Director of Operations | Path to Chief Operating Officer Veterinary Skin & Ear West Los Angeles, California Full-time | On-site $130,000-$160,000 annually, plus performance-based bonus opportunity Compensation and Long-Term Opportunity Base salary: $130,000-$160,000 annually, depending on experience, qualifications, and demonstrated ability. We are willing to invest in an exceptional leader who can make a meaningful difference in the business. In addition to base salary, the position offers the opportunity for performance-based bonuses tied to clearly defined operational and financial goals. As VSE grows, our operations become more efficient, and EBITDA increases, we intend to create meaningful financial upside for a leader who helps build lasting value. A longer-term growth and profit-linked incentive or profit-sharing arrangement will be considered based on performance, increased responsibility, and mutually agreed-upon terms. The potential path to Chief Operating Officer is an opportunity, not a guaranteed promotion. Greater authority, executive responsibility, and compensation will be earned through demonstrated results, trust, and the needs of the growing organization. A Message from the Owner I'm Dr. Austin Richman, Owner and Medical Director of Veterinary Skin & Ear. I am looking for an exceptional business leader to work directly with me as we take our practice into its next stage of development. Veterinary Skin & Ear is an independently owned, six-doctor veterinary dermatology specialty practice in Los Angeles. We have built a successful veterinary specialty practice with a great team, advanced specialty capabilities, and an ACVD-approved residency training program. Our goal is to provide world-class veterinary dermatology: a place where pet owners come for answers and solutions, where we treat their pets like our own, and where our doctors and team members are supported in doing their best work. We have very talented people and high-level systems already in place. However, as we have grown, I recognize that we need a more sophisticated level of business leadership to ensure those systems are executed consistently, our managers and supervisors are supported and accountable, and our organization is prepared for the future. I am not looking for someone to simply maintain the business or someone I need to teach how to become an operations leader. I am looking for a person who brings meaningful experience, strong business judgment, and proven multi-location operational expertise. The right person will elevate my own understanding of how to build and lead a larger organization, bring ideas and experience that we do not yet have, and become a trusted partner in helping VSE grow. Our vision is to remain privately owned while building an organization that can deliver exceptional medicine, an outstanding client experience, and a strong team culture across multiple locations. We want to grow thoughtfully, preserve what makes VSE special, and build something that can endure. Austin Richman, DVM, DACVD Owner & Medical Director The Opportunity This is a senior, hands-on business leadership role reporting and working directly with me. The Director of Operations will lead and develop our operational management structure, strengthen execution at our current practice, and help plan and build the infrastructure for future locations. The first priority is to understand our current business thoroughly. You will spend time learning our workflows, people, systems, culture, financial performance, and existing challenges. We expect you to listen carefully, understand why we do things the way we do, and identify what is already working well. From there, we need someone who can move decisively: establish priorities, improve consistency, build or refine systems where needed, develop our leaders, and ensure that important work actually gets completed. We are not looking for change for the sake of change. We want practical improvements that make the business stronger without creating unnecessary bureaucracy or slowing down the responsiveness of a small, entrepreneurial company. This position requires both an ability to work at the strategic level and a willingness to understand operational details. You should be able to develop a multi-year expansion plan while also recognizing when a basic process is not being followed and ensuring the issue is resolved. What You Will Be Responsible For 1. Strengthen and Stabilize Our Current Practice Your first responsibility will be to help make our existing West Los Angeles location operate consistently at the high standards we expect. Learn and evaluate our existing operational systems, workflows, management structure, and business performance. Identify the most important opportunities to improve consistency, efficiency, communication, and accountability. Build on the systems already in place, refining or replacing processes only when there is a clear reason to do so. Establish clear ownership, deadlines, and follow-through for important operational tasks and projects. Ensure that core processes—including scheduling, client communication, hiring, onboarding, training, payroll coordination, inventory, purchasing, and administrative workflows—are executed reliably. Anticipate staffing and operational challenges and help the team address them proactively. Create useful management reporting and meeting rhythms that keep priorities visible and moving forward. Ensure that improvements are implemented, measured, and sustained rather than simply discussed. 2. Develop Our Managers, Supervisors, and Team A central part of this role is helping our existing leaders become more effective. We want a strong management structure in which people have clear responsibilities, appropriate training, the resources to succeed, and accountability for results. Lead, coach, and develop the practice manager and department leadership team, including technician and client service supervisors. Assess leadership strengths, organizational needs, and opportunities for development. Establish clear expectations and measurable standards for management performance. Build training and leadership development programs that help managers become more capable and independent. Support managers in addressing personnel issues, performance concerns, and difficult conversations directly and fairly. Help improve and continue a culture of ownership, professionalism, teamwork, continuous improvement, and genuine care for one another. Improve communication between doctors, technicians, client service, and management. Build an organization where employees understand what is expected, receive meaningful feedback, and are proud of the quality of their work. We believe that high standards and a supportive culture belong together. The right leader will know how to hold people accountable while helping them grow, rather than allowing either accountability or empathy to come at the expense of the other. 3. Bring Operational and Financial Expertise We are seeking someone who has already learned how to manage and improve a complex service business. You should be able to bring proven ideas, sound judgment, and financial discipline to VSE. Partner with me to develop budgets, forecasts, and regular financial reporting. Monitor revenue, expenses, labor, productivity, capacity, and profitability. Identify opportunities to improve operational performance and EBITDA while protecting medical quality, client experience, and the long-term health of the team. Create and develop practical KPIs and scorecards that help managers understand performance and make better decisions. Evaluate staffing models, scheduling efficiency, purchasing, vendor relationships, and other operational drivers. Build business cases for major investments and new initiatives. Bring experience and recommendations to strategic discussions, including areas where our current approach could be improved. This is not a position for someone who waits to be told what to do. We want a leader who sees what needs to happen, develops a thoughtful plan, communicates it clearly, and follows through without reminders. 4. Prepare for Thoughtful Multi-Location Growth Our long-term goal is to expand thoughtfully into additional veterinary dermatology locations, potentially adding two more clinics over the coming years when the business and team are ready. We are not interested in growth at the expense of quality or culture. Our current planning targets are to pursue a second location within approximately 12 months and a third within approximately 30 to 36 months. These are goals, not fixed commitments. We will move forward only when the operational, financial, staffing, and medical foundations are strong enough to support successful expansion. The Director of Operations will help build the foundation that makes this possible by developing scalable systems, strengthening the existing leadership team, identifying future leaders, and helping plan and execute new-location opportunities. This may include financial modeling, staffing plans, operational readiness, facility and vendor coordination, and launch execution. We want someone who has experience with multi-unit operations and understands how to create consistency across locations without losing the agility, personal relationships, and high standards of an independent business. This has been our strength and we must work to preserve it. The right person will have the opportunity to grow with the business and assume broader executive responsibility as their performance, the organization, and our needs evolve. Who We Are Looking For We are looking for an experienced business operator—not an aspiring practice manager or someone seeking their first senior leadership opportunity. The ideal candidate has a demonstrated track record of leading multiple locations, developing managers, implementing effective systems, improving financial performance, and building organizations that can scale.

You should be:

Exceptionally organized, proactive, and reliable with follow-through. A strong people leader who can coach, motivate, and importantly hold others accountable. Experienced in leading leaders (managers and supervisors) rather than only managing individual employees. Comfortable making decisions, addressing difficult issues, and taking responsibility for results. Financially literate, with a strong understanding of operating performance and profitability. Able to move between strategic planning and hands-on operational execution. Skilled at implementing systems that people actually use. Confident enough to bring your own expertise and constructively challenge the owner's thinking. Humble enough to learn our business and respect the expertise of our medical team. Comfortable in an entrepreneurial environment where priorities move quickly and bureaucracy must remain limited. Motivated by building a strong, sustainable organization over the long term. Required Experience Significant high level operations leadership experience with a proven record of responsibility for people, systems, and financial performance. Demonstrated multi-location operational experience, preferably within veterinary medicine, healthcare, or another high-service, people and detail intensive business. Experience directly leading and developing managers or department heads. A proven track record of implementing operational improvements and achieving measurable results. Experience with budgets, financial reporting, KPIs, labor management, and profit-and-loss performance. Strong experience in organizational development, training, accountability, and change management. Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Strongly Preferred Multi-unit veterinary practice operations experience, particularly within specialty or high-volume veterinary organizations. Experience opening new locations or building operational infrastructure for expansion. Experience working directly with an owner, founder, or executive leadership team. Experience balancing high professional standards with operational efficiency and a strong employee culture. We are open to exceptional business leaders from outside veterinary medicine, but we are not looking to teach someone the fundamentals of multi-unit operations. The successful candidate must bring relevant experience and be able to apply it effectively to our organization. The Relationship with the Owner I will remain actively involved in VSE as Owner and Medical Director, with final authority over major strategic, financial, and clinical decisions. I want a leader who is comfortable with that relationship and who can become a trusted partner in making the business stronger. Initially, we will work closely together as you learn the practice, assess our needs, and implement improvements. As trust is established and the organization becomes more consistent, my goal is for this person to take increasing ownership of day-to-day operations, keep me appropriately informed, and work with me on planning, major decisions, and future growth. Ultimately, I want to be able to rely on this person to lead the operational side of VSE with the same level of care, urgency, and accountability that I expect of myself. The role should allow me to focus more of my time on medicine, medical leadership, doctor mentorship/recruitment, and strategic direction while knowing the business is being managed exceptionally well. What Success Looks Like In the first several months, you will develop a deep understanding of our current operation, build relationships with the team, evaluate our management structure and systems, and establish a clear set of priorities with me. We expect early progress on important issues, but we do not expect major changes to be rushed without understanding their impact. Over the first year, success will include a more stable and effective management team, more consistent execution of existing systems, stronger training and accountability, useful financial and operational reporting, and meaningful progress toward expansion readiness. Longer term, success means helping VSE become a stronger, more profitable, and more scalable organization while preserving our medical standards, the satisfaction of our doctors and team, and the independent culture that makes the practice special. Work Environment and Hiring Process This is a full-time, on-site position based at our West Los Angeles practice. It requires a visible leadership presence, strong engagement with the team, and flexibility to respond to important operational needs, including occasional evenings or weekends when necessary. We are looking for someone who takes genuine ownership and is motivated by results. At the same time, we believe sustainable success comes from effective delegation, strong systems, and building an organization that does not depend on any one person being available at all times. We are taking this search seriously and are prepared to invest the time necessary to find the right long-term fit. The hiring process may include multiple interviews, reference checks, and practical discussions or exercises focused on leadership, operational judgment, financial understanding, and execution.

Pay:

$130,000.00 - $155,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) 401(k) matching Dental insurance Employee discount Flexible spending account Health insurance Health savings account Paid time off Retirement plan Vision insurance

Work Location:

In person