The COO appointment becomes particularly important when a Private Equity-backed business needs to translate an ambitious value creation plan into consistent execution.

At Raw Selection, we look for COOs who have both the track record and operating capabilities to improve performance across the organisation.

Some of the key traits and experiences we look for include:

• Revenue and EBITDA growth: Evidence they have contributed to measurable financial improvement.
• Organic growth experience: They understand how to improve the existing business rather than relying entirely on acquisitions.
• M&A experience: They can operate effectively through acquisitions and increasing organisational complexity.
• Exit experience: They understand what is required as a business moves towards an eventual liquidity event.
• Private Equity-backed experience: They understand the pace and expectations of PE ownership.
• Value creation across the business: They can demonstrate specific improvements they have personally helped deliver.
• Servant leadership: They enable teams to perform rather than relying solely on authority.
• Culture building: They can create operating behaviours that support the strategy.
• Constraint-focused: They identify the biggest obstacles to performance and focus the organisation on solving them.
• Talent development: They improve the capabilities of the people around them.
• Builds high-performing teams: They can assess, structure and develop teams capable of delivering the plan.
• Commercial acumen: They understand how operational decisions affect customers, revenue and profitability.
• Data-driven decision-making: They use meaningful operating data to identify problems and improve performance.
• Thinks like an investor: They understand the connection between operational improvement and enterprise value.
• Change and transformation leadership: They can lead significant organisational change.
• Operational excellence: They understand how to improve the performance and consistency of operations.
• Process optimisation: They can identify inefficient processes and systematically improve them.
• Cross-functional leadership: They can work across functions rather than operating within a narrow operational silo.
• World-class company experience: Exposure to high-performing organisations can provide useful operating standards and disciplines.

The key is not simply finding someone who has previously been a COO.

You need to establish whether their previous experience matches the operational problems, complexity and value creation plan of your business.

For a deeper breakdown of these traits and how to assess them during the hiring process, watch the full video: