COO in iGaming: Salary and Path to the Role

Briefly: the chief operating officer in iGaming pulls product, payments, compliance across several licenses and round-the-clock support into one machine. It is the top of the operations ladder: the role rarely shows up in open vacancies, and hiring goes through direct search and referrals. Here is what a COO does, how much they are paid and which steps lead there.

In every fast-growing company there comes a moment when the founder stops keeping up. Not long ago he was negotiating with payment providers himself, answering lawyers and handling player complaints. Now he has a hundred people, three licenses and five markets, and the day still lasts twenty-four hours.

Decisions start to get stuck. Support is waiting for an answer from product, product is waiting for payments, payments are waiting for compliance. Each department works well, but together they stall, and nobody is responsible for making the whole machine move.

That is when a chief operating officer appears in the company. Not the most public role: heads of marketing and product get written about more often. But whether the company can withstand growth depends on this person.

Below I will go through how a COO in iGaming differs from counterparts in other industries, what their week looks like, how much they are paid and what path people usually take to reach this position.

How an iGaming COO differs from the rest

In a classic business the chief operating officer is responsible for production, logistics and service. In iGaming production is the platform, logistics is payments, and service runs around the clock in a dozen languages. On top of that sits a regulator who can suspend a license.

That is why the role here combines what in other industries is spread across different people. Product and platform, payments in a high-risk environment, compliance across several licenses, support, hiring. A COO does not have to know each function deeper than its head, but must understand how they affect each other.

A good example is launching a new market. You need to get a license, connect local payment methods, hire support in the local language, and adapt the product and marketing to the country's rules. If even one part lags, the launch falls through. Pulling it all into one plan is the COO's job.

It is important to tell a COO apart from a CEO. The CEO decides where the company is going: which markets, which products, which deals. The COO makes sure the company gets there. In small teams one person sometimes combines these roles, but with growth they are almost always split.

A detailed description of the role, duties and metrics is in the Chief Operating Officer profession page.

A chief operating officer's week

Picture a typical week. On Monday, a meeting with the heads of functions. Each spends five minutes saying what is on fire. Payments report that one of the providers raised its fee. Support complains about a growing queue after the latest release.

On Tuesday, a conversation with compliance. The regulator of one market has issued new player verification requirements, and you need to work out how many people and how much time the changes will take. Meanwhile the lawyers prepare for a scheduled audit.

On Wednesday and Thursday, work on budget and hiring. The company is entering a new market, and you must decide whom to hire on staff and whom to bring in as a contractor. Plus two final interviews with candidates for leadership positions.

On Friday, preparing the report for shareholders. Operating margin, platform stability, compliance with regulators' requirements, launch dates. Every number has to be explained, along with what comes next.

And almost every week, something unexpected. A platform outage over the weekend, a blocked payment account, a sudden regulator request. The COO is the one who gets the first call.

Real ranges: how much a COO is paid

The benchmark is the SpinHire directory. The role is split into four levels: from the COO of a small operator or a single group company to the COO of a large group with several licenses. Amounts are in euros, gross per month.

Level	Malta and Cyprus	Poland, Romania, Baltics	Remote · Tbilisi, Yerevan, Kyiv
First	€8000–11 000	€6000–8500	€5500–8000
Second	€12 000–16 000	€9000–13 000	€8500–12 000
Third	€17 000–24 000	€14 000–19 000	€13 000–18 000
Top	€25 000–40 000	€20 000–30 000	€19 000–28 000

On top comes an annual bonus, and at this level it is huge: 50–150% of salary. Plus options or an equity stake. For many COOs it is the equity, not the salary, that becomes the main source of income if the company is sold or goes public.

Why pay this much? A mistake at this level costs the company a license, a market or several months of growth. Shareholders pay for someone who keeps the whole system in balance while it grows.

For comparison: a casino vertical head in Malta at the first level earns €5500–7000, and a country manager €4500–6000. The gap to the next career level is noticeable here. You can compare other roles in salary calculator.

The path to COO: where people come from

There is no direct entry into this role. COOs come after several years as a director of one of the functions. Four paths are the most common:

From leading a casino vertical. A person who was responsible for the casino P&L already understands operator economics. They need to build experience in payments, compliance and support.
From leading operations. Head of Operations is closest to the role in the substance of the work. What usually lacks is experience with shareholders and strategy.
From country managers. Someone who launched a whole market has already pulled all the functions together, even if at the scale of one country. There is a guide to the role on the country manager in iGaming.
From finance. A CFO sees the numbers of the whole company well. They need to learn to manage operating teams, not just a budget.

Each path takes years. The typical story is years in the industry, several of them at function-head level, and only then an offer to become a COO.

If you are a function head now and want to move toward this role, start early. Volunteer to lead cross-functional projects: a market launch, a change of payment provider, audit preparation. These are where it shows whether you can bring together people who do not report to you.

What strong leaders lack to become a COO

First is breadth. A leader who has spent a whole career in marketing may be a star in their function but not understand why the payments team cannot connect a new method quickly. A COO needs to understand everything, at least at the level of asking the right questions.

Second is regulation. At this level you are responsible for the company meeting the requirements of all its licenses. A good understanding of how compliance works is a must. It is worth reading the guide on the compliance manager in iGaming, even if you do not plan to move into that function.

Third is working with shareholders and the board of directors. That is a separate skill: speaking briefly, bringing bad news on time, defending decisions with numbers and not overpromising.

Fourth is English at C1–C2 level. Negotiations, regulators, the board, all in English, and confidence in the language is not up for debate here.

Fifth is hiring and culture. A COO builds a team of leaders, and their choices determine how the company will work a year from now. The ability to hire strong people rather than convenient ones, and to part ways in time with those who do not cope, is one of the most underrated skills at this level.

How COOs are hired

There are almost no open vacancies for this role. Companies search through headhunters, referrals and personal connections. Often the first conversation starts informally: at a conference, through a mutual acquaintance or in correspondence.

The process is usually long. Several meetings with the CEO and shareholders, sometimes a case: how you would launch a specific market or cut operating costs. Sometimes the candidate is asked to talk to the key leaders who would report to them, to check whether the work would click.

That is why reputation decides everything. The people who hire COOs will call your former managers and colleagues. How you behaved in a crisis, how you parted with your team, how you dealt with the regulator, all of it will come up.

In a number of regulated markets, heads of key functions go through a regulator check. Requirements differ by country, and the details are worth confirming with the company's compliance team before you start.

When it comes to the offer, negotiate not only the salary. Bonus, options, the terms for receiving them on departure and on a sale of the company, notice period, severance, everything is discussed at this level. Negotiation tips are collected in the guide on how to negotiate an offer.

The price of the chair

The role has a flip side. An irregular schedule, constant travel, calls in the middle of the night when something breaks. Responsibility to shareholders and regulators that cannot be passed down to subordinates.

COOs often leave not because they failed but because they are tired. If you are heading for this role, agree with yourself in advance how you will rest and whom you can delegate to. That is not weakness but a condition of lasting in the job.

But beyond it, doors open that are closed to most. CEO, group managing director, a seat on the board. And experience that is valued not only in iGaming but in any fast-growing business that needs to keep a complex system in balance.

FAQ

How much does a COO in iGaming earn?

According to the SpinHire directory, in Malta and Cyprus the ranges run from €8000–11,000 a month at the first level to €25,000–40,000 at the top. In Poland, Romania and the Baltics, from €6000–8500 to €20,000–30,000, and remote, from €5500–8000 to €19,000–28,000. On top comes an annual bonus of 50–150% of salary plus options or equity.

Where do COOs in iGaming come from?

Most often from Head of Casino, Head of Operations, Country Manager or CFO after several years at director level. You need experience in all the operator's key functions, not just one.

Does a COO need a separate regulator license?

In a number of regulated markets, heads of key functions go through a regulator check or receive a personal license. Requirements differ by jurisdiction, so confirm the details with the company's compliance team.

Can you work as a COO remotely?

Yes, especially in distributed companies. But regular trips to offices, to the regulator and to shareholder meetings are almost always part of the role.