Chief Operating Officer

About the role

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will architect, scale, and lead a high-performance operations engine across construction, engineering, technical support, and field operations. This executive will drive operational excellence, standardize processes, and ensure rapid scalability while delivering a best-in-class customer experience.

Responsibilities

• Own and directly lead all engineering and construction functions, with personal accountability for cost efficiency, speed to market, and build plan delivery.
• Evaluate and optimize standards, processes, and workflows to reduce complexity and improve throughput.
• Stand up a disciplined process to shorten cycle times across design, make-ready, permitting, locates, and construction.
• Implement a rigorous vendor management framework including RFPs, contracting, QA, and performance reporting.
• Navigate complex ROW and permitting environments — including municipal agreements, ADOT coordination, and state/federal agency permitting — to protect construction schedules and resolve escalations efficiently.
• Own construction productivity, placement strategy, and cost-per-passing performance.
• Optimize construction methods by market — including aerial, underground, microtrenching, directional boring, vibratory plowing, and traditional trenching — to minimize cost and maximize throughput given terrain, rights-of-way, and market economics.
• Maintain direct accountability for gross and net cost per passing, cost per foot, cost per install, and market-level budget performance — with weekly visibility and variance explanations to the CFO and CEO.
• Identify cost overruns early and implement recovery plans before they impact annual build targets or BEAD program commitments.
• Scale dispatch, installation, and customer activation to support 3,000+ monthly adds.
• Assess and improve scheduling, dispatch, and installation processes to reduce cycle time and improve customer experience.
• Define the optimal insource/outsource labor model and geographic resource distribution.
• Expand and manage contract labor capacity.
• Deploy technology, productivity tools, and fleet/inventory strategies to maximize field efficiency.
• Drive cross-functional alignment and strategic execution.
• Partner with finance and market development to evaluate new markets, understand cost drivers, and set budgets.
• Own coordination with sales and marketing for new market launches.
• Provide clear, data-driven updates and forecasts to Searchlight Capital and the Board.
• Oversee Network Operations and ensure exceptional network performance.
• Develop long-term plans for network maintenance, hardware refresh cycles, and capacity management.
• Enforce high standards of network documentation and operational discipline.
• Establish and monitor KPIs to ensure a high-quality customer experience across Wecom’s growing fiber network.
• Create a high-performance operations organization.
• Create clarity, alignment, and accountability across all operational teams.
• Develop training programs and promote continuous learning.
• Foster cross-department communication and transparency.
• Recruit, develop, and retain exceptional talent at all levels.
• Build a culture of proactive problem-solving, operational rigor, and ownership.
• Establish and enforce enterprise-wide construction safety standards — including OSHA compliance, traffic control protocols, and underground utility safety — treating safety performance as a non-negotiable operational metric.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of progressive operations leadership, with a minimum of 7 years in telecommunications, fiber-to-the-home, or digital infrastructure; FTTH/FTTP build experience required.
• Strong financial acumen with demonstrated experience owning large-scale CapEx budgets ($50M–$150M+) in a build-heavy infrastructure environment, including comfort presenting financial performance and forecasts to PE investors and boards.
• Deep understanding of FTTH/FTTP construction, engineering, field operations, and customer operations — including strand miles, drop rates, splice productivity, make-ready workflows, and the full fiber build cycle.
• Proven ability to drive operational efficiency and deliver exceptional customer experience.
• Ability to interpret technical documentation and quickly learn new technologies.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of progressive operations leadership, with a minimum of 7 years in telecommunications, fiber-to-the-home, or digital infrastructure; FTTH/FTTP build experience required.
• Strong financial acumen with demonstrated experience owning large-scale CapEx budgets ($50M–$150M+) in a build-heavy infrastructure environment, including comfort presenting financial performance and forecasts to PE investors and boards.
• Deep understanding of FTTH/FTTP construction, engineering, field operations, and customer operations — including strand miles, drop rates, splice productivity, make-ready workflows, and the full fiber build cycle.
• Proven ability to drive operational efficiency and deliver exceptional customer experience.
• Ability to interpret technical documentation and quickly learn new technologies.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Skills

• Visionary and strategic thinking with a bias for action.
• Operational discipline and the ability to build scalable systems and processes.
• Collaborative communication and the ability to simplify complexity and drive alignment across teams.
• Accountability and the ability to set clear expectations, provide direct feedback, and recognize excellence.
• Results-oriented with the ability to set aggressive goals and drive long-term outcomes.

Benefits

Note: Wecom (and its subsidiaries) complies with all Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). Wecom does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, religion, color, national origin, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, veteran status, pregnancy status or other status protected by law.

Pay

Competitive compensation package including base salary, annual short-term incentive bonus, and long-term equity participation (profit interest units) structured to align with the company’s growth trajectory and Searchlight Capital’s investment horizon. Compensation is benchmarked against PE-backed digital infrastructure platforms of comparable scale.

Schedule

Not specified.