A retail chief operating officer runs everything behind the sale: the warehouse, online order shipping, store leases and build-outs, the register and inventory systems, loss prevention and HR. The Director of Store Operations handles daily store work, using the budgets, systems and policies the COO sets.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $60,740, middle half $84,770 to $264,440, 90th percentile $412,110. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Executive Officer
Department
Executive
Schedule
Weekdays, on call for store emergencies · Long weeks in the holiday season, at physical counts and openings; frequent trips to stores and build-out sites
Also called
VP of operations · Executive vice president of operations · Head of operations · Chief operations officer
We're looking for a Chief Operating Officer to run everything behind the sale: the warehouse, online fulfillment, store leases and openings, systems, loss prevention and HR. The Director of Store Operations runs the stores; you set the policies, systems, leases and budgets they run on, and make store, warehouse and online inventory work as one.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Set the operating plan and budget for stores, the warehouse, fulfillment and loss prevention with the CFO.
Lead the Director of Store Operations, Warehouse Manager, HR Manager and Loss Prevention Specialist.
Choose and manage the core systems: POS, inventory management, workforce scheduling, and the link between store and online inventory.
Run the store pipeline: site visits, lease terms, build-outs, openings, relocations and closures.
Approve company policy on cash, returns, safety and loss prevention; the Director of Store Operations turns it into store procedures.
Lower the cost of moving product from vendor to warehouse to store to customer.
Plan holiday operations: staffing levels, extended store hours, warehouse capacity and shipping cutoffs.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review sales, payroll hours, shrink and fulfillment reports across stores and the warehouse.
Meet with the Director of Store Operations and Warehouse Manager on anything holding up product or service.
Work through open lease, build-out and repair projects with landlords and contractors.
Decide policy exceptions and escalations that cross departments.
Visit stores and the warehouse to see how procedures work in practice.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Store four-wall profit: [your target].
Store payroll as a share of sales: [your target].
Company-wide shrink: [your target].
Cost to fulfill an online order: [your target].
New stores opened on time and on budget: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[8+] years of operations leadership in multi-store retail, covering both stores and distribution.
Has managed store payroll budgets, shrink programs and operating policies across many locations.
Experience negotiating leases and managing store build-outs.
Comfortable running the business from sales, labor, shrink and fulfillment reports.
Bachelor's degree in business or operations, or equal experience.
6. Preferred Experience
Has rolled out a new POS or inventory system across stores.
Experience running buy online, pick up in store and ship-from-store programs.
Background in warehouse or distribution operations.
Has managed a third-party logistics provider or warehouse management system.
7. Physical Requirements
Stand and walk for long periods during store and warehouse visits, including stairs and stockrooms.
Travel by car to stores and project sites.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Based at the central office or warehouse, with frequent store visits.
Travel to stores and new store sites [several days a month].
Longer hours during the holiday season, physical inventory counts and store openings.
On call for store emergencies such as break-ins, power outages, leaks or alarm failures.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new chief operating officer gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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A store chain's COO answers for one pool of stock spread over the warehouse, the stores and the website, a string of leases, and a holiday rush that tests every system at once.
One inventory, three places to sell it
The same item can sit in the warehouse, a store backroom and the website's stock count at the same time. The COO picks the register, inventory and order systems and makes them agree, so a shopper who orders online for store pickup finds the item waiting. When counts drift, stores sell what they don't have and the warehouse sends the wrong refills.
Card security rules come with the registers
PCI DSS is the security standard for any business that stores, processes or sends cardholder data, and that takes in your registers and online checkout. The card brands and the bank that handles your card sales run the compliance programs and decide how you show you meet it. A new POS, store Wi-Fi or checkout change all touch it, so the COO keeps it on every systems project. Source: PCI Security Standards Council: PCI DSS.
The landlord and the store share ADA duties
Under the ADA rules for public accommodations, the landlord who owns the building and the store that rents it are both responsible for access. The lease can say which of them does the work, but that split only binds the two of them. The COO reads those clauses before signing and prices access work into the build-out, instead of finding gaps after the store opens. Source: 28 CFR 36.201: ADA Title III, landlord and tenant responsibilities.
Loss prevention policy meets state law
Shoplifting stops are governed by state law. Florida's, for example, lets a merchant with probable cause detain a person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time, and requires calling police right away. A law that allows a stop doesn't make one safe or wise. The COO decides with a lawyer, for each state with stores, whether staff may ever approach anyone or only watch and report. Source: Florida Statutes 812.015: Retail theft, detention by merchants.
Big sale days need a crowd plan
OSHA's crowd guidelines for retailers call for extra trained staff, barricades set up early so the line doesn't start at the door, breaks and turns in the line, one store manager who makes the calls, and an emergency plan shared with police and fire. They are advice, but the fact sheet notes that the law makes employers responsible for a safe workplace. The COO picks which events get a plan. Source: OSHA fact sheet: Crowd management safety guidelines for retailers.
How much retail chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for retail chief operating officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 4,190 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for retail stores.
Bonus goals are easy to pick here because the KPIs are already money: four-wall profit, shrink and the cost to fill an online order. Pay the shrink part after the physical count, since book shrink is only an estimate until then.
Retail stores
$129,980$129,980 median Middle half $84,770–$264,440 10th–90th $60,740–$412,110
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Retail stores
$60,740
$84,770
$129,980
$264,440
$412,110
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
These figures cover all retail. Pay differs by store type, so check what local stores like yours pay. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Experience on both sides: stores and a distribution center
Spots a payroll, shrink or shipping problem in the weekly numbers before stores feel it
Has negotiated leases and managed build-outs with landlords and contractors
Has chosen or rolled out a POS or inventory system across many stores
Sets policy, decides exceptions, and keeps the rule intact
Teach these on the job
Your landlords, lease dates and open repair projects
Where your stock counts break down between systems today
Your product's peak weeks and online shipping cutoffs
Your returns, cash and loss prevention policies
Your holiday staffing model for stores and the warehouse
The systems list is the COO's: the POS, inventory management, a warehouse management system or third-party logistics portal, workforce scheduling, and the link between store and online stock. Ask candidates about the last system they rolled out: how many stores, how long it took, and what broke on day one.
Use last year's store, warehouse and shipping numbers as the starting line, then write each target into the operating budget.
Store four-wall profit
Each store's sales minus its own costs: product, payroll, rent, utilities and local spending, before company overhead. Rank stores monthly and flag the ones that keep missing.
Store payroll as a share of sales
Store payroll dollars, with taxes and benefits, divided by store sales. Watch it weekly, and closely in the weeks before the holiday, when hours rise ahead of sales.
Company-wide shrink
The gap between the inventory on the books and what physical counts find, across stores, the warehouse and goods in transit. Split it by location to see where losses start.
Cost to fulfill an online order
Picking, packing, boxes and carrier charges divided by online orders shipped. Compare orders shipped from the warehouse with any shipped from stores.
New stores opened on time and on budget
Each opening date and build-out cost against the plan approved before the lease was signed. Review every delay with the contractor and landlord once the doors open.
Career path
Distribution or operations manager at a larger chainRuns a warehouse, a region or a systems rollout for a bigger retailer.
Where does the COO's job end and the store operations director's begin?
The Director of Store Operations owns what happens inside the stores: the manual, payroll hours, the store calendar and the District Managers. The COO owns that plus the warehouse, online fulfillment, systems, leases and loss prevention. Say a store keeps running out of a top seller. The director asks why the store didn't reorder or display it right. The COO asks why the warehouse, the system or the vendor let it happen.
How much does a retail chief operating officer make?
Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $84,770 and $264,440 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should a retail COO run the online store too?
Not in the setup these job descriptions use. Site pages, product listings and online promotions are the E-commerce Manager's job, and that manager reports straight to the CEO. The COO owns what happens after a shopper pays: picking, packing, shipping, processing returns and the stock link between the site and the stores. Write that line into both job descriptions, because missed delivery dates and wrong stock counts land right on it.
Does a retail COO need warehouse experience?
The template lists a warehouse or distribution background as preferred. Here it matters, because one building fills the stores and ships online orders. A slow week there shows up as empty shelves and late packages. Ask finalists how they ran their busiest week, from labor plans and carrier pickups to store refills.
What does a retail COO do before the holiday season?
The holiday is planned months ahead. The COO sets staff levels for each store, longer store hours, warehouse space, carrier pickups and the last day to order for delivery in time. During the rush, the COO checks stockouts, store payroll and late shipments every day. Then they move people or product where they're needed.
Who handles store emergencies after hours?
The template puts the COO on call for break-ins, power outages, leaks and alarm failures. The store manager and District Manager usually respond first. The COO makes the bigger calls, such as closing a store for a day, calling the insurer or sending a contractor. Keep a written call list and test it before the holiday.
