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Glite Dictionary
chief operating officer

chief operating officer

15 4.9
A senior manager who runs a company's daily work and reports to the chief executive officer
  • noun
  • /ʧif ˈɑpəˌreɪtɪŋ ˈɔfɪsər/
  • Formal
translation icon : director de operaciones
  • The chief operating officer is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the company.
  • president and chief operating officer
  • executive officer, chief operating officer

Sheryl Sandberg, she was the former chief operating officer of Meta.

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Examples

  • For the past several years, she has served as vice president and chief operating officer at Strategy Implemented, Inc.

    Blog text (31)

  • He is now the chief operating officer of Make Real Estate, Real Planning and Development.

  • In the past week, he has been promoted to chief operating officer.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • After a few minutes' reflection on the meeting, he asked to meet with his chief operating officer.

    Academic text (1997)

  • David M. Sanko is the former chief operating officer of Bucks County and now an executive.

    Blog text (2)

  • Prior to being named CEO, he was the company's chief operating officer.

    Blog text (19)

  • James S. Denton was appointed executive director and chief operating officer of Heldref Publications in late September 2006.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Rob Maruster, the company's chief operating officer, hopes flights can resume in New York on Wednesday morning.

    Blog text (15)

  • Paul Chrimes was named chief operating officer of MIG Capital (Europe) Ltd.

    Blog text (14)

  • Matt Asay is chief operating officer at Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

    Blog text (26)

Synonyms

president
vschief operating officer
  • US
355 3.0

The senior manager of a company who runs its daily business

reports directly to the chief executive or board

Antonyms

subordinate
38 4.6

A person with a lower job rank who follows another's orders

How Experienced

chief operating officer
  • Formal
15 4.9
motorman
  • Archaic
3 8.1
trainee
50 2.4

Surface Forms

chief operating officer singular
chief operating officers plural

Morphology

chief + operate + officer

The meaning is directly compositional: 'chief' (primary) + 'operating' (relating to operations) + 'officer' (organizational official) together indicate the principal official in charge of day-to-day operations. This follows a common, cross-linguistic job-title pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the role.

Etymology

Chief operating officer brings together three clear words: chief (the leader), operating (making things run), and officer (a person in charge). Picture a leader on a busy shop floor keeping machines and teams running every day, and that image explains why the title means 'the boss who manages daily operations'.