational organisation through a period of growth.
• Experience managing and developing a functional leadership team.
• Sector experience relevant to the business [insert sector as applicable].
• Experience working in a business of comparable scale and complexity [insert revenue/headcount range].

Person specification — skills and attributes:

• Operational planning: the ability to build credible operational plans and manage delivery against them.
• Cross-functional leadership: the ability to manage the interfaces between functions and hold a senior team collectively accountable.
• Commercial acumen: the ability to read operational performance data in its commercial context and make good decisions on the basis of it.
• Communication and influence: the ability to present operational performance clearly to the board, engage the wider organisation, and manage relationships with the CEO and functional peers.
• Resilience and pace: the COO role demands delivery under pressure, often at speed, across complex and competing priorities.

Package: [Insert base salary range, bonus structure, any equity or LTIP participation, pension and benefits.]

Two points make the difference between a template and a job description that works. First, write the first-year objectives into the document — three to five outcomes the COO will be judged on, such as completing an integration, stabilising service levels or delivering a cost programme. Second, be honest about the CEO relationship and how decisions are made. Experienced COO candidates read job descriptions closely, and a vague brief tends to put off the strongest of them.

COO Salary UK — What Shapes the Package

COO pay in the UK varies widely, and a single figure is rarely useful when writing a job description. What matters is understanding the factors that move the package up or down, so the offer you advertise matches the scope you are asking for. For current pay ranges, see our COO salary guide, which is kept up to date.

• Scale and complexity. Revenue, headcount, number of sites and countries, and the number of functional directors reporting in all push the package up. A COO running five or more functions across several locations is a different hire from one overseeing a single operational unit.
• Scope of the remit. A COO who also carries commercial, technology or people responsibilities, or who deputises for the CEO, is priced differently from one with a narrow operational brief.
• Ownership structure. In PE-backed businesses the package usually tilts towards variable pay and management equity tied to the value-creation plan and exit. In listed companies, long-term incentive plans and the remuneration policy approved by shareholders shape the structure.
• Regulation and personal accountability. Where the COO holds a senior manager function and is personally accountable to the regulator, candidates expect that responsibility to be reflected in pay. Deferral and malus or clawback rules may also apply to variable pay in regulated firms.
• Sector and market. Sectors with a thin pool of experienced operators — regulated financial services, complex manufacturing, logistics, healthcare — tend to pay more for proven candidates.
• Location and working pattern. London and the South East still carry a premium for office-based roles, though hybrid working has narrowed the gap for some positions.

Benefits at COO level usually include pension contributions, private medical cover, life assurance and a car or car allowance. Be clear in the job description about what is fixed and what is variable: candidates compare total packages, and a strong base with an unclear bonus scheme is harder to assess than a slightly lower base with well-defined targets.

COO Qualifications and Experience

There is no standard qualification route to the COO role. The role is defined by operational experience rather than academic or professional credentials, and the strongest COO candidates are more likely to be distinguished by their track record of operational delivery than by their educational background.

That said, a degree-level education is common among COO candidates, and postgraduate qualifications — an MBA, or a professional qualification in a relevant discipline — are common at the most senior levels. In operationally intensive sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and financial services, sector-specific qualifications (engineering, supply chain management, financial services regulation) carry weight alongside operational experience. Some COOs come from a finance background, and a chartered accountancy qualification can be an advantage where the role combines operational and financial oversight.

What distinguishes the strongest COO candidates from the adequate ones is not qualification level but the quality of their operational track record. The candidate who has led a business through a complex transformation — a post-acquisition integration, a technology-enabled operational overhaul, a turnaround under significant performance pressure — and can speak specifically about how they did it, what they got wrong and what they learned, will outperform the candidate with an impressive CV who cannot give concrete examples of the decisions that drove operational outcomes.

When assessing candidates, ask for evidence rather than descriptions. Useful questions include: which operational metrics improved under their leadership and by how much; which functional directors they hired or replaced and why; what they would do differently on their last major programme; and how they handled a disagreement with the CEO. The answers tell you far more than a list of responsibilities on a CV.

Who Does the COO Report To?

The COO almost always reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer. In most UK businesses this is a one-to-one reporting line, with the COO functioning as the CEO’s principal internal partner — the person who holds the operational reality of the business and can be trusted to manage it without close oversight from the CEO.

In some large corporate structures the COO reports to the board through the CEO, and may attend board meetings or specific board committees in their own right — particularly audit and risk committees where operational risk and internal controls are in scope. In regulated firms where the COO holds SMF24, the COO is personally accountable to the regulator for their area of responsibility alongside the line accountability to the CEO, and this is a material governance consideration in how the role is framed and recruited.

In a small number of businesses — typically owner-managed groups or family businesses — the COO reports to the Chair or the founder rather than to a CEO. This usually indicates that the founder is effectively performing a combined Chair-CEO role and the COO is the most senior full-time executive managing the business. It is important to understand and document this reporting dynamic accurately in the job description, as it materially affects the mandate and the candidate pool.

COO vs CEO — How the Roles Differ

The CEO is responsible for the company’s direction — the strategy, the external relationships, the board relationship, and the organisation’s presence in its market. The COO is responsible for the company’s delivery — the internal operations, the functional team, the execution of the plan that the CEO and board have set. Our CEO job description sets out the other side of that partnership.

In practice the line between the two roles is not always clean. In high-growth businesses the CEO often retains significant operational involvement, and the COO’s mandate is correspondingly scoped. In businesses with a strong external or commercial focus for the CEO, the COO may carry near-total responsibility for internal management. The job description needs to reflect the actual scope rather than a generic template, because the most experienced COO candidates will probe this in their assessment of the role.

Where both roles exist on the executive team, the CEO-COO working relationship is the most important relationship in the organisation. A COO who is not fully aligned with the CEO on strategy, priorities and working style will be ineffective regardless of their individual capability. At Exec Capital, we treat the CEO-COO relationship as a core element of the brief — not an afterthought — and assess candidates against it explicitly as part of every COO search.

The COO in FCA and PRA-Regulated Firms (SMF24)

In financial services, the COO role can carry a specific regulatory function. The Chief Operations function, SMF24, is the senior manager function for the person responsible for managing the internal operations, systems and technology of the firm. It applies in dual-regulated firms such as banks, building societies, PRA-designated investment firms and insurers, and in solo-regulated firms in the FCA’s Enhanced tier of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. It is not a function for Core or Limited Scope firms, although a COO at a smaller firm may still hold another SMF, such as SMF3 Executive Director.

Where SMF24 applies, the individual must currently be approved by the regulator before taking up the role. That affects the hiring timetable: the firm has to complete its fitness and propriety checks, prepare a Statement of Responsibilities and submit the application, and the candidate cannot perform the function until approval is granted. The COO’s responsibilities typically include operational resilience, outsourcing and third-party risk, and technology and cyber risk.

The regime is under review. In October 2026 the FCA published CP26/37 and the PRA published CP14/26, the phase 2 consultations on SM&CR reform. Both propose moving a number of senior manager functions from pre-approval to a lighter notification process. These are proposals, not final rules: the consultations close on 22 January 2027. For SMF24, the regulators propose keeping pre-approval, citing the growing importance of operational oversight given risks from artificial intelligence and cyber incidents, with a review two years after the reforms are implemented. If you are writing a job description for a regulated COO now, plan on the basis that regulatory approval will still be needed.

For regulated firms, add the SMF to the job title line, set out the prescribed responsibilities in the accountabilities, and make clear that the appointment is subject to regulatory approval. Our regulated-firm COO recruitment service handles searches where the candidate needs to be approvable as well as capable.

Permanent, Interim or Fractional COO?

Not every business needs a full-time permanent COO from day one. The right model depends on the size of the operational agenda and how long it will last.

• Permanent COO. The right choice when the business has the scale and complexity to need a full-time operational leader for the long term, and the CEO wants a lasting partner on the executive team.
• Interim COO. A full-time leader on a fixed-term basis, typically brought in to cover a gap, lead a turnaround or integration, or stabilise operations while a permanent search runs. See our interim COO service.
• Fractional or part-time COO. An experienced COO working a set number of days a week or month, suited to growing businesses that need senior operational judgement before they can justify a full-time hire. See our fractional COO service.

The job description template above works for all three models. For an interim or fractional role, add the expected duration or time commitment, the specific outcomes the engagement is meant to deliver, and how the role will hand over at the end.

Frequently asked questions

What does a COO do day to day?

A COO spends most of their time with the functional directors who report to them: reviewing performance against plan, resolving issues that cut across functions, making resourcing decisions and driving improvement programmes. They also report to the CEO and board on operational performance and risk.

When does a business need a COO?

Usually when the CEO can no longer run the internal operations and lead the business externally at the same time. Common triggers are rapid growth, a move into new sites or markets, an acquisition, or investor pressure to professionalise the operating model.

Should the COO sit on the board?

It depends on the business. In many private companies the COO is a statutory director; in others they attend board meetings without a directorship. If they are appointed to the board, they take on the full legal duties of a director.

What is the difference between a COO and an Operations Director?

An Operations Director typically runs the operational function itself. A COO has a wider, cross-functional remit, often with several directors reporting in, and works as the CEO’s partner on how the whole business runs.

Does a COO at an FCA-regulated firm need approval?

If the role is the SMF24 Chief Operations function at a dual-regulated or Enhanced firm, yes. The October 2026 consultations propose keeping pre-approval for SMF24, though final rules have not yet been published.