Chief Operating Officer

ONPOINT Business Solutions; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

ONPOINT Business Solutions is partnering with a Columbus restaurant group to identify a next-stage Chief Operating Officer. The role directs operations for six locations with a seventh opening, shaping systems, cadence, and culture to drive growth while preserving local personality.

The COO will architect scalable operating playbooks, coach senior leaders, and ensure fast, disciplined decision-making in a founder-led environment. Compensation is competitive based on leadership experience.

Qualifications

• Proven multi-unit restaurant leadership experience (COO/VP Operations or equivalent).
• Ability to design scalable operating systems and processes.
• Experience in founder-led, entrepreneurial environments with fast decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Run day-to-day operating platform across current and future locations.
• Architect systems, playbooks, and leadership cadence for repeatable operations.
• Lead and develop director-level leaders across operations, culinary, analytics.
• Build accountability rhythms (1:1s, leadership meetings, quarterly planning).
• Design scalable people systems for hiring, onboarding, development, succession.
• Support new unit growth from planning through post-opening stabilization.
• Preserve brand energy while adding necessary discipline.

Skills

Multi-unit restaurant leadership

Operational leadership

Team development

Strategic planning

Change management

Job description

ONPOINT Business Solutions is conducting a confidential, retained search on behalf of a profitable, founder-led restaurant group in Columbus, Ohio, to identify a next-stage Chief Operating Officer for their growing restaurant portfolio.

Are you the type of person who can take a growing business and engineer the operating system that brings order, consistency, and scale — naturally architecting the structure, cadence, and process behind it?

Our client currently operates six locations in the Columbus market, with a seventh opening soon and a clear runway for additional growth. The flagship concept is a high-volume neighborhood sports bar and grill with strong local sports traffic (Ohio State, March Madness, NFL, and more) and a young, community-oriented culture.

In this role, you will:

• Run the day-to-day operating platform across all current and future locations
• Architect systems, playbooks, and leadership cadence that turn the founders' vision into repeatable ways of operating
• Lead and develop director-level leaders across operations, development, culinary, and analytics
• Build accountability rhythms — 1:1s, leadership meetings, quarterly planning — that keep initiatives moving
• Design scalable people systems around hiring, onboarding, development, and succession planning
• Support new unit growth end-to-end, from planning through post-opening stabilization
• Preserve the brand's authentic, non-corporate feel while adding the discipline a larger organization needs

Required:

• Multi-unit restaurant leadership experience — ideally as a COO, VP of Operations, Regional/Multi-Unit Director, or similar, across casual dining, bar-and-grill, sports-bar, or other high-volume restaurant concepts.

This could be a strong fit if you also:

• Love building and refining operating systems, not just inheriting them
• Are comfortable in a founder-led, entrepreneurial environment where trust is high and decision-making is fast
• Can coach and develop a range of personalities while holding them to well-defined standards
• Know how to bring professionalism and structure without losing a brand's energy and local personality

Compensation is competitive and commensurate with leadership experience.

The identity of the hiring organization will be shared with qualified candidates upon our initial outreach.