Many state-of-the-art QCD calculations for multileg processes use helicity amplitudes as their fundamental ingredients. We construct a simple and easy-to-use helicity operator basis in soft-collinear effective theory (SCET), for which the hard Wilson coefficients from matching QCD onto SCET are directly given in terms of color-ordered helicity amplitudes. Using this basis allows one to seamlessly combine fixed-order helicity amplitudes at any order they are known with a resummation of higher-order logarithmic corrections. In particular, the virtual loop amplitudes can be employed in factorization theorems to make predictions for exclusive jet cross sections without the use of numerical subtraction schemes to handle real-virtual infrared cancellations. We also discuss matching onto SCET in renormalization schemes with helicities in $4$- and $d$-dimensions. To demonstrate that our helicity operator basis is easy to use, we provide an explicit construction of the operator basis, as well as results for the hard matching coefficients, for $pp\to H + 0,1,2$ jets, $pp\to W/Z/γ+ 0,1,2$ jets, and $pp\to 2,3$ jets. These operator bases are completely crossing symmetric, so the results can easily be applied to processes with $e^+e^-$ and $e^-p$ collisions.

41 pages + 20 pages in Appendices, 1 figure, v2: journal version