South Africa: Operations Executive – Must come from the Retail Industry

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Operations Executive to join our team, bringing senior management expertise in the Retail industry. The ideal candidate will have a strong track record of driving operational excellence and strategic growth. This is a unique opportunity for a seasoned professional to leverage their skills and experience to drive business success.

Key Responsibilities

• Driving operational excellence, ensuring smooth, efficient, and profitable operation of the business at regional and branch levels while maintaining focus on long-term strategic growth.
• Maintaining focus on improving operational procedures and processes by leveraging strategic insights and technological integration.
• Providing strategic direction and oversight of operations, focusing on continuous improvement in business processes, customer service, and profitability.
• Overseeing implementation of the business plan and ensuring that regional and branch operations align with company objectives.
• Leading, coaching, and developing regional managers and other key operational staff.
• Ensuring all branches are fully staffed, with appropriate training and performance management systems in place.
• Monitoring operational costs, revenue performance, and ensuring the business stays on budget.
• Providing strategic recommendations to improve cost-efficiency and profitability across all regions and branches.
• Identifying opportunities for process improvements, driving initiatives to enhance operational performance, streamline processes, and leverage technology for better results.
• Ensuring compliance with legal, health and safety, security, and environmental regulations across branches.
• Taking corrective actions where necessary and ensuring a safe and secure working environment.
• Fostering a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring that operations are both efficient and scalable, while contributing to profitability.
• Ensuring all sales teams across regions achieve or exceed monthly and yearly sales targets.
• Working with regional managers to provide support and strategies to optimise sales performance.
• Overseeing and monitoring service levels across all branches, working with regional managers to implement corrective actions when performance falls below company benchmarks.
• Conducting regular reviews of terms matrices to optimise business profitability, ensuring that pricing and margins are aligned with market conditions and internal targets.

Requirements

• Senior Operations Management experience within the Retail market
• Bachelor’s degree in commerce, business administration, retail management, marketing, operations management, or a related field
• Previous senior management or operational executive management experience, having worked within the retail, FMCG, or building merchant industry or related is preferred
• Previous knowledge of managing building merchant branches in respect of all business functions is preferred
• Strong ability to think strategically and align operational goals with overall company objectives
• Experience in driving change, process improvements, and tech integration is preferred

Qualifications

• Formal education/certifications (Bachelor’s, LLB, Matric, etc.) are not explicitly mentioned as required.