Chief Operating Officer { COO }

The COO, or Chief Operating Officer, ranks just below the CEO in the C-suite. The role covers overseeing business operations and the day-to-day administrative work: marketing and sales, HR, R&D, production, and whatever else keeps things running.

COOs report directly to the CEO, and there are generally seven recognized types, each suited to different company situations. Whoever holds the role needs solid analytical, managerial, communication, and leadership skills, since a big part of the job is taking the vision the CEO and board set and turning it into an actual workable plan.

At their core, COOs are operations people, which means they’re expected to solve problems as they come up. Their responsibilities typically include:

• Hiring strong talent and setting employees up to succeed
• Making sure every department is working toward the same long-term goals
• Improving operating procedures and using technology to run things more efficiently
• Rolling out new strategies to hit both short- and long-term goals
• Keeping employee goals aligned with the company’s broader goals