Chief Operating Officer

About Systrends Systrends is a leading provider of regulatory compliance software for energy professionals. We help utilities, pipelines, grid operators, and energy law firms manage the complex, deadline-driven, and unforgiving work of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reporting. Today, the energy regulatory market is at an inflection point. As FERC expands its structured data reporting requirements and energy demand surges, enterprises need more purpose-built software to navigate the compliance lifecycle—from accurate data preparation to timely reporting and complex audits. With an already strong foundation in reporting, Systrends has the reputation and customer trust to become the defining platform to manage energy regulatory compliance end-to-end. We’ve assembled a talented team of subject matter experts and are investing heavily in the platform to match. What we need now is the operational leadership to keep pace—managing the team, building the systems, and driving the velocity required to scale without dropping a ball. To learn more about us, explore our recent press releases: Investment from Bristlecone Companies , April Brady Joins as CEO , and Systrends Acquires HData Compliance . The Opportunity Systrends is hiring a Chief Operating Officer . This person will build and own the operational foundation behind a category-defining regulatory software company at a pivotal moment in its history. Systrends already has a focused team, long-term customer relationships, healthy financials, a strategic product roadmap, and real growth upside. However, our operations lag our impact and will only get more complex from here. The COO will bring structure, accountability, operational discipline, and execution across the business. This is a rare seat: broad authority, a clear mandate, and direct proximity to both the CEO and ownership in a business with growing momentum and a long runway ahead. It’s a hands-on role for someone who enjoys building companies from the inside. The right person will become the organizational glue that empowers the team to execute reliably through a period of significant change. What You’ll Do Align on and implement an operating framework, establishing a consistent rhythm of goal setting, reporting cycles, and cross-functional accountability that runs without single-person dependency Drive quarterly and annual planning, translating growth objectives into clear priorities, grounded resource plans, and realistic investment figures Own the financial operating picture: partner with Finance on reporting, drive the operational data infrastructure, and ensure the ELT is making decisions from shared, accurate numbers Define the org structure intentionally, identify gaps, and fill them with quality people; partner with CEO across talent recruiting, onboarding, development, engagement, and retention Set a high bar and build an environment where communication flows, ownership is clear, and the whole team is pulling in the same direction Architect how the business operates procedurally and own the implementation — CRM configuration, CS workflows, GTM tooling, onboarding processes, and more Own commercial relationships with vendors, ensuring material contracts, compliance obligations, and operational risks have a clear owner and are managed proactively Be a thought partner to the CEO on growth and help design and build more robust engines for customer acquisition, expansion, and retention Who We’re Looking For We hire for slope and attributes over experience. The right person has likely operated above their title, owning more than they were asked to, building more than they were resourced for, and making the people around them better in the process. They treat every company they work for like it's their own. Must-haves: Operating experience in a $2-10M ARR SaaS business on an upward career trajectory Experience building operating infrastructure in high-change environments (high-growth, post-acquisition, founder-led, or operationally complex businesses) High agency and ownership mentality: bias for action, operates well in ambiguity, and takes responsibility for outcomes People management experience with a track record of earning genuine followership while holding a high performance bar Strong financial acumen: comfortable reading a P&L, partnering on a budget, and translating growth objectives into grounded operating plans Execution-oriented and hands-on: personally builds systems, fixes operational gaps, and owns implementation alongside strategy Exceptionally organized with high personal standards for follow-through and detail Clear, precise written and verbal communicator who adapts to audience Highly proficient, experimental, and genuinely ahead of the curve in deploying AI and modern tooling into core workflows to build more with less Nice-to-haves: Experience leading a distributed team Post-acquisition or M&A integration experience Experience working closely with engineering/product teams GTM fluency (distribution channels, customer lifecycle, pricing, retention, etc.) This role is fully remote with periodic travel required for team offsites and client events. Compensation includes a competitive base salary, performance-based bonus, and equity participation. Systrends is backed by Bristlecone Companies , a permanent capital holding company for businesses with leading positions in specialized markets and deep customer trust. Bristlecone has no interest in selling Systrends, allowing us to avoid artificial timelines and build the right way.