OPERATIONS
Operations Recruitment for Growth & Investment-Backed Businesses
OPERATIONS ROLES WE RECRUIT
From first operations hires to C-suite execution leaders
As a founder-led business grows, one person can become the bottleneck simply by being needed everywhere. The right operations hire isn't about adding layers - it's about finding where extra leadership creates real leverage.
COO Recruitment
A COO can be a transformational appointment, but the role means very different things in different businesses: from an operational leader building processes and teams around rapid growth, to a strategic partner to the CEO who coordinates functions and drives execution. In founder-led companies, a COO appointment can mark an important transition as responsibilities once held by the founder start to be shared.
We focus on understanding what the COO is actually expected to achieve, rather than assuming candidates with the same title have performed comparable roles.
Operational infrastructure
Strategy into execution
Board and investor environments
M&A and integration
Chief of Staff Recruitment
A strong Chief of Staff increases the effectiveness of a founder, CEO or executive team, bringing coordination, focus and follow-through to strategic priorities, from board preparation to investor activity to ensuring decisions actually get turned into action.
The breadth of the role makes recruitment particularly nuanced. One business needs an analytically strong strategic operator; another needs someone highly commercial and execution-focused; another needs an experienced leader who can act as an extension of the CEO. We recruit for the specific version of the role your business actually needs.
Head of Operations and Operations Director Recruitment
Not every growing business needs a COO.
An Operations Director or Head of Operations takes ownership of operational performance while staying close to the detail, particularly valuable as businesses formalise processes, introduce new systems or expand into new markets.
We recruit leaders who bring structure and consistency while staying comfortable in businesses where priorities keep evolving.
Business Operations and Strategic Operations Recruitment
As organisations become more complex, business operations teams provide the analytical and execution capability leadership needs across multiple functions, sitting at the intersection of strategy, operations and commercial decision-making to identify priorities and deliver cross-functional initiatives.
Business Operations
Strategic Operations
Programme Leadership
Transformation
Operational Strategy
Business Planning
WHO WE WORK WITH
Operations recruitment across different business environments
Finding operations leaders who aren't actively looking
Job titles in operations are particularly inconsistent. Two COOs can have very different responsibilities, while the person a client needs may currently be called an Operations Director, Chief of Staff, VP Operations or something else entirely.
That makes research and direct headhunting particularly valuable. We map the market by experience and capability rather than job title alone, identifying people whose backgrounds genuinely match the requirement, including those who may never appear in an advertised search
Understanding the person behind the CV
Operational leadership is highly dependent on context. A COO who has successfully run a mature 1,000-person organisation isn't necessarily the right person to build structure around a 70-person founder-led business, just as someone who thrives early-stage may not suit the governance and complexity of a listed company. Successful operational leaders also need to challenge and create accountability while keeping the founder's trust.
We look beyond job titles and functional experience to leadership style, judgement, adaptability and the environments in which candidates have previously succeeded. The objective isn't simply finding someone who can run operations. It's finding someone capable of making this particular organisation work better.
Executive search
Contingent recruitment
Latest Research & Insights
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Growth & VC
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Research, Insight & Interviews
COO Recruitment for Growth Companies: What Type of COO Do You Actually Need?
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Why Executive Compensation Becomes One of the Most Important Board Decisions in a Growth Company
Growth & VC
Why Fram Professionals
Fram Professionals specialises in recruitment for VC-backed, AIM-listed, PISCES and founder-led growth businesses. Our sister company, Fram Search, has worked across UK financial services and investment markets for more than sixteen years — giving us access to an established network across investment and venture capital, alongside our own relationships with growth businesses and senior professionals.
Our approach is deliberately headhunting-led. Rather than limiting a search to candidates actively applying for roles, we identify and directly approach people whose experience fits the particular circumstances of the business.
3×
100%
Retained search completion rate
16+
Contact us
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t: 01525 864 372
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