What are the responsibilities and job description for the Chief Operating Officer position at Hooky Entertainment?
Job Description
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) leads day-to-day multi-unit operations for Es Vedra Cinemas across cinemas, family entertainment, and food & beverage. The COO is accountable for operational excellence, guest experience, and P&L performance while scaling a people-first, high-growth business, and serves as a key member of the executive team and primary operating partner to the CEO.
Job Responsibilities
Es Vedra Cinemas is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) leads day-to-day multi-unit operations for Es Vedra Cinemas across cinemas, family entertainment, and food & beverage. The COO is accountable for operational excellence, guest experience, and P&L performance while scaling a people-first, high-growth business, and serves as a key member of the executive team and primary operating partner to the CEO.
Job Responsibilities
- Own daily operations across all locations (cinema, family entertainment, and F&B) to ensure consistency, quality, and scalability.
- Translate company strategy into clear operating plans, KPIs, and accountabilities for field and corporate teams.
- Build, implement, and continuously improve operating playbooks, SOPs, service standards, and guest experience frameworks.
- Lead annual operating planning, performance reviews, and continuous improvement initiatives. Ensure a high-quality, hospitality-driven guest experience; partner with Marketing and Programming on content, events, and activations.
- Lead, develop, and mentor a high-performing field operations team (GMs, regional leaders, F&B leaders).
- Own operational P&L performance, drive revenue growth, labor optimization, COGS management, and operating margins.
- Lead operational readiness for new locations, remodels, and new concepts; oversee new site opening playbooks and execution.
- Ensure compliance with health, safety, labor, and regulatory requirements; maintain strong safety, security, and loss prevention practices.
- 15 years of progressive multi-unit operations leadership in hospitality, family entertainment, cinema, theme parks, and/or restaurant/F&B.
- Proven experience as COO, SVP/EVP Operations, or equivalent senior operations role in a guest-facing, growth-oriented business.
- Strong strategic operator able to move between executive-level thinking and field-level execution.
- Deep understanding of hospitality, service design, F&B, and experiential entertainment operations.
- Data-driven decision maker; comfortable using KPIs, dashboards, and analytics.
- Exceptional leadership and communication skills; able to build alignment across executives, operators, and frontline teams.
- Demonstrated capability in organizational design, process improvement, and scaling systems and infrastructure.
- Ability to operate with urgency, prioritize effectively, and drive results in a fast-paced, growth environment.
- Comfortable operating in an entrepreneurial, evolving environment with a hands-on, people-first leadership style.
- Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred, or equivalent experience.
- Experience leading both hourly and salaried workforces at scale across multiple markets.
- Track record of delivering strong guest satisfaction, operational excellence, and financial results.
- Ability to work onsite in the Austin, Texas office 5 days per week.
- Ability to travel up to 50% to visit locations, support openings, meet with partners, and attend key events.
- Ability to spend extended periods of time in cinema and entertainment center environments, including standing, walking, and climbing stairs as needed.
Es Vedra Cinemas is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.