Drag & Fly — Palm Springs, CA Contract | 3-6 Month Engagement | Immediate Start About Drag & Fly Drag & Fly is a fast-growing Palm Springs tourism and entertainment company creating highly curated, hospitality-driven experiences that blend history, culture, comedy, retail, and live performance. Since opening in November 2024, we have welcomed more than 14,000 guests across more than 1,000 tours. We are now entering our next stage of growth, including new tour products, an expanded retail and guest-experience space, and greater operational complexity. The creative vision is established. The demand is there. Now we need the operating system underneath it. The Opportunity We are looking for an experienced Fractional COO / Operations Systems Lead to join us for approximately 3-6 months and help transform a successful founder-led business into a highly organized, documented, repeatable operation. This is not an advisory-only consulting assignment. We need someone who enjoys getting inside a business, understanding how everything actually works, identifying where things are breaking down, designing better systems, implementing those systems, training the team, and ultimately handing us an operation that can run consistently without depending on the founder for every decision.

The goal is simple:

Build it. Document it. Train us. Hand it off. What You'll Own You will evaluate and improve operations across our tour business, retail store, guest experience, staffing, technology, facilities, and administrative systems.

Areas of responsibility will include:

Creating comprehensive SOPs and operating manuals Establishing clear roles, responsibilities, accountability, and workflows Developing staff scheduling and backup-coverage systems Improving opening, closing, check-in, tour-dispatch, and end-of-day procedures Creating inventory controls, receiving procedures, par levels, and reorder thresholds Streamlining purchasing and vendor management Evaluating and improving our TripWorks, POS, payment, and retail systems Simplifying ticket and merchandise transactions Establishing daily cash, sales, and reconciliation procedures Developing maintenance, repair, and vehicle/equipment tracking systems Creating safety procedures and staff training protocols Improving guest communications and service-recovery procedures Establishing useful operational KPIs and reporting Helping establish HR, payroll, timekeeping, and compliance processes Supporting operations through an upcoming physical expansion of our Palm Springs location Identifying unnecessary expenses, duplicated systems, and operational inefficiencies Training managers and staff on newly implemented systems The End Product At the conclusion of the engagement, Drag & Fly should have a clearly documented and teachable operating system — essentially the Drag & Fly Operations Bible. Someone new should be able to enter the company, understand how we operate, and follow documented procedures rather than relying on institutional knowledge living inside the founder's head. We are also building with the future in mind. Our systems should be strong enough to support additional tours, additional locations, or replication of the Drag & Fly model. Who We're Looking For You may have been a Director of Operations, General Manager, integrator, hospitality executive, or senior operations consultant. Experience in one or more of the following would be especially valuable: Hospitality, tourism, attractions, experiential entertainment, restaurants, retail, events, or other high-touch guest-service businesses.

You should be someone who:

Has personally built operational systems and SOPs Can move comfortably between strategy and hands-on implementation Loves solving messy operational problems Is exceptionally organized Understands both people and processes Knows how to introduce structure without creating unnecessary bureaucracy Can identify the few metrics that actually matter Communicates clearly with founders, managers, frontline employees, and vendors Is comfortable entering a rapidly evolving entrepreneurial business Can leave behind systems that people will actually use What This Role Is Not We are not looking for someone to spend three months observing the business and then deliver a PowerPoint telling us what we should do. We want someone who will help us do it. Roll up your sleeves. Build the processes. Test them. Adjust them. Document them. Train the team. Then leave us significantly stronger than you found us. Location & Engagement Palm Springs, California This is a 3-6 month fractional/contract engagement with an immediate start preferred. Because understanding our guest experience and physical operation is essential, this position will require meaningful on-site time in Palm Springs, although some work may be completed remotely. Schedule and weekly commitment can be structured around the right candidate. To Apply, please send your resume along with a brief note describing: A business or operation you have personally helped systematize. What you actually implemented—not simply what you recommended. Your availability for a 3-6 month engagement. Your expected compensation structure or rate. Drag & Fly is an equal opportunity employer. We enthusiastically welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Pay:

$3,000.00 - $5,000.00 per month

Work Location:

In person