Valuable Recruitment
Role

Hire an Operations Manager who gives the founder breathing room

We look for operators who make handoffs clear, keep the team moving, and build systems that survive the next stage of growth.

Initial shortlist in 10 business daysOperational systems and people evidenceFounder-led search

What good looks like

Workflow discipline. They design processes that survive scale and they actually enforce them. No spaghetti, no surprises.

Cross functional coordination. They keep delivery, sales, marketing, and finance in sync without becoming a bottleneck themselves.

Systems thinking. They build the operating rhythm: weekly priorities, reporting, accountability, hiring plan, onboarding.

Calm under pressure. Growing teams break in small ways every week. The right person fixes problems without amplifying them.

Scorecard highlights

  • Workflow design and process discipline
  • Team coordination across functions
  • Platform and systems operations
  • Hiring, onboarding, and performance management
  • Budget, reporting, and accountability rhythms

Operations Manager, Head of Ops, or COO

The title matters less than the scope. We help you decide which level the role really needs.

1

Operations Manager

Owns process, tools, team coordination, and the weekly operating rhythm. Usually the first dedicated ops hire after the founder.

2

Head of Operations

Owns the operating function end-to-end across delivery, hiring, finance ops, and reporting. Builds and manages the ops team underneath.

3

COO

Senior peer to the founder. Owns business outcomes across functions, represents operations externally, and helps run the company.

How we assess Operations Managers

Evidence of operating systems they actually built and sustained in practice.

Workflow evidence

What process did they design? How did the team work before and after? What broke and how did they fix it?

Operating rhythm

How do they run weekly priorities, reporting, 1-1s, and quarterly planning? What does their cadence look like?

People management

How do they hire, onboard, and performance-manage? What does their bar look like and how do they hold it?

Industries we hire Operations Managers for

Agencies, SaaS companies, e-commerce brands, and creator-led businesses.

Marketing and creative agencies
Fast-scaling SaaS companies
E-commerce and DTC brands
Creator-led businesses and content agencies
Operations functions inside scaleups and consultancies

Frequently asked questions

Someone who can hold a growing team together without slowing it down. They design workflows that survive scale, run a clear meeting and reporting cadence, manage hiring and onboarding, and own the operating rhythm so the founder can focus on growth.
Hire an Operations Manager when you need someone to own the day-to-day operating rhythm: process, tools, team coordination, and reporting. Hire a COO when you also need a senior leader who owns business outcomes across functions, sits in on commercial decisions, and represents the operating side of the company externally. The line moves with company size and revenue.
A Chief of Staff works through the founder and owns priorities, communication, and strategic initiatives across the company. An Operations Manager owns the operational machine itself: how work flows, how teams ship, how the agency or business actually runs. They overlap, but the centre of gravity is different.
Agencies, SaaS companies, e-commerce brands, and creator-led businesses. The common thread is a fast-growing team that needs someone to build operational structure underneath the founder.
From senior Operations Manager to Head of Operations and COO. We adjust the scorecard, sourcing pool, and assessment depth to the level of the role.
Most Operations Manager roles reach an initial shortlist in 10 business days from intake. Senior COO searches sometimes take 2 to 3 weeks where the talent pool is narrower.

The title matters less than the bottleneck

Bring the point where work is breaking down. We'll work out whether you need an Operations Manager, a Head of Operations, or a COO, then define what success looks like.

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