Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Location: Orange County, California (Hybrid)
Work Arrangement: This hybrid role is based in Orange County, California, with an expected on-site presence of approximately three days per week. The long-term schedule will be determined collaboratively by the CEO/Founder and EVP based on business needs.
Position Summary
The Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer will serve as the company's senior operational leader and strategic partner to the CEO/Founder. This newly created role is designed to help scale a successful founder-led business into a more disciplined, operationally mature organization while preserving the entrepreneurial culture that has fueled its growth.
The EVP/COO will build the infrastructure, leadership, and operating systems needed to support continued expansion, improve enterprise performance, and strengthen organizational accountability. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of a rapidly growing business while working alongside an engaged CEO/Founder.
Ideal Background
The ideal candidate has successfully scaled multi-location, labor-intensive service organizations and understands how to introduce process, accountability, and operational discipline without slowing growth or diminishing culture.
Experience in staffing, workforce solutions, field services, facilities management, hospitality, logistics, commercial services, event operations, or other distributed service businesses is highly desirable.
Key Responsibilities
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Partner with the CEO/Founder to execute the company's strategic vision and growth objectives.
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Lead enterprise operations and shared services, including Operations, Finance, Human Resources, IT, and administrative functions.
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Build scalable operating systems, leadership structures, and performance management processes.
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Improve operational consistency through standardized workflows, KPIs, reporting, and workforce planning.
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Drive operational excellence, profitability, and EBITDA improvement through continuous improvement initiatives.
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Champion technology, automation, AI, and data-driven decision making to improve efficiency and scalability.
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Develop leadership talent, strengthen succession planning, and reduce founder dependency.
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Foster cross-functional collaboration while preserving the company's entrepreneurial culture.
Qualifications
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10+ years of executive leadership experience within multi-site, labor-intensive service organizations.
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Demonstrated success scaling organizations through periods of rapid growth and organizational transformation.
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Experience leading multiple business functions, including Operations, Finance, HR, IT, and Administrative Services.
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Strong financial acumen with P&L responsibility and experience improving operational performance.
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Experience implementing KPIs, dashboards, forecasting, and accountability systems.
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Proven ability to lead distributed workforces and build high-performing leadership teams.
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Experience leveraging technology, automation, AI, and workforce management platforms to improve operational effectiveness.
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Comfortable partnering directly with a CEO/Founder in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
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Exceptional executive presence with the ability to influence, build trust, and lead change.
Critical Success Factors
Executive Leadership
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Former President, COO, EVP Operations, General Manager, or comparable executive.
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Experience leading organizations from approximately $40M to $100M+ in revenue.
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Proven partnership with a CEO/Founder during periods of significant growth.
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Experience reducing founder dependency through leadership development and organizational maturity.
Operational Excellence
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Built scalable operating systems and organizational infrastructure.
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Improved profitability through operational discipline, process improvement, and KPI-driven execution.
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Successfully balanced standardization with operational flexibility and customer focus.
Workforce Leadership
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Led large, geographically dispersed workforces.
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Developed strong leadership teams and successfully led organizational change.
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Experience managing complex workforce planning and multi-site operations.
Technology & Commercial Acumen
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Implemented workforce management, ERP, CRM, reporting, or business intelligence platforms.
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Leveraged automation and AI to improve business performance.
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Comfortable partnering with commercial leaders to improve customer retention, service delivery, and profitable growth.
Relevant Industry Experience
Experience in one or more of the following:
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Workforce or Industrial Staffing
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Commercial or Business Services
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Field Services
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Facilities Management
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Hospitality
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Event Operations
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Logistics & Transportation
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Multi-site Service Organizations
