Chief Operating Officer Job Description

The Chief Operating Officer job description varies greatly from company to company. In general, the person who holds this office is the one who oversees all operational and administrative functions, including coming up with a proper office structure for the rest of the departments. The Chief Operating Officer or COO decides how best to lay out the flow of the office so that the departments form a cohesive company that can be successful, effective and cost efficient.

Formulate the Flow

Many COOs formulate the proper flow chart for a company creating the hierarchy so that everyone knows who they report to and who ultimately gets to make the important decisions. This gives all employees a clear-cut view of how the business structure works so it is clear where they should turn when they have a question or a problem. Beyond the basics of flow, the Chief Operating Officer then takes all the information from the various departments in order to present a sweeping view of all departments. This can include coming up with focus groups so that areas or projects that overlap from department to department can be handled efficiently.

Program Focused

In some companies, the Chief Operating Officer is in charge of focusing all the different programs and ensuring the programs are being run effectively. This includes knowing how the cost effective the program is, the staffing requirements and whether the goals are being met. The COO can step in and offer advice on how to make the program more effective for the members as well as the company. Overall, the COO in this position wants to make sure there are clear goals for each program and that there are tangible ways to measure success for each program.

Strategies/Operations Focused

Often Chief Operating Officers need to find the best strategy for improving overall efficiency. By studying how the company works and the interactions between departments, the COO will find ways to make all processes run more smoothly so that the company can save time and money when creating and selling products. By putting one central person in charge of this area, the company can find solutions to all types of problems, and the person understands how changes in one arena affect all the other areas in the company.

Vice President

In many company structures, a COO is considered a vice president of sorts. The Chief Operating Officer focuses on the internal workings of the company. Another vice president is in charge of how product is distributed or how contracts work outside the company while the Chief Operating Officer handles everything that happens within the internal structure of the company. These two often need to work closely together to come up with solutions to problems so that changes aren’t made that negatively affect the outer appearance of the company or the overall efficiency of the company. By having this type of focus, the officers are more specialized and able to make the necessary changes to make the company work properly.