Melinda Is Ready for Her Next COO Role

Melinda Pavek - Professional Profile

Introduction

Melinda Is Ready for Her Next COO Role

25-year global operations leader who rebuilds resilient, audit-ready services at scale.

Washington, DC

About

I turn high-stakes chaos into calm, measurable service, fast.

I have spent my career in environments where the stakes are real, people are stressed, and failure shows up on the front page. I am at my best when a system is overloaded, a process is breaking, or a team needs a clear operating rhythm to restore trust and throughput. The work looks different across sectors, but the goal is always the same, build resilient operations that still feel human.

I build operating systems that hold up under pressure, then I make them faster, safer, and easier to run. I restored full service delivery for a 100+ person post-pandemic operation while keeping compliance tight and teams steady.

I love the unglamorous work that changes outcomes, queue design, staffing models, governance, and clear decision rights. I helped drive record service throughput and cut extreme backlogs, reducing wait times from 900+ days to about 300 days through disciplined planning and process improvements.

I am also comfortable owning the controls, the vendors, and the dollars. I led $37M in procurement and strengthened audit-ready practices, and I have managed complex logistics including $300M in shipments and major site transitions, all while coordinating across diverse stakeholders.

If you know a leader hiring for operations that must be resilient, regulated, and high-throughput, I would value a warm introduction. A LinkedIn share also helps a lot, especially with operators in resilience, mobility services, healthcare ops, or energy and infrastructure delivery.

Target roles: Chief Operating Officer (COO) or VP Operations, Head of Operational Resilience, Business Continuity, or Crisis Operations, VP, Service Delivery or Operations Transformation

Get in Touch

Hi, I'm Melinda. I'm a seasoned operations leader passionate about enhancing organizational resilience and driving efficiency in complex environments. Would love to chat if you're working in operational resilience or crisis management.

Melinda Pavek linkedin.com/in/melindapavek

Melinda excels at building operational resilience and transforming service delivery in high-stakes environments, leveraging her extensive experience in government and private sectors.