Operations director salary · base, bonus and day rates

What an operations director earns, in base, bonus and day rates

An operations director earns a median advertised salary of £100,000 in ITJobsWatch’s count of permanent job ads over the six months to 25 September 2026, from 21 quoted salaries. Exec Capital’s 2026 director salary guide puts operations director base pay at £65,000–£120,000 in SMEs, £110,000–£190,000 in the mid-market and £160,000–£280,000 at larger businesses.

The operations director salary follows the size and complexity of the operation: sites, people, suppliers and how much of the company’s cost the role controls. When you hire an operations director through us, permanent, fractional, part-time or interim, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on an operations director 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
Leaders disagree on when a fractional hire makes sense. Read it before you decide whether your operations need an owner every day or a senior lead for a defined programme.

£100,000

Operations director salary · median advertised, 21 salaries

ITJobsWatch, 2026

£110,000–£190,000

Mid-market base · bonus of 20–35% of base at PE-backed businesses

Exec Capital, 2026

£800–£1,400

Interim, mid-market · a day, £20m–£75m revenue

Exec Capital, 2026

3–5

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

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire an operations director

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Operations Director 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

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On the board · last 3 months

Operations director jobs on the board

3 on the board · 2 confirmed open

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Live operations leadership roles

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

01/ the role

What an operations director does, and what sets the pay

The Institute of Directors describes the operations director as the person who oversees all operational aspects of company strategy, helps set strategic goals and is responsible for the flow of operations information to the chief executive and the board. In practice that means production or service delivery, the supply chain, purchasing, logistics, health and safety, and the budgets that run them.

The title covers different jobs in different sectors. Exec Capital’s guide makes the point: an operations director in manufacturing runs supply chain, production, quality and logistics; in professional services, delivery and resourcing; in financial services, onboarding, settlements and operational risk. That is why its ranges are wide, and why it reports a premium of 15–25% for candidates who have led a major transformation, such as an ERP roll-out or a supply chain restructure.

Size sets the rest. The number of sites and people, the share of the company’s cost the role controls, and whether the role sits on the board all move the salary more than the title does. For the role in full, see what is an operations director.

Operations leaders have professional bodies too: CMI awards Chartered Manager status, and CIPS runs procurement and supply qualifications up to chartered membership. Both are useful signals. Neither is required for the role.

02/ scope

How to hire an operations director

1. Scope the seat

Write down what the role owns: sites, functions, headcount, suppliers and budget, and whether it reports to the managing director, the chief executive or a COO. Our operations director job description gives a template you can copy.

2. Choose the route

A permanent operations director suits a business whose operations need a senior owner every day. If you need senior operations leadership for part of the week, see fractional operations director jobs. If the need is a turnaround, an integration or cover through a vacancy, see interim operations director jobs. If the remit spans the whole operating model at executive level, it is a COO hire: see the chief operating officer salary page for that seat’s pay.

3. Set base and bonus together

The CIPD’s introduction to reward separates guaranteed base pay from variable pay, which is not guaranteed. For an operations director, tie any bonus to what the role controls, such as cost, service levels or output, and write the measures into the offer.

4. Assess against the work

Ask what they changed and what it saved or fixed, and check it with references from people who worked for them as well as above them. A useful task is a real one: a review of one site’s costs or service levels, and a plan for the first quarter.

What we do on an operations director 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

Operations director salary base, head of operations pay and day rates

Advertised salaries from ITJobsWatch (permanent job ads it tracks, base pay only), base ranges and interim day rates published by Exec Capital, and Robert Half’s 2026 head of operations percentiles. Exec Capital and Robert Half are recruiters; their figures are their own. Each figure is quoted as its source publishes it.

RolePayBasisSource

Operations Director£100,000Median advertised salary, 21 salaries from 31 permanent ads, six months to 25 Sep 2026ITJobsWatch, 2026

Operations Director, 25th percentile£82,500Advertised salary, same adsITJobsWatch, 2026

Operations Director base, SME£65,000–£120,000Typical base at SME businessesExec Capital, 2026

Operations Director base, mid-market£110,000–£190,000Bonus potential of 20–35% of base at PE-backed businessesExec Capital, 2026

Operations Director base, larger businesses£160,000–£280,000Significant operational scale: logistics, distribution, financial services processingExec Capital, 2026

Head of Operations£58,750 · £66,250 · £73,50025th · 50th · 75th percentile salary, nationalRobert Half, 2026

Interim Operations Director, SME£500–£900 a dayBusinesses up to £20m revenueExec Capital, 2026

Interim Operations Director, mid-market£800–£1,400 a day£20m–£75m revenueExec Capital, 2026

Interim Operations Director, PE-backed or complex£1,000–£1,800 a dayPE-backed or complex operational environmentExec Capital, 2026

Interim Operations Director, turnaround£1,000–£1,600 a dayTurnaround or crisis mandateExec Capital, 2026

04/ economics

Salary or day rate: what the seat costs you

A salary is not the whole cost of an employee. An employer also pays employer’s National Insurance on salary and bonus, and must enrol eligible staff in a workplace pension and contribute. At PE-backed businesses, Exec Capital reports bonus potential of 20–35% of base on top of the mid-market range, so budget for the variable part as well.

A day rate does not compare one for one with a salary: a contractor funds their own pension, holidays and the 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 operations directors

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify Operations Director 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/ interim operations director day rate

Interim operations director day rate: what full-time cover costs

Exec Capital publishes an interim operations director day rate of £500–£900 at SMEs up to £20m revenue, £800–£1,400 in the mid-market (£20m–£75m), £1,000–£1,800 at PE-backed or complex operations and £1,000–£1,600 for a turnaround or crisis. These are a recruiter’s published ranges, not survey results.

Interim cover suits a gap between permanent hires, a turnaround, a new site or an integration after an acquisition, with an end date or event agreed at the start. For the roles and how the engagement works, see interim operations director jobs.

If the work is a few days a week rather than full-time, the arrangement is fractional, and the day rate is agreed for those days. See fractional operations director jobs. We set out the day rate for every candidate on the shortlist.

07/ one level down

Operations director vs head of operations: what the pay gap reflects

On Robert Half’s 2026 figures, a head of operations is paid £58,750 at the 25th percentile, £66,250 at the median and £73,500 at the 75th. That is well below the operations director figures on this page, because a head of operations usually runs the operating teams day to day and reports to an operations director, a COO or the managing director.

In a smaller company the two titles can describe the same job. Compare what the role owns, not the label: a head of operations with several sites, the supply chain and a budget is closer to a director, and paid accordingly.

For that seat in full, see head of operations salary and what does a head of operations do; for open roles, see head of operations jobs.

08/ questions

Operations director salary FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an operations director.

ITJobsWatch puts the median advertised operations director salary at £100,000 for the six months to 25 September 2026, from 21 quoted salaries (ITJobsWatch). Exec Capital’s 2026 guide puts mid-market base pay at £110,000–£190,000.

Scope the seat first: sites, functions, headcount, suppliers, budget and the reporting line. Choose the route: permanent, fractional, part-time or interim. Set base and bonus together, check what candidates changed with references, and test them on a real operating problem. See operations director jobs.

Start with base pay: Exec Capital puts it at £65,000–£120,000 in SMEs and £110,000–£190,000 in the mid-market. Add employer’s National Insurance, pension and any bonus. For interim cover, Exec Capital publishes £800–£1,400 a day in the mid-market. We set out pay or day rate for every candidate on the shortlist.

Exec Capital publishes £500–£900 a day at SMEs, £800–£1,400 in the mid-market, £1,000–£1,800 at PE-backed or complex operations and £1,000–£1,600 for a turnaround. See interim operations director jobs.

Usually. Robert Half’s 2026 figures put the head of operations median at £66,250, below the operations director figures on this page. See head of operations salary.

Usually. A COO leads the whole operating model at executive level and is paid accordingly. See the chief operating officer salary page for that seat’s pay, each figure with its source.

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

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