Chief Operating Officer Position Description

Businessman

A chief operating officer, or COO, is an executive at any business or company. But the COO has specific responsibilities, and even he has to answer to someone higher up on the ladder. In order to be a COO, a person has to have a specific background when it comes to school and experience.

Definition

A chief operating officer manages operations, or the running and maintenance, of a company on a daily basis. She may be the president or executive vice president of the company and may have a seat on the board of directors. She reports directly to the chief executive officer, or the CEO. The COO must have a background in management principles and theory.

Undergraduate Education Requirement

Someone who aspires to be a COO of a company should get a Bachelor's degree in business administration, concentrating, if applicable, in management. This specific education would cover the basics of the business industry and what it takes to get into a management role.

Graduate Education Requirement

Education-Portal states, "A Master of Business Administration is coveted by individuals who want to enter into the private sector as management professionals." MBA students should concentrate on management related courses if they want to be COOs in the industry.

Responsibilities

The COO ensures that the "systems that design and manufacture a company's product performing optimally," according to Education-Portal. The COO also plans long-term and short-term goals. He is in charge of quality control, human resources concerns, order procedures and business processes.

Skills

A COO needs to be able to multitask and manage different parts of a company. She needs to be detail-oriented and very organized. She also needs to be able to "delegate business operations and put in place a monitoring system to ensure that operational standards meet ... expectations," according to Entrepreneur.

References

• Education-Portal
• All Business
• Entrepreneur