The market for senior operations leaders is tight in most U.S. regions. Good ones are scarce. Employers compete for people who have run five, ten, or forty locations across state lines and know state-specific labor, licensing, and environmental rules. Manufacturing, healthcare, distribution, and field service companies all pull from the same pool. A COO who has carried a multi-site P&L and handled an acquisition integration is hard to find, because that combination takes years to build and shows up only after someone has held real authority.
Most hiring mistakes in this function come from over-weighting title and under-checking operating grip. A candidate may have 'COO' on a business card but no record of closing redundant sites, standardizing schedules, or moving staff onto a buyer's payroll after a deal. Another common miss is hiring a single-site operations manager into a multi-site director seat. The new hire looks good for ninety days, then struggles with travel, dotted-line staff, and state-by-state compliance. Talent Strand screens for the specific pattern you need: P&L scope, span of control, acquisition work, and the ability to hold managers accountable across time zones.
Titles we recruit
- Chief Operating Officer
- Operations Director
- Vice President of Operations
- Senior Director of Operations
- Director of Business Operations
- Regional Operations Director
- Director of Operations
- Head of Operations
How candidates are assessed
We verify three things before we send you a shortlist. Names matter less than numbers. First, we confirm the candidate's actual span of control: how many sites, how many direct reports, and what P&L size they carried. Second, we ask for specific examples of post-acquisition work: which systems they consolidated, which roles they eliminated or reassigned, and how they kept customer service stable during the cutover. Third, we check references against the candidate's own story. We talk to former board members, direct reports, and private equity operating partners. A strong operations leader gives clean numbers and specific names in the reference stage.
Where we recruit for these roles
Northeast, Midwest, South, West, and every state in between. Popular cities include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin.