How to hire a COO · permanent, fractional or interim · hire a chief operations officer

Hire a COO · permanent, fractional or interim

To hire a COO, first write down what has to run differently in a year: delivery on time, margins that hold as you grow, a founder freed from the day-to-day.

Then choose the route (permanent, fractional or interim), search beyond the people already looking, and test each candidate on a real operating problem from your business.

We recruit 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 hire →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 choose 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

£800–£1,400

Fractional COO day rate · published band, 2026

Connectd, 2026

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

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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 recruitment works differently from a permanent search — shorter, scoped by days a week, and priced on the engagement. Send a COO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.

01/ the role

Hire a COO: what the seat owns before you write the brief

A COO runs how the business works day to day, so the chief executive can run where it is going.

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

In practice that means operational budgets, the policies and processes the business runs on, the structure of the teams, and who succeeds whom.

Decide which of those is broken now.

Duties that come with a board seat

If the COO is appointed a director, the seven general duties of a company director under the Companies Act 2006 come with the seat.

Companies House notes they also apply to someone who acts as a director without being formally appointed.

Operations often carries health and safety for the board as well.

The HSE’s Leading health and safety at work sets out what it expects of directors in organisations of every size, so say in the brief whether that sits with the COO.

Which seat is the gap

An operations director usually runs operations below board level; a COO owns the whole operating model and sits beside the chief executive.

If the gap is a function rather than the model, the smaller seat may fit better.

02/ scope

How to hire a COO: the steps

1. Write the brief around the operating problem

Set out what the COO will own, what they inherit (teams, suppliers, systems, open projects) and what stays with the chief executive.

Then say what should be measurably different after twelve months.

Turn that into a COO job description before anyone is approached.

2. Choose the route

Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim: the section below sets out which fits which situation.

Decide this before the budget, because each route is paid on a different basis.

3. Search, then test on your own operations

An advert that says "hire COO" mostly reaches people already on the move.

Many strong operators are in post and need to be approached; a COO headhunter does that for a permanent seat.

Give every candidate the same task: walk through one process that is failing, say what they would measure first, and set out the first ninety days.

Score the answers against criteria agreed in advance, with a panel rather than one interviewer.

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

4. Check standing, directorships and right to work

There is no single licence for operations leaders.

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.

Search past directorships and disqualified directors on the Companies House register before the offer.

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

What we do on every 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/ comparison

Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim?

Four ways to fill the operations seat. Choose by how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

PermanentFractionalPart-timeInterim

TimeFull-time, open-endedAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsA fixed part of the week, often employedFull-time, for a fixed term

SuitsA business whose operations need an owner every dayA growing business that needs senior operating judgement, not five days of itA steady, smaller operation with a capable teamA vacancy, a turnaround, an integration or a sale

Published cost£137,834 median salary (Glassdoor, via Exec Capital), plus employer NI and benefits£800–£1,400 a day (Connectd, 2026)Pro rata salary, or a day rate; set out on each shortlist£800–£2,000 a day (Exec Capital, 2026)

IR35On payrollDecided by how the engagement runsOn payroll if employed; otherwise decided by how it runsDecided by how the engagement runs

04/ 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

05/ permanent, fractional or interim COO

Permanent, fractional or interim COO: which route

Permanent, fractional or interim COO is the first decision, and it turns on two questions: how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

A COO for hire on a day rate suits a defined job; a permanent COO suits a seat that needs an owner for years.

A permanent COO is paid a salary: Glassdoor’s full-time median is £137,834, and £153,346 in London, as Exec Capital’s 2026 COO salary guide reports.

Employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27), before pension and benefits.

A fractional COO works agreed days a week; Connectd, a fractional marketplace, publishes £800–£1,400 a day, with the mid-market at £900–£1,050.

To go that way, hire a fractional COO, and see fractional COO cost for the monthly arithmetic.

An interim COO works full-time for a fixed term; Exec Capital publishes £800–£2,000 a day.

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

A search for "best COO for hire" returns firms, not answers: the best fit is the person who has fixed your kind of problem at your stage.

If the COO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply; status depends on how the engagement runs, and a medium or large client makes the determination.

Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

06/ hire a chief operations officer

Hire a chief operations officer or a chief operating officer?

To hire a chief operations officer is, in nearly every business, to hire a chief operating officer: one seat, two names, the same three letters.

Chief operating officer is the more common formal title, and the one the Institute of Directors uses.

Some businesses use chief operations officer for a narrower seat that runs operations (delivery, supply, service) without the wider brief on strategy and structure.

So read the scope in the brief, not the words in the title.

People who search "hire chief operations officer" are after the same shortlist as anyone else.

Candidates use both titles on their CVs, so search under both and under operations director, then compare what each person actually owned.

07/ questions

Hire a COO FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a COO.

Write the brief first (what the COO will own, what they inherit, what should change in the first year), then choose permanent, fractional, part-time or interim. Test every candidate on a real operating problem from your business, check directorships and references yourself, and confirm the right to work before an employed start.

Glassdoor puts the full-time COO median at £137,834, and £153,346 in London, as Exec Capital’s 2026 guide reports; employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). Connectd publishes £800–£1,400 a day for a fractional COO and Exec Capital £800–£2,000 a day for an interim one. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Four: write the brief around the operating problem, choose the route, search and test candidates on your own operations, then check standing, directorships, references and right to work before the offer. The brief is the step most often rushed, and the one that decides whether the hire works.

Permanent when operations need an owner every day; interim when the seat is empty or a turnaround, integration or sale needs a full-time leader for a fixed term. Fractional when you need senior operating judgement for agreed days a week: hire a fractional COO.

Usually, yes: both are the COO. Chief operating officer is the more common formal title; some businesses use chief operations officer for a seat that runs operations without the wider strategy brief. Compare the scope, not the title, and search under both.

An operations director usually runs operations below board level. A COO owns the whole operating model, sits beside the chief executive and, in most companies, on the board. In a smaller business one person may hold both, so compare the scope rather than the title.

Search their past directorships and the disqualified directors list on the Companies House register, take references yourself from a chief executive and a direct report, and for an employed hire check the right to work. Professional standing such as CMI Chartered Manager status is a signal, not a requirement.

It can, if the COO works through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

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