EverHire
Managing Director / COO
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Managing Director / Chief Operating Officer
Location: Loughton, Essex
Reporting to: Nicholas Thomas, Founder & CEO
Salary: DOE + profit share + future equity
Read this if you've already built one.
Most COO adverts are written by companies who want a safe pair of hands. This isn't that.
EverHire went from zero to £2.3m turnover in under three years with no outside investment, across four countries, from two offices. We're now going after £12m+ and a US office. The thing standing in the way isn't the market, the clients, or the talent on the floor. It's that one person is currently the ceiling on all of it, and that person is me.
Who we are
EverHire is one of the fastest growing start-up recruitment businesses in Europe.
- Founded late 2023
- £0 outside investment
- £2.3m turnover and climbing fast
- Specialists in civil engineering, Infrastructure and Data Center
- Operating across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the United States
- Offices in Loughton (Essex) and Stockholm (Sweden)
- 360 model, RPO & Retained, with a strong contract and EOR book alongside permanent.
We built the Swedish infrastructure desk from scratch and made it a market leader. We're doing the same thing in the US right now. The next 24 months are about turning a founder-led business into an operating company that doesn't need its founder in every room.
Why this role exists
Right now every operational decision routes through me. That's fine at £2.3m. It's the reason we don't get to £12m.
So this role is simple to describe and hard to do: you run the business, I grow it.
What you'll actually own
- The floor: Every desk, both offices, UK, Nordics and US. Billing performance, activity standards, pipeline discipline, forecast accuracy. If a desk is off plan, you know before I do and you already have a plan.
- The people: I will be heavily involved in this supporting you. Hiring, onboarding, training, development, performance management, promotion, and the hard conversations. Building the management layer underneath you so we're not doing this again at £20m.
- Delivery: Candidate experience, client experience, contractor care, our contract and EOR book. The quality of what we actually put in front of a client.
- Systems and process: Bullhorn, our internal tooling, reporting, data hygiene, and the operating rhythm of the week. We've built good tools. Someone needs to make the business actually use them.
- Compliance and risk: Terms, contracts, supplier agreements, employment matters across three jurisdictions, and the boring things that become expensive when nobody owns them.
- Culture: The standard on the floor is the standard you tolerate. You set it.
Reasons to use Rodeo
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No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
I keep finance, strategy, group structure, and the growth agenda: new markets, new clients, new offices. Everything else is yours.
What the first year looks like
- First 90 days: Learn the desks properly. Sit with every consultant. Understand where the money actually comes from and where it leaks. Come back to me with an honest read on what's broken.
- Months 3 to 6: Own the operating rhythm. Weekly numbers, monthly reviews, quarterly planning. Take the day-to-day decisions off my desk permanently, not temporarily.
- Months 6 to 12: Build the management layer. Get the US desk to scale. Be the person the team goes to first, and the person I don't need to check.
- Beyond: Open offices. Take equity. Run a business that outgrows both of us. Be a key part in the exit of the business.
Who we're looking for
You've run a recruitment business, or a substantial part of one. A region, an office, a multi-desk P&L. You've carried the number, not just reported on it.
Specifically:
- You've done it, not studied it. You've billed, you've managed billers, and you've managed managers. You know what a good day on the phone sounds like from across the room.
- You're commercial before you're administrative. Process serves revenue here, not the other way round.
- You can hold a floor. People perform for you because they respect you, not because of your job title.
- You're comfortable being the bad guy. You'll manage people out, kill things that aren't working, and tell me when I'm wrong. Especially that last one.
- You build systems, not dependencies. In two years the business should run better without you in the room, not worse.
- You want ownership, not a title. This is a build. If you want a finished business with a finished playbook, this isn't it.
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International experience, US market exposure, or Nordic experience are all a bonus. None of them are essential. Judgement, standards and pace are.
Who this isn't for
- Anyone who wants a corporate COO role with a mandate to write policy
- Anyone who needs a fully built infrastructure to be effective
- Anyone who thinks 4 days in the office is a lot
- Anyone who wants to be liked more than they want to be right
The package
- Base salary: DOE
- Profit share: A meaningful share of group profit, paid on what the business actually delivers. Uncapped.
- Equity: A genuine route to ownership. It's earned on performance and tenure, not handed over at offer stage, and we'll be direct with each other about what that looks like before you sign.
- Holiday: 25 days + bank holidays
- Incentive trips: 2-4 per year, you're on all of them
- Gym: Fully paid membership
- Friday WFH + early finish
- International travel: Sweden, the US, and wherever we open next
The hours
This is a leadership role in a performance business, not a 9-to-5. However as long as you are getting the job done and supporting the business as needed you can set the hours you work yourself. I care much more about results than the hours you are at your desk.
How to apply
Send me your CV and a short note. Not a cover letter. Tell me the hardest operational problem you've personally fixed, what it cost you, and what you'd want to know about EverHire before you took this on.
I'll read every one myself. First conversations within a week, and they'll be with me.
The next 24 months decide what this business becomes. I'd rather decide it with someone than on my own.
Nicholas Thomas
Founder & CEO, EverHire
nicholas@everhire.se
+44 7481 515991
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Jessica, London
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