Chief Operating Officer (COO) — Incheon Main Branch
Executive level | Full-time | Onsite | Reports to the CEO | Visa sponsorship available (candidates outside Korea)
ABOUT HUMBLEBEEAI
We specialize in Computer Vision, Generative AI, and Business Analytics. An AI studio with tools, talent, and purpose. We build from our own AI ecosystem to deliver scalable, ethical, and lasting solutions for clients worldwide.
Our offices are located in Incheon (Republic of Korea), and in Tashkent and Namangan (Republic of Uzbekistan). This role is based at the Incheon main branch.
ABOUT THE ROLE
As Chief Operating Officer, you will own the operating engine of the company: turning strategy into execution, keeping resource allocation and business development moving, and making sure the systems that run HumbleBeeAI scale beyond founder-improvised processes.
You will report directly to the CEO and take over most day-to-day operating decisions, acting as the connective tissue between the CEO, CFO, CTO, and department heads. This is a hands-on executive role with real decision authority, not an advisory seat.
TEAM AND REPORTING
- Reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.
- Takes over most day-to-day operating decisions across the Incheon branch.
- Works alongside the CFO and CTO as peers, and coordinates across department heads.
- Authorised to represent leadership in meetings on behalf of Project Managers and make binding operational calls.
- The wider company team is 50+ people across the Korea and Uzbekistan offices.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Own business development end to end, from lead generation through SOW signing and first payment.
- Design, implement, and enforce company-wide policies and procedures (P&Ps) in partnership with department heads.
- Allocate resources — people, budget, and project priority — across concurrent teams and initiatives.
- Own the design of compensation and incentive structures, working within legal and financial guardrails.
- Build and run KPI frameworks tied to HR and culture metrics, including attendance, satisfaction, and policy adherence.
- Represent leadership in meetings on behalf of Project Managers and make binding operational decisions.
- Run the company operating rhythm: planning cadences, reporting cycles, and cross-functional syncs.
- Hold department heads accountable to agreed targets and surface operational risk before it becomes legal or financial exposure.
REQUIREMENTS — MUST HAVE
- 5+ years in an operations leadership role (COO, Head of Operations, or similar), ideally in a services, agency, or tech consulting environment.
- Track record owning end-to-end business development, from lead generation through SOW signing and first payment.
- Experience designing and enforcing company-wide policies and procedures (P&Ps) in partnership with department heads.
- Strong background in resource allocation across multiple concurrent projects and teams.
- Comfort owning compensation and incentive structures, including performance-linked pay policies, with legal and financial guardrails in mind.
- Experience building or running KPI frameworks tied to HR and culture metrics such as attendance, satisfaction, and adherence.
- Able to represent leadership in meetings on behalf of Project Managers and make binding operational calls.
- Strong cross-functional coordination skills, comfortable acting as the connective tissue between CEO, CFO, CTO, and department heads.
- Fluent in English; Uzbek fluency strongly preferred given team composition.
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience scaling a company from founder-improvised systems to formal operating processes.
- Background in AI or software development services specifically, with an understanding of engineering delivery cycles rather than generic operations.
- Prior exposure to multi-office or multi-city team management across regions.
- Experience with client dispute resolution and commercial risk allocation in service contracts.
- Familiarity with building internal tooling or dashboards for operational tracking, such as attendance systems and PM workflow tools.
- Experience mentoring or formally onboarding successors into ownership of key processes.
- Technical fluency sufficient to sit in on AI, Computer Vision, or robotics-adjacent client conversations without needing translation.
- Working knowledge of Korean, given the Incheon base and local business environment.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Genuine ownership of the operating engine of the company, with authority over most day-to-day decisions.
- Direct reporting line to the CEO and peer-level collaboration with the CFO and CTO.
- Compensation from 2,000 USD per month, negotiated based on experience.
- Visa sponsorship support for candidates applying from outside Korea, and a long-term growth trajectory.
INTERVIEW PROCESS
- Document screening — review of your CV, track record, and application form.
- Online interview — Zoom session with leadership covering your operating experience and approach.
- In-person interview — final conversation at our Incheon office.
HOW TO APPLY
- Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSen1LYdeGS_hr2EMnKB7IKuZDwd8pueVz8gdjs_nUfB1HSTUA/viewform
- Questions: [email protected]
Please include: your CV or LinkedIn profile, a short summary of the teams, budgets, and operations you have owned (including scale), and one example of a process or system you built that outlived your tenure, with how you measured its impact.
HOW TO WRITE YOUR CV
Focus on the operations, teams, and budgets you have actually owned, not just job titles.
Describe how you identified and resolved operational issues during scaling or process breakdowns.
Where possible, show results in numbers (revenue, cost, retention, cycle time — direction and scale if figures are sensitive).
HumbleBeeAI is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.