Chief Operating Officer (COO)

About the role

Melone Hatley, P.C. is seeking an experienced, results-driven Chief Operating Officer (COO) to translate high-level firm strategy into disciplined, profitable, and scalable daily execution across all offices and departments. Reporting directly to the Owner/CEO, you will hold enterprise-wide authority over multi-location legal operations, process standardization, cross-department handoffs, facilities, and capacity management. Position is full-time, executive leadership, on-site in Virginia Beach or remote with regional travel.

Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: Lead and mentor office leaders and department managers, driving a culture of high performance, accountability, and independent problem-solving.
• Process & System Optimization: Centralize, audit, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs), identifying root-cause friction points and leveraging automation to boost efficiency.
• Legal Production & Utilization: Partner with Managing Attorneys to monitor workflows, track case progression, and maintain target capacity (aiming for 90%+ billable utilization).
• Financial Accountability: Partner with the CEO and CFO to manage annual budgets, monitor Revenue per FTE, optimize Average Case Value, and protect office-level net margins.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Remove bottlenecks between Legal, Intake/Sales, Marketing, HR, IT, and Finance to ensure clean operational handoffs and minimize executive escalations.
• Infrastructure & Procurement: Oversee facility expansions, physical security, IT resources, and vendor contracts across all regional footprints.
• Core Performance Metrics (KPIs): Impact measured through Firm Growth & Capacity (60%): Revenue per FTE, Average Case Value, legal staff utilization (≥90%), office-level net profitability, attorney retention (

Qualifications

• Executive Experience: Proven track record in a senior operations leadership role (COO, VP of Operations, Director of Operations) managing managers across multiple sites.
• Industry Background: Strong preference for experience in legal operations, law firm management, or multi-location professional services.
• Financial Acumen: Deep competency analyzing P&Ls, budgets, headcount modeling, and utilization metrics.
• Systems Architect: Demonstrated ability to build, document, and scale repeatable operational frameworks and leverage legal tech/automation.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations, or related field required; MBA or J.D. strongly preferred (active bar license not required unless supervising legal representation).

Pay

Base Salary: $150K and up to $300K with Bonuses.