operational leadershipsecond chair
Chief of Staff  ·  CoS-to-COO Operator  ·  Austin, TX · Remote
The question every growing company faces

Are you ready for a COO?Or do you need something else first?

There's a moment most leaders reach where the company starts to outpace the infrastructure holding it together. A traditional COO will define what needs to be built — but won't have the team to execute it. You end up with strategy but not execution.

Second Chair sits at the intersection of both. Strategic partner at the leadership level. Hands-on operator building what your company actually needs right now. As you scale, so does the model.

Together we decide what scaling looks like — whether that's stepping into the COO seat or ensuring a clean handoff to whoever comes next.

Let's talkSee the framework
"In an orchestra, the second chair isn't junior — they know the full score, hold the ensemble together, and are ready to step forward when the moment comes."
The operational gap
Two tracks. Every company has to run both.
Where your energy belongs
Product & innovation
Customers & revenue
Market position & IP
Fundraising & investor relations
What Second Chair builds alongside you
Rhythm of business & operating cadence
Goals, OKRs & performance tracking
People ops & org design
Process, tooling & coordination
Eight domains — your operating foundation
Assessed on day one. Built in the order that matters most.
01
Org Architecture
Roles, decision rights, reporting lines
02
Rhythm of Business
Cadence, meetings, leadership alignment
03
Goals & Performance
OKRs, KPIs, strategy to execution
04
Business Operations
Process design, cross-functional flow
05
Financial Operations
Budget, burn, forecasting
06
People Operations
Hiring, onboarding, culture foundation
07
Tooling & Systems
Stack decisions, AI, automation
08
Strategic Projects
Founder leverage, board prep, initiatives
How Second Chair works
We adapt to your company
Framework is a starting point — we diagnose what's needed at your stage. No two engagements look the same.
We move at startup speed
15+ years as CoS at Fannie Mae, First Citizens, and Hitachi. Enterprise rigor without the bureaucracy.
We build what lasts
Everything documented as we go — so the COO you bring in inherits a foundation, not a blank slate.
The first 24 months
Days 1–30
Listen & Diagnose
Assess all eight domains. You co-own the output.
Days 31–90
Build the Foundation
ROB, OKR cycle, org clarity — fit to your company.
Months 3–18
Operate & Iterate
Run the operating layer. Document everything.
Months 18–24
Scale & Transition
Together we decide — COO seat or a clean handoff.
Background
Oy Saibua Ro is a builder. Over 15 years across Fannie Mae, First Citizens Bank, and Hitachi Solutions America, she's been brought in consistently to build what didn't exist before — new teams, new operating structures, transformations that needed someone who could hold the strategy and the execution at the same time. Most of her work comes through referral. The outcomes tend to exceed what leaders originally imagined.
About Oy →
If any of this resonates — let's talk.
oy.saibuaro@secondchair.consultinglinkedin.com/in/oysaibuaro703-258-2961Austin, TX · Oct 2026 · Remote