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How to Hire a COO in Australia

26 September 2026 · Updated 1 October 2026

To hire a COO in Australia now, start with what AI is meant to change in how the business runs, because that decides which COO you need. Then pick which of three jobs the seat is (an operations lead, a Chief of Staff-style extension of the CEO, or a likely successor) and settle what the CEO will actually hand over. Then headhunt. Operators already running a business with AI in its processes are usually employed and not looking. A proper search runs 3 to 6 weeks.

AI has changed what a COO is hired to fix

Operations used to be mostly headcount, process and on-time delivery. Much of the routine work a COO once staffed up for (reporting, scheduling, support triage, invoice handling) can now be done partly or wholly by software. So the question has moved from “how many people do we need” to “which parts should people run, which should be automated, and who answers for it when the automated part gets it wrong”.

That lands on an old problem. Ask ten CEOs what their COO does and you’ll get ten answers. Some COOs run operations. Others are a Chief of Staff with a bigger title, or the CEO’s likely successor in waiting. Those are three different hires, and AI changes each one differently.

In this guide

What does AI fluency look like in a COO?

It shows up in what they’ve changed about how work gets done. “AI-fluent” in a COO brief can mean anything from “won’t slow the tech team down” to “has redesigned a core process with AI in it and run it at volume”. Say which one you mean.

The COO candidates worth putting forward can tell you:

  • which process they automated, what they deliberately left with people, and why
  • how the team’s roles changed, and how they handled the people whose work moved
  • where an automated step produced wrong outputs, and the check they added afterwards
  • where operations stops and technology starts in their current business

The weaker answer is a vendor list and a pilot that never got past the pilot. That’s also why we don’t screen with keyword software. Strong operators often describe this work in plain terms, like “we rebuilt how month-end close works”, and never use the words a filter is scanning for.

How much does it cost to hire a COO in Australia?

Across our placements, C-suite and general management base salaries (COO, CFO, CSO, CCO, GM and Director roles) have ranged from $130K to $350K, with a median around $195K.

Based on Headhuntly placements over the last five years. Small sample, base salary only, not a market survey.

Public data is thin. Robert Walters’ 2026 guide has a property-sector COO band for NSW, $280K to $380K base, the only cross-firm COO figure it turns up. One industry in one state isn’t a national benchmark. A COO running operations for a large logistics business and one acting as the CEO’s second at a small tech company aren’t paid against the same market, and a brief to redesign operations around automation usually belongs further up the band.

On fees: ours is 15% of base salary plus super, payable on signed employment contract, plus an engagement fee upfront, which we walk you through on the first call. The detail is in our executive search cost guide.

Should you headhunt a COO or search a database?

For most COO seats, headhunt. People who make good COOs are already running something well. They’ll move for a clear step up and not much else. A database or job ad reaches people who are actively looking, and the strongest COO candidates usually aren’t.

Headhunting starts from who’s doing the job well somewhere else and approaches them directly. We keep no candidate database, so every search starts from the market as it is now, and we run one client, one role at a time.

What does a COO brief need before the search starts?

Name which of the three COO jobs this is. “Operations COO”, “Chief of Staff COO” and “heir-apparent COO” are close to three different titles.

Write down what AI is meant to do. “Use AI more” isn’t a brief. “Automate order processing and move the team onto exceptions” is.

Settle who decides on automation and tooling: the COO, or the CTO or a Chief AI Officer. If you’re weighing up a dedicated AI leader too, read how to hire a Chief AI Officer first so the seats don’t overlap.

Be honest about what the CEO will let go of. A strong COO blocked from owning anything real tends to leave within a year.

Who’s hiring matters too. An established digital business replacing its COO may find the last one was hired for the pre-AI version of the job. An overseas company hiring for its Australian division needs to decide whether the local COO runs local systems or inherits global ones.

Headhuntly is based on the Gold Coast, has placed 50+ senior roles over the last five years, and runs COO searches nationally.

Frequently asked

What does a COO actually do? It depends on the business. It can mean running day-to-day operations, acting as a Chief of Staff-style extension of the CEO, or being groomed as a likely successor. More of these roles now include deciding what gets automated.

How much does a COO earn in Australia? There’s no reliable national figure, because scope and industry vary too much. Robert Walters’ 2026 guide has a property-sector NSW band of $280K to $380K base, but that’s one industry. See our sourced salary guide for wider context.

How do you test whether a COO is genuinely AI-fluent? Ask which process they automated, what they kept with people, and what went wrong afterwards. A list of tools without a decision behind it usually means they haven’t run it.

Should a COO come from the same industry as the business? Not necessarily. Operations and delivery skills often transfer well, and a same-industry filter can rule out someone better suited to the job.

If you’re not sure yet which COO job your business needs, or what AI should change in operations, get in touch before the brief goes to search.

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