Chief Operating Officer

Bristlecone Companies

17d•Remote

About The Position

Systrends is a leading provider of regulatory compliance software for energy professionals, helping utilities, pipelines, grid operators, and energy law firms manage complex FERC reporting. The company is at an inflection point with expanding structured data reporting requirements and surging energy demand, necessitating purpose-built software for the compliance lifecycle. Systrends has a strong foundation, reputation, and customer trust, and is investing heavily in its platform. The company is seeking operational leadership to manage the team, build systems, and drive velocity for scaling. The Chief Operating Officer will build and own the operational foundation for this category-defining regulatory software company during a pivotal moment. Systrends has a focused team, long-term customer relationships, healthy financials, a strategic product roadmap, and significant growth potential. However, operations currently lag impact and will become more complex. The COO will bring structure, accountability, operational discipline, and execution across the business. This is a broad authority role with direct proximity to the CEO and ownership, ideal for someone who enjoys building companies from the inside and will serve as organizational glue during a period of significant change.

Requirements

Operating experience in a $2-10M ARR SaaS business on an upward career trajectory
Experience building operating infrastructure in high-change environments (high-growth, post-acquisition, founder-led, or operationally complex businesses)
High agency and ownership mentality: bias for action, operates well in ambiguity, and takes responsibility for outcomes
People management experience with a track record of earning genuine followership while holding a high performance bar
Strong financial acumen: comfortable reading a P&L, partnering on a budget, and translating growth objectives into grounded operating plans
Execution-oriented and hands-on: personally builds systems, fixes operational gaps, and owns implementation alongside strategy
Exceptionally organized with high personal standards for follow-through and detail
Clear, precise written and verbal communicator who adapts to audience
Highly proficient, experimental, and genuinely ahead of the curve in deploying AI and modern tooling into core workflows to build more with less

Nice To Haves

Experience leading a distributed team
Post-acquisition or M&A integration experience
Experience working closely with engineering/product teams
GTM fluency (distribution channels, customer lifecycle, pricing, retention, etc.)

Responsibilities

Align on and implement an operating framework, establishing a consistent rhythm of goal setting, reporting cycles, and cross-functional accountability that runs without single-person dependency
Drive quarterly and annual planning, translating growth objectives into clear priorities, grounded resource plans, and realistic investment figures
Own the financial operating picture: partner with Finance on reporting, drive the operational data infrastructure, and ensure the ELT is making decisions from shared, accurate numbers
Define the org structure intentionally, identify gaps, and fill them with quality people; partner with CEO across talent recruiting, onboarding, development, engagement, and retention
Set a high bar and build an environment where communication flows, ownership is clear, and the whole team is pulling in the same direction
Architect how the business operates procedurally and own the implementation — CRM configuration, CS workflows, GTM tooling, onboarding processes, and more
Own commercial relationships with vendors, ensuring material contracts, compliance obligations, and operational risks have a clear owner and are managed proactively
Be a thought partner to the CEO on growth and help design and build more robust engines for customer acquisition, expansion, and retention