Location : Hybrid (on-site required during peak production periods)
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Manages: Operations leadership, Project Managers, Production Supervisors (as applicable)
Compensation: Competitive base salary + performance-based bonus (dependent on experience)
Role Purpose The Director of Operations is the operational backbone of a growing live events and production services business.
This role owns the systems, processes, people, and execution required to consistently and profitably deliver complex events—without the CEO needing to intervene in day-to-day operations.
This is a hands-on leadership role within an operations-heavy production environment. The Director of Operations translates vision into execution, builds repeatable processes, and holds teams accountable to clear standards. The role may also involve direct oversight of large-scale event execution, particularly during periods of growth or transition.
What Success Looks Like (12–18 Months)
- Events are planned earlier, run calmer, and are more predictable
- A standardized production process is refined and consistently followed
- Project Managers operate with confidence and clarity
- Production logistics are reliable and well-organized
- Technical leadership is focused on execution excellence rather than administrative burden
- Fewer last-minute issues and emergency interventions
- Delivery capacity increases in a sustainable way
- Executive leadership is no longer embedded in daily operations
- Finalize, document, and implement a standardized multi-step event production process
- Ensure adoption across all projects
- Train project and production leaders
- Audit events for quality and compliance
- Continuously improve processes based on real-world feedback
2. Lead Day-to-Day Operations
- Oversee operational planning and execution
- Ensure timelines, budgets, staffing, and logistics are realistic and adhered to
- Run production readiness meetings and project check-ins
- Ensure smooth handoffs between sales, project management, production, and warehouse teams
- Identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks
- Directly manage Project Managers and Production Supervisors
- Set clear expectations, deadlines, and accountability
- Coach leaders on planning, budgeting, communication, and follow-through
- Identify skill gaps and training needs
- Build repeatable onboarding and development paths
- Collaborate closely with technical leadership on show execution
- Provide structure, clarity, and accountability
- Uphold production standards consistently
- Remove administrative and operational friction so technical leadership can focus on excellence
- Establish clear role boundaries and expectations
- Evaluate and manage project management and operational tools
- Oversee file storage, documentation, and archiving systems
- Ensure documentation standards are followed
- Improve internal communication workflows
- Drive efficiency through better systems and structure
- Forecast staffing and production capacity (90-day / 180-day outlooks)
- Identify when and where to add operational roles
- Partner with executive leadership on hiring plans
- Ensure growth does not lead to team burnout
- Support margin protection through better planning and execution
- Monitor labor efficiency and production costs
- Identify operational improvements that increase profitability
- Partner with executive leadership on budgeting and resource allocation
- 7–12+ years in live events, production, AV, or production-heavy services
- Direct experience managing operations, logistics, and people
- Experience leading Project Managers or production teams
- Strong understanding of event workflows, labor models, and execution
- Demonstrated financial acumen with experience delivering complex projects on budget
- Proven ability to build and enforce processes
- Comfortable managing strong personalities
- Direct, clear communicator
- High follow-through and accountability
- Calm under pressure
- Background in AV production, technical direction, or production management
- Experience scaling a small to mid-sized production company
- Experience stabilizing chaotic or inconsistent operations
- Familiarity with modern project management and production tools
- Experience working closely with a founder or executive-led organization
- A coaching-only or advisory role
- A consultant position
- A purely strategic role with no execution
- A people-only manager
- A hands-off corporate operator
Why This Role Exists The company has outgrown a founder-led operational model. This role exists to:
- Professionalize operations
- Increase consistency
- Develop the team
- Reduce key-person risk
- Enable sustainable revenue growth
- Allow executive leadership to focus on clients, sales, and strategy
- Chief Operating Officer (COO) — with broader strategic oversight and expanded leadership layers
- Strip it down further for recruiter outreach
- Rewrite it for LinkedIn / job boards
- Create a confidential version vs public version
- Benchmark it against similar Director of Ops / COO roles