Operations Manager

Operations Director (Operations Division Lead)

Role Overview

This position owns the end-to-end performance of a multi-site retail and corporate sales operation, from the shop floor to the monthly board pack. The person in the chair is the bridge between executive strategy and daily execution, turning growth and margin goals into targets that branch managers and functional heads can act on. Success looks like a network that opens on time, trades profitably, stays compliant, and keeps a pipeline of capable leaders coming through.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the direction for the entire operations function, running the weekly division meeting and translating board-level priorities into clear, measurable workstreams for functional heads and branch leaders.
• Own revenue and gross margin delivery across both the branch network and corporate/B2B sales channels, keeping operating expenditure inside approved budgets.
• Hold branch teams to a balanced scorecard covering stock loss and shrinkage, on-shelf availability, customer satisfaction, and branch-level profitability.
• Lead new-store mobilisation and network expansion: operational readiness, coordination across supply chain, HR, IT, and marketing, plus a disciplined 90-day stabilisation plan before handing the site over to steady-state management.
• Keep every site and process aligned with statutory and regulatory obligations, including occupational safety and health, food safety standards, NEMA environmental requirements, data protection law, and any other applicable sector rules.
• Recruit, coach, appraise, and where necessary replace direct reports — functional heads and branch managers — while building a succession bench and raising the overall capability of the operations team.
• Produce the monthly commercial performance pack for the executive team and supply the operational assumptions that feed the annual budget and rolling financial projections.
• Identify and roll out operating standards, tools, and process improvements that lower cost-to-serve and make network performance more predictable.

Requirements & Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in business administration, commerce, retail management, supply chain, marketing, or a comparable discipline.
• A master's-level qualification — an MBA or equivalent — with emphasis on general management, retail, or operations.
• Active membership of a recognised professional body such as KIM, MSK, KISM, CIPS, or an equivalent institute.
• At least eight years of post-qualification experience, with four or more of those years spent in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated ownership of a P&L or comparable commercial budget in a multi-branch or multi-site environment.
• Working knowledge of the regulatory landscape this role touches, including safety and health, food safety, environmental compliance, and data protection.
• A track record of developing managers, managing performance, and holding senior reports accountable against hard targets.
• Comfort operating at both ends of the scale — setting strategy with the executive team and walking a branch floor to fix a stock or service problem.