Stephen Daniels
Multi-Site Operations
Chief Operating Officer · Walnut Creek, CA

Six sites.One operating system.

Directing a $3.27M budget and 16 direct reports across a six-site operating business. My work is turning manual process into systems that hold.

Stephen Daniels
Stephen Daniels
Site Array Six centers · one standard
$3.27M ONE BUDGET
6
Sites
$3.27M
Budget Directed
16
Direct Reports
50+
Staff
250+
Enrollment
Stephen Daniels
Operations · Compliance · Cost
Approach

Most operations problems look like people problems until you look at the system underneath. Paper timesheets do not make errors. They permit them.

My route into operations ran through the commercial side. Nearly six years at UPS taught me how to read cost from the customer's chair, how to build a case that survives operations, finance, and procurement in the same room, and how long a real decision takes. Bringing that into a six-site operating business meant treating every internal process the way a good account team treats a client: measure it, price it, then replace it with something that cannot fail the same way twice.

The inheritance in November 2025 was paper timekeeping, compliance practice that varied by site, an organization communicating on personal phones, and a corporate structure with no room to grow. The first year went after all four.

None of that is glamorous work. It is the work that decides whether six locations behave like one company or like six.

Stephen Daniels Chief Operating Officer · FMVA Candidate
The Rebuild · First Year

Six systems, replaced one at a time.

Every system below was inherited in one state and left in another. Select a system to see what changed, or run the full sequence. The matrix tracks how far each rebuild reached across the six centers.

Operating Systems · Baby Yale Academy
What was there
Paper timesheets across six sites, entered by hand, with overpayment recurring every cycle.
What replaced it
Digital timekeeping on Paychex, rolled out site by site.
Measured result
  • Payroll errors down an estimated 92 percent
  • About 1,092 staff hours returned a year
  • An estimated $75,000 a year in overpayments eliminated
Standardization Matrix Systems Sites

Each row is a system, each column a center. A rebuild only counts once it reaches every site, so the row fills across all six or it does not fill at all. That is the difference between fixing something and standardizing it.

Inherited state Rebuilt and standardized
$0
Annualized cost removed
0
Staff hours returned a year
0%
Payroll error reduction
0 / 6
Systems rebuilt
Figures are drawn from first-year results at Baby Yale Academy. Percentages and dollar values marked estimated are internal estimates. Annualized cost removed is the sum of the timekeeping and communication line items.
Track Record

Fourteen years, one throughline.

Operations leadership built on a commercial foundation: carrying a number, then building the systems that let other people carry theirs.

Nov 2025 to PresentCurrent

Chief Operating Officer

Baby Yale Academy · Six-Site Operator

Directing operations enterprise-wide across six sites through three center directors, two office managers, and a Director of Operations and Growth, against a $3.27M budget covering 50+ staff and a 250+ enrollment. Reporting to the CEO. Built the timekeeping, compliance, and communication systems the organization now runs on, initiated a nonprofit to C-Corp restructuring into one parent and five subsidiaries, and sourced two community contracts now in negotiation. Coaching three site leaders weekly and meeting one on one with every employee to build a development pipeline.

$3.27M Budget 16 Direct Reports Six Sites 92% Fewer Payroll Errors Enrollment Up 8.4%
Apr 2025 to Oct 20257 months

Independent Consultant

Career Transition

Advising the founders of Flowvex on sales strategy and business development, while completing executive coaching.

Apr 2023 to Apr 20252 years

Account Executive

UPS · Healthcare Division

Managing 178 healthcare accounts producing more than $1.3M in annual sales. Closed a $500,000 contract for a supply chain and logistics solution, 67 percent above the $300,000 senior-deal cap, across a six to nine month cycle. Built the winning case on service, reliability, and total cost, holding it together across operations, finance, and procurement stakeholders.

178 Accounts $1.3M+ Annual $500K Single Close
Jun 2019 to Mar 20234 years

Account Executive

UPS · District Sales Division

Renewing a strategic eyewear account against FedEx and DHL, preserving $500K and expanding it to about $1M. Grew accounts by optimizing client logistics rather than discounting: eyewear from $26K to $320K, air filter from $3K to $670K, rentals from $73K to $364K. Booked $773,000 by March 2023, 226 percent of year-to-date quota against a $1.367M annual quota.

226% Of YTD Quota Silver Tier · World Of Champions 10+ Top-Performer Honors
Oct 2017 to Jun 2019Full-time

Professional Program in Producing

UCLA · Full-Time Study

Completing UCLA's Professional Program in Producing full time, with short-term roles at Acosta and SnackNation.

Oct 2016 to Oct 20171 year

Sales Development Specialist

LinkedIn

Generating qualified pipeline for LinkedIn Learning across small and mid-size business accounts.

Jun 2015 to Oct 20161 year

Business Development Consultant

Oracle

Generating pipeline for Taleo talent acquisition and HCM software across SMB and enterprise accounts.

Oct 2014 to May 20158 months

Territory Ready Representative

Paychex Inc.

Generating pipeline for the HCM suite and HR generalist services across SMB accounts.

Jun 2012 to Jul 20142 years

Account Manager

Ricoh USA, Inc.

Closing more than $1.2M in total sales through consultative selling, consistently 15 percent above monthly quota.

Commercial Record · UPS

Growth came from fixing the logistics, not cutting the price.

Nearly six years carrying a number in supply chain and commercial sales. Every account below grew by consolidating shipping spend and expanding services across lanes. That instinct now points at internal operations.

Air Filter Account$3K to $670K
223
Eyewear Account$26K to $320K
12
Rentals Account$73K to $364K
5
$500K
Single Close

A supply chain and logistics contract closed 67 percent above the $300,000 senior-deal cap, won on service, reliability, and total cost across a six to nine month cycle.

~$1M
Strategic Renewal

A strategic eyewear account renewed against FedEx and DHL, preserving $500K of at-risk revenue and expanding the relationship to about $1M.

226%
Of YTD Quota

$773,000 booked by March 2023 against a $1.367M annual quota. Silver Tier in UPS World of Champions, the 2020 Q4 award, and more than ten top-performer honors.

Capabilities

What comes with the seat.

Operations

  • Multi-Site Operations
  • Operations Strategy
  • Process Improvement
  • Operational Excellence
  • Process Standardization
  • Standard Operating Procedures
  • Operating Cadence

Cost & Compliance

  • Cost Optimization
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Payroll Administration
  • Budget Execution
  • Vendor Management
  • Risk Reduction
  • Governance

Systems & Teams

  • Systems Implementation
  • Change Management
  • Operational Reporting
  • Workforce Operations
  • Site Leadership Development
  • Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Continuous Improvement

Commercial

  • Account Growth
  • Contract Negotiation
  • Consultative Selling
  • Supply Chain
  • Logistics
  • Salesforce CRM
  • Strategic Planning
Systems In Hand
Paychex Google Workspace Salesforce Transportation Logistics Software California Labor Law ACA Compliance Financial Modeling
Credentials

Education & certification.

Certification

Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst

Corporate Finance Institute. Deepening the financial fluency behind operational decisions.

In Progress
Undergraduate

B.A., Communications

California State University, Fullerton.

Fullerton, CA · 2010
Certificate

Professional Program in Producing

UCLA. Completed full time across two years.

Los Angeles, CA · 2017 to 2019
Contact

Bring me the six sites that do not match.

Open to Director of Operations, Head of Operations, and Regional Vice President of Operations roles, with a particular interest in private-equity-backed and multi-unit operators. Remote first, with the San Francisco Bay Area a close second.

Start a conversation LinkedIn
Available immediately · Full-time