COO recruitment · COO recruiters · chief operating officer recruitment agencies

COO Recruitment · how it works

COO recruitment is the work of finding, testing and appointing a chief operating officer.

It has four parts: a brief built around the operating problem, a search that reaches people in post as well as people looking, an assessment on your own operations, and checks before the offer.

Good recruiters run all four; weak ones forward CVs.

We are a recruiter for fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Brief us on a COO search →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

In the press

Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Useful before you brief a recruiter on the part-week route. Business leaders set out when a fractional C-suite hire makes sense and when the seat needs someone full-time.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£137,834

COO median salary · full-time, 2026

Glassdoor, via Exec Capital

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a COO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with COO candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

COO roles jobs on the board

3 on the board · 2 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Current operations leadership roles

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a COO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

COO recruitment: how it works, route by route

A recruiter either introduces candidates you then employ, or supplies people who work for you on contract.

GOV.UK’s guide to the Conduct Regulations calls the first an employment agency and the second an employment business, and says the Employment Agencies Act covers executive search consultants too.

For a permanent COO the recruiter introduces; for an interim or fractional one it may introduce or supply.

What the seat asks of a candidate

The Institute of Directors’ factsheet on the role puts the main purpose as directing and controlling all operations in line with the strategy and plans the chief executive and board agree.

It lists operational budgets, policies and procedures, the structure of the organisation and management succession, and asks for extensive experience in operations management.

A recruiter should test candidates against that work, and against the part of it that is broken in your business.

A title on a CV says little; what the person owned, and what changed while they owned it, says a lot.

Where searches go wrong

Most COO recruiting that fails, fails early.

The brief lists qualities rather than problems, the search reaches only people already on the market, and the shortlist is chosen on titles.

Then the checks happen after the offer, when they are hardest to act on.

Fix the brief before anything else.

A COO job description written around three or four operating outcomes gives every recruiter, and every candidate, the same test.

02/ scope

What good COO recruiters do

1. They take a full brief

The law sets a floor.

Under Regulation 18 of the Conduct Regulations (GOV.UK), an agency must not introduce a candidate until it has enough from you to choose a suitable one: who you are, what the business does, the start date, how long the work lasts, the position, the duties, location, hours, and any experience or qualifications you need.

For a permanent seat it also needs the minimum pay, benefits and notice period.

A good COO recruiter goes further: what the COO inherits, what stays with the chief executive, and what should be measurably different in a year.

2. They search beyond the market

Many strong operators are in post and not reading adverts.

COO executive recruitment means approaching them directly, with a reason to talk.

When the seat is permanent and the search is confidential, a COO headhunter does that work end to end.

3. They assess on the work

Every candidate gets the same task: walk through a process from your business that is failing, say what they would measure first, and set out the first ninety days.

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one, and discrimination and data protection law apply throughout.

4. They check before you see the shortlist

Past directorships and the disqualified directors list sit on the Companies House register.

Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute is one signal of standing; references from a chief executive and a direct report tell you more.

For an employed hire, you must check the right to work before the start date.

How we run a brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ the board

What the board holds.

A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.

On this board, last 90 days · 3 roles · COO roles

Engagement

Fractional2
Interim1

Days a week

Stated in the posting2
Not stated1

Day rate

Verified rate0
Estimated (est)1
Rate not stated2

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote0
Hybrid0
On-site1
Not classified2

Newest posting on the board: 29 Sept 2026.

04/ comparison

Agency, search or direct: three ways to fill the seat

How the candidates are found decides who you meet. Choose by how visible the search can be and how many good people are already looking.

Recruitment agencyExecutive searchYour own search

How candidates are foundIts own register, adverts and direct approachesDirect approaches to named people, most of them in postYour advert, your board and your contacts

SuitsPermanent, interim, fractional or part-time seats with a clear briefA confidential or hard-to-fill permanent seatA business with a strong pool of operators it already knows

What to checkWho runs the brief, how candidates are assessed, the terms in writingWho makes the approaches, and the terms in writingA fair, documented process; your own reference and directorship checks

Regulated byEmployment Agencies Act and Conduct RegulationsThe same Act and RegulationsEmployment, discrimination and data protection law

05/ vetting

How we vet COOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify COO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

06/ coo recruitment agencies

COO recruitment agencies: how to judge one

COO recruitment agencies differ less in what they say than in what they do.

We do not publish a ranking of agencies.

Judge any of them, us included, on five questions: who runs the brief day to day; how candidates are found; how they are assessed; which checks the agency makes itself; and what you will pay, in writing, before the search starts.

The law gives you a baseline.

GOV.UK’s Conduct Regulations guide says agencies may not charge candidates for finding them work, and that the Act does not regulate what they charge you, the hirer: that is a commercial agreement between you.

Since April 2026 the Fair Work Agency has been the state regulator for agencies in England, Scotland and Wales.

Discrimination is still yours to answer for.

GOV.UK warns employers that they might be breaking the law if discrimination happens during recruitment, even when an agency runs it.

Candidate data is regulated too: the ICO’s recruitment and selection guidance is written for employers and for recruitment agencies, head-hunters and consultancies alike, so ask how candidates’ details are held and when they are deleted.

The same questions apply to chief operating officer recruitment agencies that call themselves specialists, and to COO executive recruiters who work alone.

Chief operating officer executive search firms sit under the same Act; for how a search runs, see COO executive search.

07/ chief operating officer recruitment

Chief operating officer recruitment for permanent, fractional and interim seats

Chief operating officer recruitment for a permanent seat ends in an employment contract.

Glassdoor puts the full-time median salary at £137,834, and £153,346 in London, as Exec Capital’s 2026 COO salary guide reports.

A chief operating officer recruiter should set out the pay band before the first approach, not after the final interview.

For a fractional COO (agreed days a week) or an interim COO (full-time for a fixed term), the candidate often works through their own company and the recruiter may supply them rather than introduce them.

See fractional COO cost for the day-rate arithmetic, or hire a fractional COO directly.

A part-time COO on one or two fixed days is often on payroll.

When the person works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

Status turns on how the engagement runs, contract by contract; a medium or large client makes the determination, and for a small client outside the public sector the worker’s company decides.

Chief operating officer recruiters should set out each candidate’s position.

Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

08/ questions

COO recruitment FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a COO.

COO recruitment is finding, assessing and appointing a chief operating officer: a brief built around the operating problem, a search that reaches people in post, a test on your own operations, and checks on directorships, references and right to work before the offer.

Write the brief around what has to run differently in a year, choose the route (permanent, fractional, part-time or interim), then search, assess every candidate on the same operating task, and check before the offer. For the decision and each step, see how to hire a COO.

Glassdoor puts the full-time COO median salary at £137,834, and £153,346 in London, as Exec Capital’s 2026 guide reports. Fractional and interim COOs are paid a day rate instead. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

COO recruiters take the brief, find candidates (including people in post who are not looking), assess them against the work, check directorships and references, and bring you a shortlist. A COO recruiter who only forwards CVs from a register is doing a fraction of that.

Ask who runs the brief, how candidates are found and assessed, which checks the agency makes itself, and what you will pay, in writing, before the search starts. The Act does not regulate what agencies charge hirers (GOV.UK), so the terms are yours to agree.

Yes. A permanent COO is introduced and employed. An interim or fractional COO often works through their own company and may be supplied by the recruiter, so IR35 status, day rate and availability matter as much as salary does for a permanent hire.

A recruiter may advertise, use a register and approach people directly. A headhunter works mainly by direct approach, usually on a confidential permanent seat. The same Act and Regulations cover both. For how a permanent search runs, see COO headhunter.

Usually, yes, if the recruiter’s terms allow it. Agree in writing what happens when a candidate reaches you through both routes, and run one fair process for everyone, whichever way they applied.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief