Chief Operating Officer

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be responsible for driving end to end operational excellence, scalability, and profitability across Smartworks’ managed workspace portfolio. This role will own business operations, P&L performance, service delivery, project execution, and operational strategy, ensuring seamless execution from site launch to steady state operations.

As a key member of the executive leadership team, the COO will partner closely with the Founders, Business Head and and functional leaders to translate strategic objectives into high performing, scalable operations across regions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Operational Leadership & Execution

• Own and lead end-to-end operations across all Smartworks locations, including facilities management, service delivery, vendor management, and customer experience.
• Ensure consistent service quality, uptime, and operational SOP adherence across cities and portfolios.
• Drive standardization while enabling local agility across regions.

2. P&L Ownership & Profitability

• Own unit level and portfolio level P&L, focusing on margin expansion, cost optimization, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with Finance to drive budgeting, forecasting, cost controls, and ROI tracking for new and existing centers.
• Improve contribution margins through process efficiency, vendor renegotiations, and scale benefits.

3. Project Delivery & Site Launch Excellence

• Oversee new center launches, from design finalization and fit out execution to handover and go live readiness.
• Ensure on time delivery, within budget, and as per brand standards.
• Build a robust project governance and risk management framework.

4. Client Experience & Retention

• Own client experience and service delivery outcomes, ensuring high NPS, retention, and renewals.
• Work closely with Sales and Account Management to ensure smooth onboarding, ongoing engagement, and escalation management for enterprise clients.
• Drive continuous improvement through client feedback and data insights.

5. Process, Systems & Scalability

• Build and scale process driven operations, leveraging technology, automation, and data dashboards.
• Implement operational KPIs and MIS for real time performance tracking across sites.
• Drive adoption of best in class tools for facilities, procurement, vendor management, and customer experience.

6. People Leadership & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and scale large, cross functional teams across operations, projects, facilities, and service delivery.
• Build a high-performance culture with clear accountability, succession planning, and leadership development.
• Ensure compliance with labor laws, safety standards, and regulatory requirements.

7. Strategic Partnership & Growth Enablement

• Act as a strategic partner to the CEO and leadership team on expansion strategy, new formats, and operating models.
• Support inorganic growth initiatives, partnerships, and new business lines from an operational readiness lens.
• Represent Smartworks with landlords, strategic vendors, and key stakeholders.

Key Metrics for Success

• EBITDA & contribution margin improvement
• On time & on budget project delivery
• Client NPS, retention & renewal rates
• Operational cost optimization
• Portfolio uptime & service SLAs
• Team productivity & attrition

Candidate Profile

• 20+ years of experience in operations leadership, preferably in Managed workspaces / Coworking, Commercial real estate, Hospitality
• Proven experience managing large, multicity portfolios with strong P&L ownership.
• Prior experience in scale up or high growth environments preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong execution oriented leader with strategic thinking capability.
• Financial acumen with hands on P&L management.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and decision making skills.
• Ability to build systems, processes, and scalable teams from ground up.