Johannesburg: Operations Director

Operations Director | South Africa | Executive A mandate-driven leadership role with real authority to fix, stabilise, and rebuild. This is an opportunity to take full operational control of a complex, logistics-intensive business and drive disciplined execution at scale. As Operations Director, you will be accountable for end-to-end operational performance across retail, redistribution, warehousing, fleet, logistics, and procurement. The role is both corrective and transformational: restoring delivery reliability, regaining cost control, improving asset utilisation, and embedding governance that enables sustainable, profitable growth. The initial focus is on stabilisation and execution against clear short-term outcomes, followed by building durable operational structures, systems, and leadership capability. This is a hands-on role for a senior operator who thrives in complexity, pressure, and accountability. Our client is a well-established, nationally recognised business operating across retail and redistribution channels. The organisation is in a phase where operational excellence is critical to unlocking performance, margin protection, and customer confidence. This role reports directly to the CEO and holds Exco responsibility. What You’ll Do Take full ownership of delivery, logistics, fleet, warehousing, and procurement performance. Restore fleet efficiency, route execution, and on-time delivery across all regions. Drive down delivery cost per case and eliminate unplanned operational interventions. Implement disciplined procurement, supplier governance, and approved supplier frameworks. Fix warehouse productivity, stock handling, accuracy, and shrinkage. Embed SOPs, segregation of duties, and governance that cannot be bypassed. Build transparent operational dashboards covering cost, efficiency, and service levels. Stabilise customer service, OTIF performance, and service recovery across retail and distribution. Lead and develop a strong operations leadership team with clear KPIs and accountability. Act as the operational voice at Exco and Board level, partnering closely with Finance, Commercial, and IT. What You Bring 5–10 years senior operations leadership experience in retail, FMCG, wholesale, or logistics-heavy environments. Proven track record of fixing delivery, fleet, and logistics performance. Strong cost-control mindset with the ability to deliver sustainable savings. Experience leading multi-site, multi-region operations. Exposure to ERP, WMS, routing, or fleet management systems. A hands-on, data-driven leadership style with high execution discipline. Confidence to challenge legacy practices and enforce standards. What Success Looks Like Fleet utilisation consistently above 85% with materially reduced breakdowns. Delivery cost per case reduced by 15–20% within six months. On-time, in-full service levels exceeding 95%. Measurable procurement savings and zero spend outside approved systems. Improved warehouse productivity, accuracy, and reduced shrinkage. Clear governance, reporting, and cost visibility across all operations. Restored customer confidence through reliable, consistent execution.