Role: Head of Operations (HOO) Location: KSA Employment Type: Full-Time Reports To: CEO
Role Summary The Head of Operations will oversee the full operational lifecycle for a fast-scaling, video-first B2C social commerce platform. This key leadership appointment will be responsible for establishing, optimizing, and expanding operational infrastructure from scratch, covering merchant onboarding, fulfillment, logistics, and post-delivery support. The position spans both Vendor Management and Logistics & Fulfillment, providing unified accountability for operational efficiency, readiness, and performance. This position requires a highly hands-on leader with proven experience building or scaling e-commerce/marketplace operations in dynamic environments.
Core Duties & Responsibilities Operational Ownership Manage daily and strategic operational activities across merchant onboarding, fulfillment, logistics, and after-sales resolution. Serve as the single accountable owner for execution standards, service levels, platform readiness, and operational performance. Drive planning and execution for platform activations, campaigns, promotions, and seasonal peaks. Develop core operational frameworks, SOPs, workflows, and escalation protocols for a new marketplace roll-out. Merchant/Vendor Management Lead the Vendor Management function, ensuring structured onboarding, contracting, SLA alignment, and performance monitoring. Validate vendor commercial terms, pricing models, lead times, and systems configurations for operational feasibility and scalability. Oversee vendor audits, compliance, coaching, and troubleshooting across KSA-based merchants and international partners (e.g., Pakistan). Define merchant readiness benchmarks for platform launch and ongoing operations. Logistics & Fulfillment Execution Oversee both local and cross-border logistics, including forward and reverse flows. Manage 3PL providers and logistics carriers, covering SLAs, cost control, operational performance, and commercial interaction. Safeguard on-time delivery expectations, accuracy standards, and customer experience quality. Design and scale fulfillment models aligned with growth objectives and category diversification. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Systems Alignment Partner with Technology/Product to configure vendor rules, logistics pathways, data fields, and SLAs correctly within platform systems. Coordinate with Finance on reconciliation, settlements, cash flow impact, and operational budget discipline. Work with Customer Support to manage operational escalations affecting service quality, trust, and retention. Performance, Data & Process Excellence Define and monitor key operational KPIs (e.g., vendor onboarding, SLA compliance, fulfillment accuracy, returns, cancellations, cost efficiency). Identify operational gaps and systemic risks; drive continuous improvement and root-cause elimination. Support category expansion, new vendor pipelines, new fulfillment models, and geographic scaling. Leadership & Organizational Development Build and expand Operations and Vendor Management teams from early foundation through scale-up phase. Set clear responsibilities, performance metrics, and delivery expectations. Foster a culture focused on ownership, speed, quality execution, and customer-centricity.
Candidate Background & Experience6–10 years of experience in operations, supply chain, logistics, or marketplace execution roles with increasing scope. Strong exposure to e-commerce, marketplace, or multi-channel retail environments. Demonstrated success launching or scaling operational architectures, ideally in a startup, scale-up, or new business line. Practical experience working with merchants, 3PL partners, and fulfillment operations. Experience in KSA/GCC markets is highly preferred. Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Supply Chain, or comparable field. English required; Arabic preferred.
Leadership Traits Execution-driven operator with excellent problem-solving skills. Comfortable working in ambiguity and fast-changing, early-stage contexts. Commercial mindset with a data-led approach to decision-making. Strong cross-functional influence and senior stakeholder management skills. High potential to evolve into senior operations leadership as the platform grows.
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