Chief Operating Officer

Hutcheon Mearns is delighted to be exclusively retained by a prestigious, privately held family office, headquartered in Dundee, with a dynamic and evolving portfolio across premium spirits, hospitality, property, healthcare, and philanthropy.

This organisation is entering a pivotal period of strategic transformation, and is now seeking a Chief Operating Officer to instil operational rigour, governance discipline, and forward-thinking leadership. This is a Director-level appointment that will suit a legally astute, commercially experienced operational leader, capable of navigating complexity, embedding robust governance structures, and influencing across a diverse stakeholder base.

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to the Head of Family Office and closely collaborating with the Chairman, the COO will be responsible for designing and overseeing the legal and operational framework that underpins the entire investment portfolio.

This role offers a rare opportunity to influence at the highest level-where legal structure, compliance, and corporate integrity are central to operational success.

Key Responsibilities (with legal emphasis):

• Translate strategy into actionable operational and legal frameworks that align with long-term business goals and risk appetite.
• Design and implement governance systems that ensure regulatory compliance, operational consistency, and legal integrity across multiple sectors and jurisdictions.
• Advise on legal structure and risk across the portfolio, including contract negotiation, corporate structuring, regulatory frameworks, and commercial agreements.
• Coach and guide portfolio business leaders on their legal and governance obligations at Board level, reinforcing ethical leadership and decision-making discipline.
• Oversee brand, marketing, and communications through a legal and reputational lens, ensuring alignment with data privacy, advertising standards, and IP protection.
• Provide strategic reporting to the Chairman that integrates legal, operational, and commercial performance insights.
• Maintain strong stakeholder relationships, including external legal counsel, regulators, partners, and portfolio boards.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with UK and international legislation, including GDPR, employment law, property law, and corporate governance codes.
• Support M&A activity, investment structuring, and due diligence processes from a legal, risk, and compliance perspective.

The Candidate

This role calls for a legal-minded operational executive-someone who can embed governance into growth, support strategic planning through a legal lens, and instil discipline across a high-performing, agile environment.

Key requirements include:

• At least five years' experience in executive or senior operational roles, ideally in entrepreneurial or multi-entity environments with legal accountability.
• A strong academic background in law, business administration, or finance, with post-qualification legal experience highly desirable (e.g. LLB, LLM, or GDL, with significant in-house or private practice exposure).
• Demonstrated experience in compliance, risk management, corporate governance, and legal oversight across diversified businesses.
• Strong working knowledge of core operational functions, with an emphasis on their legal context: contracts, HR law, IP, data protection, property, and corporate law.
• Experience in M&A and transaction structuring, with a focus on legal due diligence, deal documentation, and post-deal integration.
• A structured, analytical thinker with excellent judgement and stakeholder diplomacy.
• Flexibility to travel across the UK and potentially internationally as required.

Package

• Base Salary: Commensurate with experience
• Location: Dundee (hybrid model available)
• Benefits: 35 days holiday, private health insurance, employer pension
• Incentives: Long-term incentive plan, discretionary bonus/shares
• Contract Type: Permanent, full-time, Director-level appointment

Next Steps

If you are a legally experienced, operationally agile leader, motivated by the opportunity to build value through structure, integrity, and smart governance-contact Andrew McLeod at Hutcheon Mearns in confidence to explore the opportunity further.