COO · job description template
COO job description
The short answer · updated
A COO job description sets out the role that runs a company’s day-to-day operations so the chief executive can lead strategy. The core responsibilities are turning the plan into processes and targets, leading the operational teams, managing suppliers and delivery, controlling operational risk, and reporting performance to the CEO and the board.
Job purpose
The COO role varies more than most. In one company it runs everything except finance; in another it covers delivery, customer operations and supply chain; in a third it is the founder’s second-in-command. The scope is set by the CEO, so the purpose line has to say which version this is and what operational result the business needs. For the role itself, see what does a COO do.
Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit a COO brief. If the job includes reshaping the organisation, say so: the CIPD describes organisation design as aligning the shape and structure of an organisation with its strategy, and notes that it sits in different departments in different organisations.
Key responsibilities
Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical COO job description covers:
- turning the strategy and plan the board agrees into operating plans, targets and budgets;
- running day-to-day operations: delivery, customer service, supply chain, facilities or production, as the business requires;
- designing processes and systems, and deciding where to automate;
- leading the operational teams and their heads, and hiring where there are gaps;
- setting and tracking operational measures, and reporting them to the CEO and the board;
- managing key suppliers, outsourcing partners and contracts;
- owning operational risk: business continuity, health and safety and, where the CEO assigns it, cyber resilience;
- working with the CFO on costs, margins and capital spending;
- leading organisation design and change programmes as the company grows;
- keeping operations compliant with the rules of the company’s sector.
Reporting line and scope
The COO reports to the CEO. The heads of operations report to the COO and, depending on the company, so may customer service, supply chain, IT, HR or legal. List the functions that report in, and the ones that stay with the CEO or the CFO, so no one reads the job two ways.
Some COOs sit on the board as executive directors; others attend for their items. Say which, and which committees the COO reports to, for example the audit or risk committee on operational risk. A COO appointed a director owes the general duties that Companies House guidance sets out under the Companies Act 2006, and HSE’s Leading health and safety at work is written for all directors and board members; the brief should say who carries the operating side of it.
Skills, experience and qualifications
No qualification is required by law to be a COO. Ask for experience of the operational problem the company has now and describe it specifically. Acas warns that phrases such as “highly experienced” in a job advert can discriminate on age, so define the experience rather than counting years. Our guide on how to become a COO covers the usual routes in.
- experience running operations at a comparable scale and complexity;
- a record against the specific problem: scaling, integration after an acquisition, a cost programme or a turnaround;
- process and systems design, and change delivered through other people;
- managing budgets, suppliers and contracts;
- hiring and leading heads of function;
- working with a CEO and a board, and reporting operational performance clearly;
- sector knowledge and, where the work needs it, a sector qualification (for example in supply chain, project management or engineering), listed as desirable unless the job requires it.
Fractional COO job description
A fractional COO works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (processes documented, a reporting rhythm in place, a head of operations hired, a system rolled out), what the fractional COO owns and what stays with the CEO, and who runs operations on the days they are not there.
Our page on how to hire a fractional COO sets out how the engagement works. For a COO on a set number of days a week, see hire a part-time COO.
A fractional COO working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Interim and permanent versions
Interim. An interim COO works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (an integration, a system migration, a turnaround or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See our interim COO page.
Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the operating model over several years, the team to be built and, where it applies, succession to the CEO role. When the COO is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For a permanent search, see our COO headhunter page.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a COO brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
A template you can copy
Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.
- Job title: chief operating officer, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
- Reports to: the CEO; list the functions and heads who report to the COO.
- Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the operational result it must deliver.
- Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
- Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
- Terms: full-time or days a week, location, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).
Questions people ask
What should a COO job description include?
The job title and type of engagement, who the COO reports to and which functions report in, the purpose of the role, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Acas suggests giving applicants the job description together with a person specification and information about the organisation.
How long should a COO job description be?
Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. The operating detail belongs in the candidate pack and the interviews.
How is a fractional COO job description different?
It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months, what stays with the CEO, and who runs operations in between. See how to hire a fractional COO.
Why do COO job descriptions vary so much?
Because the CEO sets the scope. A COO may run all operations, a few functions, or act as the CEO’s second-in-command, so the reporting line and the list of functions matter more than the title. See what does a COO do.
What does a COO earn?
It depends on the size of the company, its sector and ownership, and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our COO salary page sets out COO pay and day rates, each figure with its source.
How do I hire a COO?
Define the operational problem, agree the scope with the CEO, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. Our fractional COO page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
