Chief Operating Officer (COO)/Executive Director

Gateway Search Associates

  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 24 days ago

    Highlights

    This executive leader partners with the Board of Partners to synchronize support infrastructure with long-range commercial targets, directly safeguarding profit margins and optimizing organizational throughput. Proven track record in a senior management role (C-suite, Director, or VP level) reporting directly to a Board of Directors, Executive Committee, or Managing Partners.

    Numbers & Facts

    LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
    Websitewww.gatewaysearch.com

    Description

    The Executive Director serves as the principal architect of enterprise performance, overseeing day-to-day corporate mechanics, fiscal hygiene, and cross-functional execution. This executive leader partners with the Board of Partners to synchronize support infrastructure with long-range commercial targets, directly safeguarding profit margins and optimizing organizational throughput.

    Reporting Channels & Structure
    • Solid Line Reporting: Board of Partners / Management Committee.
    • Key Collaborators: Division Chairs, Practice Leads, and Corporate Function Heads.
    • Direct Supervision: Head of Corporate Finance, Director of Revenue Cycle, Head of Information Technology, Information Governance Lead, and Workplace Experience Manager.
    Key Workstreams

    1. Commercial Finance & Margin Optimization
    • Direct end-to-end corporate fiscal cycles, managing close procedures, capital allocation matrices, and annual budgeting workflows.
    • Track velocity metrics across the utilization life cycle, targeting realization, collection cycles, and work-in-progress (WIP) aging velocity.
    • Modernize revenue operations by eliminating leakages in billing cycles, time tracking compliance, and receivable recovery strategies.
    • Engineer, deploy, and monitor client-level performance indicators (KPIs) to isolate and remediate margin contraction.
    • Architect fiscal governance frameworks, internal risk controls, and corporate tax compliance strategies alongside third-party auditors.
    • Synthesize predictive financial models and variance reports for executive leadership to steer capital deployment decisions.

    2. Infrastructure, Security & Workplace Logistics
    • Govern support infrastructure verticals, driving operational SLAs across technical, spatial, and administrative departments.
    • Modernize workplace ecosystems to remove administrative friction, optimizing technical workflows to maximize professional output.
    • Audit and renegotiate supplier contracts, managing vendor risks and consolidating third-party spending.
    • Solidify corporate resilience parameters, supervising enterprise cybersecurity protocols, governance standards, and business continuity architecture.

    3. Human Capital Strategy & Performance Incentives
    • Synchronize talent acquisition, onboarding architectures, and performance metrics with capacity planning models.
    • Partner with executive stakeholders to design performance-tied compensation frameworks that align personnel output with margin expansion.
    • Oversee labor law compliance, workplace relations policies, and professional retention programs across distributed offices.

    4. Growth Integration & Market Strategy
    • Match business development activities with structural margin objectives alongside the growth marketing unit.
    • Assist internal divisions in generating data-backed pursuit strategies for targeted market penetration.
    • Implement rigorous tracking mechanisms to analyze capital return on investment (ROI) across all marketing campaigns.

    5. Governance, Strategy Execution & Risk Mitigation
    • Act as primary operational advisor to the Board, shaping strategic roadmaps, setting leadership agendas, and documenting institutional decisions.
    • Drive operationalization of boardroom mandates, establishing project management structures to ensure full delivery accountability.
    • Manage corporate risk architecture, protecting the enterprise through proactive procurement of professional liability, cyber, and general indemnification policies.


    Requirements

    Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a closely related field
    Master of Business Administration (MBA), Certified Legal Manager (CLM) designation, or an active CPA license.
    7 to 10+ years of progressive leadership experience managing the administrative operations of a mid-to-large partnership structure (e.g., law firm, accounting firm, or professional services consultancy).
    Proven track record in a senior management role (C-suite, Director, or VP level) reporting directly to a Board of Directors, Executive Committee, or Managing Partners.



    Benefits

     Benefits Include:

    •    Paid Medical, Dental, Vision & LTD Insurance

    •    Paid Time Off

    •    401(k)

    •    Profit Sharing



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