Table of Contents
[toc headings="h2" title="Table of Contents"] Operating partners play a unique and increasingly critical role in private equity firms. Unlike deal-focused investment professionals, operating partners work directly with portfolio companies. There, they serve as trusted advisors who help the company navigate often complex challenges, implementing improvements that will help to speed up their growth. Private equity firms today are under more pressure than ever before to deliver massive returns. To accomplish that, they need advisors who can guide execution, develop leadership, and foster the right culture within portfolio companies. In this guide, we’ll explore the qualities that define an exceptional operating partner, why they’re indispensable to long-term value creation, and how to hire the right private equity operating partner for your team.
The operating partner’s role in private equity
An operating partner is a critical senior executive on a private equity team who acts as an advisor to the companies in their portfolio. They work closely with leadership at both the private equity firm and the portfolio company to improve day-to-day operations and implement strategic plans. In a recent study conducted by Kearney, 60% of PE CEOs cited operations teams, led by an operating partner, as instrumental in establishing a clear structure and focus in their portfolio companies. An operating partner’s expertise is often in areas like finance, sales, technology, supply chain management, or organizational development. Their deep sector knowledge allows them to develop and implement effective strategies for portfolio company performance improvement. While they do think strategically, their primary focus is on execution, identifying growth levers, driving transformation, and supporting management in achieving key business goals. Operating partners are a specific type of portfolio company advisor. The responsibilities of a portfolio company advisor can vary depending on their function. They may be board members, industry experts, interim executives, or functional specialists who work with a portfolio company on a specific project or challenge. In some cases, portfolio company advisors are independent contractors hired for a specific project. In contrast, operating partner is a formal role. These individuals are typically part of the firm’s internal team and integral to PE portfolio management, assigned to work with one or more portfolio companies on its behalf. While they often take an active role in execution at the portfolio level, they are deeply embedded in the PE firm’s strategy and report back to the firm throughout a portfolio company turnaround. Operating partner responsibilities revolve around one core goal: driving value creation in portfolio companies. The specific tasks they take on will vary depending on the industry, firm strategy, and needs of the portfolio company, but their role typically spans a few key areas:
- Strategic planning and execution – Operating partners translate the PE firm’s investment thesis into an actionable plan by identifying operational improvements, growth opportunities, and strategic priorities that align with exit objectives.
- Leadership assessment and talent development – Talent management in portfolio companies is critical to drive growth. Operating partners support this by assessing their leadership teams, identifying talent gaps, and recruiting key executives, and may also help to develop culture, coach leaders, and build high-performing teams.
- Operational improvement – Providing operational support is a key pillar of an operating partner’s responsibilities. They optimize operations by improving sales effectiveness, streamlining supply chains, enhancing financial reporting, driving digital transformation, or implementing new systems and processes.
- Performance monitoring – Operating partners first help to define KPIs and crucial success factors, then work with company leadership to implement performance dashboards and keep the team accountable to these key milestones.
- M&A and integration support – For PE firms using a buy-and-build strategy, an operating partner often leads the post-merger integration to ensure organizational alignment.
Common misconceptions about PE firm operating partners
Operating partners are an essential piece of any effective private equity talent strategy—but firms fail to utilize them properly, largely due to a lack of clarity around this evolving role. Some of the most frequent misunderstandings regarding this role include: Operating partners are just consultants. While they advise companies in a similar way to a consultant, operating partners are embedded within the PE firm, not an external professional brought in for a short-term project. This means they are accountable for execution and results, not just providing advice and recommendations. Operating partners only step in when something goes wrong. A common assumption is that these professionals are “fixers” deployed when a portfolio company is underperforming. In reality, their work is proactive, not just reactive. They’re involved from the start with building value creation plans and support leadership throughout the investment lifecycle. Operating partners are only useful post-acquisition. In many firms, operating partners get involved even before a deal is closed. They often conduct operational due diligence, assess leadership teams, and validate the feasibility of value creation plans, making them critical to investment decision making. Operating partners manage the business day-to-day. The role of an operating partner is to empower leadership, not override it. They serve as hands-on strategic advisors who support portfolio company management, but aren’t replacements for the executive team and don’t typically run the day-to-day operations. A finance background is required to be an operating partner. Financial literacy is important for operating partners, but their expertise is often broader. They are typically seasoned operators, in some cases former CEOs or COOs, with extensive experience in leadership, strategy, operations, or functional areas like marketing, sales, and supply chain.
What makes a great operating partner?
While the most important skills to look for during operating partner recruitment can vary, there are some essential skills that PE firms should look for in these professionals. Here are some of the key traits that PE firms should emphasize when developing their operating partner recruitment strategy.
Deep operational expertise
Operating partners take a hands-on role in improving the actual performance of portfolio companies. This is what makes operational expertise one of the key portfolio advisor qualifications. It accelerates value creation by allowing the operating partner to bridge the gap between high-level strategy and day-to-day execution, identifying inefficiencies and implementing strategic changes that boost profitability.
Emotional intelligence
At its best, the operating partner role is people-driven and highly collaborative. These professionals work closely with both PE deal teams and portfolio company leadership to drive change, often in fast-paced, high-pressure environments. A high EQ lets them build trust and rapport quickly, resolve conflicts, overcome change resistance, and oversee private equity leadership development in a way that supports growth without undermining their authority.
Relationship building
Relationship building is among the most crucial private equity operating partner skills for similar reasons to emotional intelligence. Success in this role depends on trust, influence, and collaboration more than formal authority. The ability to quickly establish strong working relationships enables smoother communication and faster decision-making, helping to align board members, portfolio company executives, and PE deal times on strategy and operational improvements.
Strategic thinking
Operating partners need to see the big picture in order to effectively identify growth opportunities, prioritize initiatives, and align operational improvements with the firm’s investment thesis. Emphasizing strategic thinking during the portfolio advisor hiring process helps ensure you’ll hire someone who can understand market dynamics and long-term value drivers, then use that knowledge to successfully guide portfolio companies through change.
Problem solving
Operating partners are often called in to handle tough problems that affect a company’s performance, such as filling leadership gaps or responding to changes in the market. They need to quickly figure out what’s really going on and come up with practical solutions, usually while working under tight deadlines. Emphasizing strong problem solving capabilities during the private equity talent acquisition process helps firms hire professionals who can rise to that challenge.
Common pitfalls in executive search for operating partners (and how to avoid them)
Now that you know what an operating partner does and the skills they need to succeed, it’s the ideal time to go through some private equity hiring best practices that can help firms find and hire the right professionals. Like with any PE leadership recruitment, there are unfortunately no hard-and-fast rules that guarantee success. However, there are some common mistakes that firms make with operating partner hiring, and avoiding them is a good first step toward perfecting your private equity human capital strategy. Let’s take a look at the most frequent issues and a potential fix for each.
Mistake 1: Hiring for credentials, not fit.
Much of an operating partner’s role is focused on alignment. They don’t just need to be an exceptional business leader, although that can be beneficial. More important is that they understand the culture, investment goals, and operating style of the PE firm and how to translate that into actionable growth strategies at the portfolio company level. Rather than choosing candidates based solely on the prestige of past job titles, center cultural fit interviews in your PE talent acquisition process. Also look for individuals who have relevant experience within private equity firms or their portfolio companies, and understands the unique challenges with scaling and improving performance in this context.
Mistake 2: Ignoring sector-specific experience.
Having a solid understanding of the industry is a big advantage for an operating partner. When they know the typical challenges and opportunities a company might face in its sector, they’re in a much better position to help it succeed over the long term. It also makes it easier to build trust with the company’s leadership team. A generalist operator may still be effective, but will typically face a steeper learning curve—not ideal, given the fast growth timelines that are often expected in these situations. When sourcing candidates for operating partner roles, define the sector focus clearly from the start and target candidates with deep domain knowledge and networks in those areas. Ideally, they should be well-versed in both private equity trends and those of the portfolio company’s sector. During interviews, you can make use of scenario questions and case studies to assess candidates’ industry fluency.
Mistake 3: Failing to clearly define the role.
The industry of focus isn’t the only detail that should be clearly defined before you even start your search. The responsibilities and expectations of an operating partner can vary widely from one company to another. Failing to clearly define these from the start can lead to confusion, disengagement, and redundancy, all of which can prevent them from effectively delivering the value they’re being hired to create. As soon as you know you plan to hire an operating partner, create a clear role profile that includes success metrics as well as core responsibilities, reporting lines, and objectives. Use this as a guide both for the job posting and when selecting resumes and conducting interviews. Once you’ve hired the successful candidate, clarify these expectations during onboarding to make sure everyone has the same understanding of the role.
Setting operating partners up for success
The effectiveness of your operating partner onboarding process is hugely important in how well they are able to perform the role up to your expectations. Even an experienced and skilled operating partner can struggle if there is ambiguity regarding their role. This is another reason clearly defining the position from the start is important. It doesn’t only help to ensure you hire the right person, but also helps that individual to succeed in the position once they’ve secured it. Communicate the operating model and where the partner is expected to lead, support, or collaborate. Some operating partners are very hands-on while others function more as strategic advisors, so you want to be completely clear on how things work in your firm to prevent misunderstandings. Establishing performance metrics is critical in this stage, as well. Make sure they understand how success will be measured in both the short-term and the long-term, and provide guidance on how to align immediate impact with sustained value. Once the operating partner has a full understanding of the role, it’s just as critical that they get to know the team. You don’t want the operating partner to be siloed or they won’t properly be able to implement the firm’s strategy. Introduce them to the leadership teams of both the PE firm and each portfolio company they will engage with. It’s also wise to invite them into strategy sessions and pipeline meetings with the deal team and investment partners so they feel included in the broader goals and efforts of the firm. Ideally, they should feel integrated into the firm’s culture and like they understand how decisions get made and what unwritten rules tend to govern employee behavior within the PE firm, as well as within each portfolio company. Another way to enable a new operating partner’s success is to ensure they have all of the resources they’ll need to excel. Provide access to key dashboards, financials, or board materials they may need to inform their decisions. Along with this, clarify their budget, including what they are empowered to spend and where they should seek approval first. Finally, getting a quick win or two under their belt can help a new operating partner feel fully settled into their role. Identify some small projects that will let them demonstrate their value early, within their first 90 days in the role. Frequent check-ins during these early stages can also be beneficial, allowing you to quickly adjust course if needed and work together to remove any roadblocks they’ve encountered.
Applying the operating partner playbook for lasting impact
Finding the right operating partner for a private equity firm takes more than just checking off boxes on a résumé. These roles call for a rare mix of strategic thinking, a get-it-done attitude, and the emotional intelligence needed to earn trust across different parts of a business. The best operating partners do more than solve problems. They know how to create value, handle uncertainty, drive growth, and unify teams. When firms understand what traits really matter, they’re better equipped to find and support leaders who can truly move the needle across their portfolio.
Operating partners play a unique and increasingly critical role in private equity firms. Unlike deal-focused investment professionals, operating partners work directly with portfolio companies. There, they serve as trusted advisors who help the company navigate often complex challenges, implementing improvements that will help to speed up their growth.
Private equity firms today are under more pressure than ever before to deliver massive returns. To accomplish that, they need advisors who can guide execution, develop leadership, and foster the right culture within portfolio companies. In this guide, we’ll explore the qualities that define an exceptional operating partner, why they’re indispensable to long-term value creation, and how to hire the right private equity operating partner for your team.
The operating partner’s role in private equity
An operating partner is a critical senior executive on a private equity team who acts as an advisor to the companies in their portfolio. They work closely with leadership at both the private equity firm and the portfolio company to improve day-to-day operations and implement strategic plans. In a recent study conducted by Kearney, 60% of PE CEOs cited operations teams, led by an operating partner, as instrumental in establishing a clear structure and focus in their portfolio companies.
An operating partner’s expertise is often in areas like finance, sales, technology, supply chain management, or organizational development. Their deep sector knowledge allows them to develop and implement effective strategies for portfolio company performance improvement. While they do think strategically, their primary focus is on execution, identifying growth levers, driving transformation, and supporting management in achieving key business goals.
Operating partners are a specific type of portfolio company advisor. The responsibilities of a portfolio company advisor can vary depending on their function. They may be board members, industry experts, interim executives, or functional specialists who work with a portfolio company on a specific project or challenge. In some cases, portfolio company advisors are independent contractors hired for a specific project.
In contrast, operating partner is a formal role. These individuals are typically part of the firm’s internal team and integral to PE portfolio management, assigned to work with one or more portfolio companies on its behalf. While they often take an active role in execution at the portfolio level, they are deeply embedded in the PE firm’s strategy and report back to the firm throughout a portfolio company turnaround.
Operating partner responsibilities revolve around one core goal: driving value creation in portfolio companies. The specific tasks they take on will vary depending on the industry, firm strategy, and needs of the portfolio company, but their role typically spans a few key areas:
- Strategic planning and execution – Operating partners translate the PE firm’s investment thesis into an actionable plan by identifying operational improvements, growth opportunities, and strategic priorities that align with exit objectives.
- Leadership assessment and talent development – Talent management in portfolio companies is critical to drive growth. Operating partners support this by assessing their leadership teams, identifying talent gaps, and recruiting key executives, and may also help to develop culture, coach leaders, and build high-performing teams.
- Operational improvement – Providing operational support is a key pillar of an operating partner’s responsibilities. They optimize operations by improving sales effectiveness, streamlining supply chains, enhancing financial reporting, driving digital transformation, or implementing new systems and processes.
- Performance monitoring – Operating partners first help to define KPIs and crucial success factors, then work with company leadership to implement performance dashboards and keep the team accountable to these key milestones.
- M&A and integration support – For PE firms using a buy-and-build strategy, an operating partner often leads the post-merger integration to ensure organizational alignment.
This multi-dimensional focus is the key difference between operating partners and investment professionals. Where the latter focus on sourcing, structuring, and executing deals, an operating partner is not a deal-maker—their role starts after the deal is made, supporting day-to-day improvements to ensure the strategic investment thesis becomes a reality. In other words, after investment professionals buy the company, operating partners help to build it.
Common misconceptions about PE firm operating partners
Operating partners are an essential piece of any effective private equity talent strategy—but firms fail to utilize them properly, largely due to a lack of clarity around this evolving role. Some of the most frequent misunderstandings regarding this role include:
Operating partners are just consultants.
While they advise companies in a similar way to a consultant, operating partners are embedded within the PE firm, not an external professional brought in for a short-term project. This means they are accountable for execution and results, not just providing advice and recommendations.
Operating partners only step in when something goes wrong.
A common assumption is that these professionals are “fixers” deployed when a portfolio company is underperforming. In reality, their work is proactive, not just reactive. They’re involved from the start with building value creation plans and support leadership throughout the investment lifecycle.
Operating partners are only useful post-acquisition.
In many firms, operating partners get involved even before a deal is closed. They often conduct operational due diligence, assess leadership teams, and validate the feasibility of value creation plans, making them critical to investment decision making.
Operating partners manage the business day-to-day.
The role of an operating partner is to empower leadership, not override it. They serve as hands-on strategic advisors who support portfolio company management, but aren’t replacements for the executive team and don’t typically run the day-to-day operations.
A finance background is required to be an operating partner.
Financial literacy is important for operating partners, but their expertise is often broader. They are typically seasoned operators, in some cases former CEOs or COOs, with extensive experience in leadership, strategy, operations, or functional areas like marketing, sales, and supply chain.
What makes a great operating partner?
While the most important skills to look for during operating partner recruitment can vary, there are some essential skills that PE firms should look for in these professionals. Here are some of the key traits that PE firms should emphasize when developing their operating partner recruitment strategy.
Deep operational expertise
Operating partners take a hands-on role in improving the actual performance of portfolio companies. This is what makes operational expertise one of the key portfolio advisor qualifications. It accelerates value creation by allowing the operating partner to bridge the gap between high-level strategy and day-to-day execution, identifying inefficiencies and implementing strategic changes that boost profitability.
Emotional intelligence
At its best, the operating partner role is people-driven and highly collaborative. These professionals work closely with both PE deal teams and portfolio company leadership to drive change, often in fast-paced, high-pressure environments. A high EQ lets them build trust and rapport quickly, resolve conflicts, overcome change resistance, and oversee private equity leadership development in a way that supports growth without undermining their authority.
Relationship building
Relationship building is among the most crucial private equity operating partner skills for similar reasons to emotional intelligence. Success in this role depends on trust, influence, and collaboration more than formal authority. The ability to quickly establish strong working relationships enables smoother communication and faster decision-making, helping to align board members, portfolio company executives, and PE deal times on strategy and operational improvements.
Strategic thinking
Operating partners need to see the big picture in order to effectively identify growth opportunities, prioritize initiatives, and align operational improvements with the firm’s investment thesis. Emphasizing strategic thinking during the portfolio advisor hiring process helps ensure you’ll hire someone who can understand market dynamics and long-term value drivers, then use that knowledge to successfully guide portfolio companies through change.
Problem solving
Operating partners are often called in to handle tough problems that affect a company’s performance, such as filling leadership gaps or responding to changes in the market. They need to quickly figure out what’s really going on and come up with practical solutions, usually while working under tight deadlines. Emphasizing strong problem solving capabilities during the private equity talent acquisition process helps firms hire professionals who can rise to that challenge.
Common pitfalls in executive search for operating partners (and how to avoid them)
Now that you know what an operating partner does and the skills they need to succeed, it’s the ideal time to go through some private equity hiring best practices that can help firms find and hire the right professionals. Like with any PE leadership recruitment, there are unfortunately no hard-and-fast rules that guarantee success. However, there are some common mistakes that firms make with operating partner hiring, and avoiding them is a good first step toward perfecting your private equity human capital strategy. Let’s take a look at the most frequent issues and a potential fix for each.
Mistake 1: Hiring for credentials, not fit.
Much of an operating partner’s role is focused on alignment. They don’t just need to be an exceptional business leader, although that can be beneficial. More important is that they understand the culture, investment goals, and operating style of the PE firm and how to translate that into actionable growth strategies at the portfolio company level.
Rather than choosing candidates based solely on the prestige of past job titles, center cultural fit interviews in your PE talent acquisition process. Also look for individuals who have relevant experience within private equity firms or their portfolio companies, and understands the unique challenges with scaling and improving performance in this context.
Mistake 2: Ignoring sector-specific experience.
Having a solid understanding of the industry is a big advantage for an operating partner. When they know the typical challenges and opportunities a company might face in its sector, they’re in a much better position to help it succeed over the long term. It also makes it easier to build trust with the company’s leadership team. A generalist operator may still be effective, but will typically face a steeper learning curve—not ideal, given the fast growth timelines that are often expected in these situations.
When sourcing candidates for operating partner roles, define the sector focus clearly from the start and target candidates with deep domain knowledge and networks in those areas. Ideally, they should be well-versed in both private equity trends and those of the portfolio company’s sector. During interviews, you can make use of scenario questions and case studies to assess candidates’ industry fluency.
Mistake 3: Failing to clearly define the role.
The industry of focus isn’t the only detail that should be clearly defined before you even start your search. The responsibilities and expectations of an operating partner can vary widely from one company to another. Failing to clearly define these from the start can lead to confusion, disengagement, and redundancy, all of which can prevent them from effectively delivering the value they’re being hired to create.
As soon as you know you plan to hire an operating partner, create a clear role profile that includes success metrics as well as core responsibilities, reporting lines, and objectives. Use this as a guide both for the job posting and when selecting resumes and conducting interviews. Once you’ve hired the successful candidate, clarify these expectations during onboarding to make sure everyone has the same understanding of the role.
Setting operating partners up for success
The effectiveness of your operating partner onboarding process is hugely important in how well they are able to perform the role up to your expectations. Even an experienced and skilled operating partner can struggle if there is ambiguity regarding their role. This is another reason clearly defining the position from the start is important. It doesn’t only help to ensure you hire the right person, but also helps that individual to succeed in the position once they’ve secured it.
Communicate the operating model and where the partner is expected to lead, support, or collaborate. Some operating partners are very hands-on while others function more as strategic advisors, so you want to be completely clear on how things work in your firm to prevent misunderstandings.
Establishing performance metrics is critical in this stage, as well. Make sure they understand how success will be measured in both the short-term and the long-term, and provide guidance on how to align immediate impact with sustained value.
Once the operating partner has a full understanding of the role, it’s just as critical that they get to know the team. You don’t want the operating partner to be siloed or they won’t properly be able to implement the firm’s strategy. Introduce them to the leadership teams of both the PE firm and each portfolio company they will engage with.
It’s also wise to invite them into strategy sessions and pipeline meetings with the deal team and investment partners so they feel included in the broader goals and efforts of the firm. Ideally, they should feel integrated into the firm’s culture and like they understand how decisions get made and what unwritten rules tend to govern employee behavior within the PE firm, as well as within each portfolio company.
Another way to enable a new operating partner’s success is to ensure they have all of the resources they’ll need to excel. Provide access to key dashboards, financials, or board materials they may need to inform their decisions. Along with this, clarify their budget, including what they are empowered to spend and where they should seek approval first.
Finally, getting a quick win or two under their belt can help a new operating partner feel fully settled into their role. Identify some small projects that will let them demonstrate their value early, within their first 90 days in the role. Frequent check-ins during these early stages can also be beneficial, allowing you to quickly adjust course if needed and work together to remove any roadblocks they’ve encountered.
Applying the operating partner playbook for lasting impact
Finding the right operating partner for a private equity firm takes more than just checking off boxes on a résumé. These roles call for a rare mix of strategic thinking, a get-it-done attitude, and the emotional intelligence needed to earn trust across different parts of a business. The best operating partners do more than solve problems. They know how to create value, handle uncertainty, drive growth, and unify teams. When firms understand what traits really matter, they’re better equipped to find and support leaders who can truly move the needle across their portfolio.