Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO) / Future CEO

Location Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Package

• Compensation: £150,000-£200,000 per year (full-time equivalent, negotiable based on days per week)
• Performance Bonus
• Executive Benefits
• EMI Share Options Available
• Potential Future CEO Pathway

Work Arrangement Full-time, In person

The Opportunity

This is not a traditional COO role. This is an opportunity for a proven executive leader to help scale one of the UK's fastest-growing business education and consulting groups. We are seeking a commercially minded operator who has previously operated at executive level within a £20M+ organisation and has the ambition, capability and leadership credentials to potentially progress into a future CEO role.

The successful candidate will work directly alongside founder and entrepreneur Joseph Valente, taking responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the business whilst helping build the infrastructure, systems, leadership team and governance required for the next phase of growth.

This role is designed for someone who wants to build a company, not simply manage one.

The Mission

Your mission is simple: Build a business that can scale without the founder being involved in every operational decision. You will become the leader of the leadership team and ultimately the person responsible for ensuring the business executes at the highest possible level.

Success in this role means:

• Leadership team fully accountable
• KPIs measured and managed
• Clear operating rhythm throughout the organisation
• World-class customer experience
• Strong financial discipline
• Recruitment and development of exceptional talent
• Operational excellence across all departments
• Founder focused on vision, growth, acquisitions, partnerships and strategic direction

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Accountability

• Lead the Senior Leadership Team
• Hold department heads accountable to targets, KPIs and objectives
• Drive a high-performance culture throughout the organisation
• Ensure company priorities are executed on time and to standard
• Create alignment between all departments
• Build leadership capability across the business

Operational Excellence

• Design and implement scalable operating systems
• Improve efficiency, productivity and accountability
• Build governance, reporting and management frameworks
• Create operational infrastructure capable of supporting significant growth
• Drive continuous improvement across the organisation

Growth & Scaling

• Help scale the business towards £100M+ revenue
• Support future acquisitions and integrations
• Build systems capable of supporting rapid expansion
• Prepare the business for institutional investment and future enterprise value creation

Team Building

• Recruit and develop senior leaders
• Build succession plans across key functions
• Develop managers into high-performing leaders
• Strengthen culture, standards and accountability throughout the business

Financial Performance

• Work closely with the CFO and executive team
• Improve operational profitability
• Increase efficiency and EBITDA
• Drive performance through data, reporting and accountability
• Ensure resources are allocated effectively to support growth

Essential Experience

Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

• Previous COO, CEO, Managing Director or Divisional Director experience
• Executive leadership experience within a business generating a minimum of £20 million annual revenue
• Full P&L responsibility
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance and Customer Success
• Experience managing and developing senior leadership teams
• Proven experience scaling businesses through significant periods of growth
• Strong commercial and financial acumen
• Experience implementing KPI, reporting and accountability frameworks
• Ability to operate as the second-in-command within a founder-led organisation

Highly Desirable

• Experience leading a £50M+ business
• Private Equity-backed business experience
• Experience preparing businesses for investment, acquisition or exit
• Experience within education, consulting, professional services, construction, home improvement or service-based industries
• Acquisition and integration experience
• Experience helping founders transition from operator to visionary leadership roles

Characteristics Required

• High energy
• Exceptional leadership capability
• Commercially minded
• Strong decision-maker
• Results driven
• Highly organised
• Relentless executor
• High standards
• Comfortable with accountability
• Comfortable holding others accountable
• Ambitious and growth-oriented
• Naturally respected by senior leaders

What Success Looks Like

Within 12 Months

• Leadership team operating at a significantly higher level
• KPI management embedded throughout the organisation
• Strong management and accountability structures in place
• Improved operational efficiency and profitability
• Enhanced customer experience and retention
• Founder spending significantly less time in day-to-day operations

Within 3–5 Years

• Potential progression into Group CEO role
• Responsibility for leading a significantly larger organisation
• Participation in substantial enterprise value creation
• Opportunity to help build one of the UK's most influential business growth companies

Important

This role is not suitable for candidates whose largest leadership experience has been within a small business environment. Applicants should have operated at executive level within a business generating a minimum of £20 million annual revenue and be comfortable leading large teams through periods of rapid growth. We are looking for a proven business leader, not simply an operations manager.

Why Join?

Most COO roles involve maintaining a business. This role involves helping build one. You will work directly with a founder who has ambitious plans for growth, expansion and long-term enterprise value creation, whilst being given the autonomy and responsibility to make a genuine impact. If you are an ambitious operator who wants the opportunity to scale a high-growth company, lead an executive team and potentially progress into a CEO position, we would like to hear from you.