Chief Operating Officer

We are working with a private equity backed group that is midway through an ambitious buy-and-build, with a growing portfolio of businesses across several sectors. They are bringing in a Chief Operating Officer to take a firm grip of operations across the group as it scales. This is a hands-on operator's role, not a strategy seat. Some of the businesses are performing well and others have more in them than they are currently delivering. Your job is to bring rigour, pace and accountability to how they are run, find where value is being left on the table, and get in and fix it rather than manage around it. Key Responsibilities • Own operational performance across the portfolio, with clear KPIs, a proper reporting rhythm and regular operational reviews. • Step into the businesses that are underperforming and turn them around. • Drive value creation through cost, process and systems, and lead the operational integration of new acquisitions. • Support and challenge the management teams within each business. • Work closely with the investors and CFO on planning, capital allocation and the business cases that matter. The Successful Candidate A genuine operator who has run multi-site or multi-business operations, moves easily between different business models, and thrives in a fast-moving, acquisitive environment. Steady and reliable, but with the drive to spot a problem and fix it rather than wait to be asked. • A track record running multi-site or multi-business operations, not a pure strategist or adviser. • Comfortable in a private equity or investor-backed, high-growth setting. • Financially literate and used to working hand in glove with a CFO and investors. • A portfolio operations director, group operations director or operating partner background would suit. This is a build-and-fix role for someone who wants ownership across a broad, growing group.