Chief Operating Officer (COO)/Executive Director

Gateway Search Associates; Pennsylvania; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Gateway Search Associates in Philadelphia, PA, seeks a Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director to lead enterprise performance, oversee daily operations, and safeguard fiscal health.

You will partner with the Board of Partners to align support infrastructure with long-range goals, drive cross-functional execution, and optimize margins.

This role supervises finance, IT, and workplace functions, shaping risk controls, governance, and strategic programs across the firm.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a closely related field is required.
• MBA, CLM designation, or active CPA license.
• 7 to 10+ years of progressive leadership experience managing the administrative operations of a mid-to-large partnership structure.
• Proven track record in a senior management role reporting directly to a Board of Directors or Managing Partners.

Responsibilities

• Oversee enterprise performance and fiscal hygiene across functions.
• Partner with the Board of Partners to align support infrastructure with long-range commercial targets.
• Direct supervision of heads of Finance, IT, and Workplace Experience.
• Drive governance, risk management, and strategic execution across the organization.
• Lead talent strategy, compensation design, and performance incentives to support margins.

Skills

Leadership experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a closely related field

MBA, CLM designation, or CPA license

Job description

Chief Operating Officer (COO)/Executive Director

Philadelphia, United States

Job 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.
   • 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.
4. 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 Required
• 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.