Head of operations salary · national, London and employer cost
What a head of operations earns, nationally and in London
A head of operations earns a median advertised salary of £85,000 in IT Jobs Watch’s count of IT-sector job ads over the six months to 23 September 2026. Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts the title at £58,750–£73,500 nationally (25th to 75th percentile) and £80,000–£100,000 in London.
The head of operations salary depends on what the seat runs. The same title covers an office and administration lead, a service-delivery head in a technology business and a multi-site operations lead one step below the COO. When you hire a head of operations through us, permanent, fractional or interim, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
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
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a head of operations
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Head of Operations 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
Head of operations jobs on the board
- FractionalSyndicatedFractional COO / Operations Director
genesis labels & packaging · Leeds
est £750/day2 d/wk - FractionalExclusiveFractional COO
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate not statedLondon - InterimExclusiveInterim Chief Operating Officer
Confidential client (Fractional Quest mandate) · London
Rate not stated5 d/wk
Live operations leadership roles
Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a Head of Operations brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.
01/ the role
What a head of operations does, and what sets the pay
A head of operations runs the part of the business that delivers the product or service: the teams, processes, suppliers and systems that turn the plan into results. The Skills England operations manager standard describes the wider operations family the same way: leadership with operational and project responsibilities, objectives aligned with the organisation’s strategy, and work across HR, finance, IT, sales and suppliers. For the role in full, see what does a head of operations do.
The published figures differ because the title covers different jobs. Robert Half files Head of Operations beside office manager and executive assistant, and its national range is £58,750–£73,500. IT Jobs Watch counts job ads in the IT sector, where the role usually runs service delivery and technical operations, and its median is £85,000. Neither is wrong; they describe different seats under one name.
Scope sets the pay more than the title does. Headcount, the number of sites, whether the role owns a budget or a profit and loss account, and whether it reports to the chief executive or to a COO all move the number. A head of operations who is the most senior operator in the business holds a remit close to an operations director’s.
There is no required qualification. Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute is one recognised mark of management practice; ask about it, but do not price the seat on it. Our head of operations job description lists the experience to ask for.
02/ scope
How to hire a head of operations
1. Scope the seat
Write down what the role runs: service delivery, fulfilment, facilities, suppliers, systems, or some mix. Say how many people and sites, whether there is a budget, and who the role reports to. Our head of operations job description page gives a template.
2. Choose the route
A permanent head of operations suits a business that needs the seat filled every day. If you need senior operational leadership for part of the week, look at fractional operations director jobs and how to hire one. If the gap is a vacancy or a turnaround with an end date, see interim operations director jobs. To see what is open now, browse head of operations jobs.
3. Set the base and the variable part together
The CIPD’s introduction to reward separates guaranteed base pay from variable pay, which is not guaranteed. For a head of operations, tie any bonus to what the role controls, such as delivery on time, service levels or cost, and write the measures and payment dates into the offer.
What we do on a head of operations brief
We recruit permanent, fractional, interim, part-time and temporary operations leaders, and non-executive directors. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
03/ rates by stage
Head of operations salary national and London
Advertised salaries from IT Jobs Watch (IT-sector job ads, base pay only) and Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide (projected starting salaries, a recruiter’s figures). Each figure is quoted as its source publishes it.
04/ economics
Salary or day rate: what the seat costs you
A salary is not the whole cost of an employee. For 2026 to 2027, employer’s National Insurance is 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year (HMRC rates and thresholds). Under automatic enrolment, the employer must pay at least 3% into a workplace pension on qualifying earnings, and those earnings include bonuses (GOV.UK). Many schemes pay more.
A bonus is pay too. HMRC treats a cash bonus as earnings, with PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance deducted through payroll, so budget employer’s National Insurance on the bonus as well as the base.
A day rate does not compare one for one with a salary: a contractor funds their own pension, holidays and gaps between assignments. Tax status is set by how the engagement runs in practice. Under the off-payroll working rules (IR35), a medium or large client makes the status determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
05/ vetting
How we vet heads of operations
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Head of Operations 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/ head of operations salary London
Head of operations salary in London: what the capital pays
Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts the head of operations salary in London at £80,000 at the 25th percentile, £90,000 at the 50th and £100,000 at the 75th (Robert Half, London). Its national range for the same title is £58,750–£73,500 (Robert Half, national), so London sits well above the rest of the country in its figures.
IT Jobs Watch’s job-ad counts do not show the same London premium for this title: its median outside London is £85,000, the same as its national median. The two sources measure different things, a recruiter’s projected starting salaries and the salaries quoted in IT job ads, so read each on its own terms.
In London, budget for the package as well as the base, and say in the brief whether the role is office-based, hybrid or spread across sites. For the open roles, see head of operations jobs.
07/ head of operations vs operations director
Head of operations or operations director: which seat you are paying for
An operations director usually owns operations across the business, several sites or functions, and reports to the chief executive or managing director. A head of operations often runs one area or the operating teams day to day and reports to the operations director, the COO or the managing director. In a smaller business one person does both, and the pay follows the larger remit.
If the seat you are filling owns the whole operation and sits on the leadership team, price it as a director: see operations director salary, and for open roles operations director jobs. The operations director job description shows how the brief differs.
Above the director sits the chief operating officer. For that seat’s pay, see chief operating officer salary.
08/ questions
Head of operations salary FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a head of operations.
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.
