Chief Operating Officer: your questions, answered

Runs the company day to day so the CEO can look outward, at investors, big customers and strategy. In practice that means owning the teams that make and deliver whatever the company sells. At a small startup that can be finance, HR and customer support all at once. At a large company it's usually operations, supply chain and sometimes sales.

The pay figure on this page is the typical number, but the range is wide. A COO at a small nonprofit and a COO at a public company are doing different jobs. At startups, equity often matters more than the salary, so read the whole offer.

Most come up through operations: operations manager, director, then VP of Operations. Some arrive from finance or consulting, and a few are early employees who grew with the company. The common thread is having run something with its own budget and headcount, and being answerable for its results.

Sometimes one person holds both titles. When they're separate, the president is often the more senior and more outward-facing role, while the COO runs the inside. It really does vary, so check the org chart rather than the title.

No. Plenty of CEOs run operations themselves. Companies tend to add a COO when they grow fast, when a founder wants to stay close to product, or when a CEO is being groomed as a successor. Some drop the role again once the reason for it is gone.

A record of scaling something without it breaking. They want someone who has built teams, fixed a process that was costing money, and worked closely with a CEO without competing with them. Chemistry with the CEO decides more of these hires than any résumé line.

It's common among COOs but it isn't a requirement. Boards care more about what you've run. An MBA helps most when you're moving across industries or out of a technical role and need the general management vocabulary.

Scope and seat. A VP of Operations usually runs one function and reports into the executive team. A COO sits on that team, often owns several functions, and shares responsibility for the company's results with the CEO.