Chief Operating Officer

We're hiring a hands-on, operationally strong VP of Operations or Senior Operations Lead who is looking to step up into a COO-level title. We're looking for someone who thrives on driving execution, who can embed structure, ensure accountability across teams, and manage our internal operating system (OKRs, KPIs, and projects) with rigour and pace. You'll work closely with the CEO and leadership team to make sure we’re delivering against our strategy but your strength will be in owning the how , not defining the what .

The Role

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will work closely with Anthony, the CEO, to oversee company operations, delivery, metrics, and special projects. The COO will be instrumental in managing the execution of the company's strategic objectives, defining the operational framework, overseeing key metrics, facilitating strategic processes, and leading special projects. This role requires collaboration with executive teams and direct management of key personnel to foster a culture of rapid delivery and achieve the company’s financial goals.

Relationship with the CEO
The COO and CEO will form a critical partnership. The COO will assume responsibility for the company’s operating system, delivery, metrics, and special projects, allowing the CEO to focus on company vision, strategy, product vision, external representation, and market positioning.

Relationship with Executive and Leadership Teams
As a member of the Executive Team (comprising the CEO, COO, CCO, CTO, and fractional CFO), the COO will ensure that Executive Team members fulfill their roles concerning OKR delivery. The COO will contribute insights into the company’s achievement of key metrics, budget tracking, and operational matters, coordinating and ensuring the execution of responsibilities assigned to the executive team.

The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) includes the heads of Business Development, Existing Customer, People, Marketing, Legal, Product, and the Executive Team. The COO will ensure the SLT delivers actions aligned with the company strategy, fostering effective and harmonious working relationships. The COO will provide insights into team culture and performance to the CEO and, in collaboration with the CEO, establish effective meeting cadences and working methods for these groups.

Building strong relationships with all Executive and SLT members is crucial for the COO’s success. The COO must balance ensuring team members deliver on their responsibilities while being a trusted and approachable point of contact.

Direct Reports
The following individuals will report to the COO:
- Legal Counsel: Responsible for legal and compliance risk and customer contracting.
- Revenue Operations Manager: Responsible for implementing software systems, reporting for business teams, and preparing company KPIs.

Operating System and Culture
The COO will ensure the company operates with a highly effective system that delivers on its strategy to meet or exceed its financial model projections of £10 million ARR by FY2027. The COO will manage the systems, cadences, and processes that drive company delivery, primarily through OKRs and KPIs, while having the flexibility to implement other appropriate systems.

The COO will play a pivotal role in promoting a ‘startup’ culture of rapid delivery, emphasizing quick execution, iteration, dropping unsuccessful initiatives, and scaling successful ones. The COO will embody and promote the value of ‘deliver fast,’ which includes a bias towards action, taking ownership, and ensuring external impact.

Delivery:
The COO will ensure effective delivery across the organization, aligning actions with company strategy and driving accountability.

• O/S Ownership: The COO will manage the company operating system (we currently use OKRs). They will facilitate a balanced approach that aligns top-down with the CEO and company strategy, while incorporating bottom-up input from teams.
• Delivery Management: The COO will collaborate with the Executive and Senior Leadership Teams to drive project management and maintain accountability for Key Results (KRs). They will regularly review progress, identify bottlenecks, and implement solutions to ensure OKRs are achieved.
• Strategic Alignment: The COO will ensure all actions and projects support the company's overarching strategy and maintain team focus on activities impacting this strategy.
• Cross-functional Coordination: Managing dependencies and cross-team elements is a key responsibility. The COO will facilitate communication and collaboration between departments to ensure smooth execution of interdependent projects.
• Project Ownership: The COO will either directly manage projects or ensure they are effectively managed by appropriate team members, providing oversight and support, and stepping in when necessary to maintain momentum and drive delivery.

Facilitating Strategy
As the owner of the company operating system, the COO will ensure adherence to an annual (or other cadence) strategy and budgeting process, including a board strategy day and management offsite.

Relationship with Finance
The COO will maintain a key working relationship with the fractional CFO and any future full-time CFO. The CFO will handle the annual budgeting processes, production of management accounts, cash flow analysis, cap table maintenance, investor reporting, banking, and key financial metrics. The COO will collaborate with the CFO and assist with operational finance matters as required.

Metrics and Analysis
The COO will be responsible for owning, preparing, and analyzing metrics across the organization, ensuring alignment with key metrics required to meet the company strategy.

• Ownership of Company Metrics: The COO will take full ownership of metrics across the organization, including financial and SaaS metrics, to ensure the company meets its financial projections. Metrics will be embedded into the company's operating system, with team members understanding their role in impacting these metrics.
• Tracking Strategy Impact: The COO will define a set of metrics reflecting the achievement of the company’s strategy, refining these over time as the strategy evolves.
• Preparation and Reporting: Directing the Revenue Operations Manager, the COO will prepare and report comprehensive metrics for all key business areas, including sales pipeline metrics and the company’s KPI deck.
• Analysis and Insights: The COO will analyze metrics, including key SaaS metrics, to derive actionable insights and identify opportunities and risks for the business.
  
  

Requirements

What We Need from You

• Proven experience in an operational leadership role within a SaaS startup or scale-up.
• Strong background in operational management and delivering against strategic goals.
• Excellent ability to scale operations efficiently, creating systems and processes that support rapid growth.
• Outstanding leadership skills with a track record of building and managing high-performing teams.
• Strong cross-functional coordination and communication skills, ensuring alignment across departments.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with a startup mentality and growth mindset.

Preferred but Not Required

• Experience in a B2B enterprise SaaS environment.
• Familiarity with legal practice, law firms, or legal tech.

Benefits

What we offer you:

• 25 days holiday per year (plus public holidays).
• Early Finish Fridays - on the last Friday of every month, we finish at lunchtime!
• Pension with NEST.
• Personal Learning & Development budget.
• Access to Mental healthcare for you and your immediate family.
• Enhanced parental leave policies so you can spend more time with your family.
• Lots of opportunities for accelerated professional development and career progression.
• Work alongside a supportive and talented team with the opportunity to grow one of the world’s leading LegalTech scale-ups.
• A warm, genuinely collaborative culture and an awesome team; and
• Regular socials.

Power in diversity

We put users at the heart of our design to provide legal transaction experiences that everyone loves. In order to make that a reality, we seek to foster a diverse and inclusive working environment that can empower our people to be creative, effective and innovative, to build a brand we are proud of.

We don’t discriminate against gender, race, religion or belief, disability, age, marital status or sexual orientation. Whatever your background may be, we welcome anyone with talent, drive and emotional intelligence. We're committed to building a diverse team and are constantly looking for ways to improve our processes to help us do that.