Chief Regional Operations Officer

CHIEF REGIONAL OPERATING OFFICER (CROO)

Position Overview

The Chief Regional Operating Officer (CROO) holds executive responsibility for the operational performance, leadership alignment, and consistent, hospitality-grade client experience of the firm's regional offices. Drawing on best practices from the hotel and hospitality industry, the CROO ensures that offices operate efficiently, meet revenue and operational targets, and deliver the warm, consistent, anticipatory standard of service that defines a premier guest experience across every market the firm serves.

This role consolidates leadership that was previously distributed across multiple Regional Vice Presidents into a single executive accountable for the firm's regional footprint. The CROO serves as the bridge between the executive leadership team and the field, supporting Managing Attorneys and regional leadership while driving performance, accountability, and growth across all markets.

The CROO leads through the firm's regional VPs, holding them accountable for office-level execution while ensuring consistency, compliance, and culture across the region.

Core Responsibilities

Regional Leadership & Office Oversight

Provide executive oversight of daily operations across all firm offices, ensuring consistent processes, communication, and high performance. Support Managing Attorneys and regional VPs in maintaining productive, professional work environments. Establish the standards and cadence for regional office visits, performance reviews, and issue resolution. Serve as the senior escalation point for office issues, interpersonal conflicts, staffing concerns, and workflow disruptions that cannot be resolved at the regional level.

Market & Operational Performance

Drive operational success and accountability across all regional markets. Monitor office revenue, productivity, KPIs, client satisfaction scores, and service-experience scorecards — applying the same data-driven discipline used to manage guest experience in top-tier hotels — to identify trends, bottlenecks, and underperformance. Lead corrective action when office or regional performance falls below standards. Ensure offices meet business plan objectives for closings, orders, title performance, and other firmwide goals. Identify opportunities for operational efficiency and strategic expansion within and across markets.

Leadership Development & Manager Enablement

Build strong regional leadership teams by coaching and developing regional VPs and Managing Attorneys. Ensure managers own day-to-day people leadership while the firm provides structure and support. Partner with HR and the Corporate Training function to ensure regional teams receive appropriate onboarding, service-excellence training, and development — adapting proven hospitality training models to the firm's environment. Support firm initiatives including mentoring programs, performance milestones, and role-based leveling expectations. Build leadership capacity and succession depth across all markets.

SOP Compliance & Operational Standards

Ensure firmwide SOPs, workflows, service standards, and compliance procedures are enforced consistently across all offices, with the same rigor a hotel brand applies to its service standards manual. Sponsor SOP development, testing, validation, and rollout at the executive level. Ensure all offices follow standardized onboarding, training, and documentation processes. Evaluate process inefficiencies and direct improvements that increase performance and reduce errors.

Change Management & Process Improvement

Lead the region through workflow transitions, SOP updates, and system changes, including platform updates such as Qualia, onboarding revisions, and new task sequences. Ensure regional VPs drive adoption and full integration of new initiatives within their offices. Provide executive feedback during the testing and rollout of new programs. Assess process adoption across markets and remove barriers to consistent execution.

Strategic Planning & Business Execution

Participate in organizational planning, including merger transitions, revenue forecasting, and regional growth initiatives. Translate firmwide strategy into regional execution plans with clear accountability. Ensure regional capacity and structure support the firm's growth objectives. Represent regional operations in executive strategy and planning.

Executive Collaboration & Operational Alignment

Coordinate with the executive leadership team to ensure regional operations support firmwide objectives. Partner with the Chief Growth Officer on growth initiatives, the Chief Shared Services Officer on shared operational services, the Chief Innovation Officer on technology systems, and the Chief Financial Officer on financial performance and profitability. Represent regional concerns and needs at the executive level and serve as the senior liaison between the field and firm leadership.

Culture, Communication & Team Alignment

Reinforce communication standards, hospitality-grade customer service expectations, and the firm's core values across all offices. Promote professionalism, responsiveness, anticipatory service, teamwork, and cultural alignment — instilling a service-first mindset modeled on the best of the hotel industry, where every client interaction is treated as a guest experience. Ensure consistent, solutions-oriented leadership across the region. Maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive matters involving performance, staff relations, and office morale with discretion

Key Performance Metrics

The CROO's success is measured through regional performance indicators including office revenue performance, office profitability, client satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores (NPS), service-recovery effectiveness, operational consistency across markets, KPI and scorecard performance, and the leadership development and effectiveness of Managing Attorneys and regional VPs.

Qualifications

Proven executive or senior leadership experience overseeing multiple locations, regions, or teams. Strong understanding of real estate closing processes, workflows, and technology platforms. Demonstrated ability to analyze operational metrics, identify trends, and drive measurable improvement. Excellent communication, coaching, conflict-resolution, and service-recovery skills. Demonstrated ability to manage change and lead teams through transitions. High-level problem-solving, decision-making, and organizational skills. Ability to collaborate effectively with executives and cross-functional leaders. Experience in a multi-location law firm or real estate services environment strongly preferred. Significant prior experience in the hospitality industry — preferably multi-property or corporate hotel operations — driving outstanding guest and customer experience is highly desirable and considered a distinguishing qualification.