Head of Business Operations

White Bay Search; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

White Bay Search is seeking a Transformation-focused Head of Operations to design and implement scalable processes across the business in Sydney. You will align systems, reduce manual work, and introduce governance to support continued growth.

You will partner with the COO and leadership to translate growth into executable structure, build an operating model rather than maintain one, and drive efficiency through smarter workflows and automation.

Qualifications

• Experience in scaling SaaS/tech businesses.
• Proven track record building or transforming operational functions.
• Ability to simplify complexity and create structure.
• Hands-on, not purely strategic, with influence across teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable operational processes across the business.
• Align systems and tools to form a cohesive operating environment.
• Remove inefficiencies and reduce reliance on manual work.
• Introduce governance and consistency without slowing the business.
• Improve operational performance across teams through smarter workflows and automation.
• Collaborate with the COO and leadership to translate growth into executable structure.

Skills

Scalable operations

Systems thinking

Ambiguity handling

Hands-on leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

This business has more than doubled in size in the last 12 months.

And it’s starting to feel it.

Processes aren’t embedded. Systems don’t integrate properly. Teams are working hard, but not always in a way that scales. A lot of the business still relies on individuals rather than structure.

Nothing is completely broken. But it’s not built to scale.

That’s why this role exists.

The Role

This is not a BAU Head of Operations position.

This is a transformation role where you will take ownership of how the business actually operates, and rebuild it in a way that supports continued growth.

You will

• Design and implement scalable operational processes across the business
• Align systems and tools so they work as a cohesive operating environment
• Remove inefficiencies and reduce reliance on manual work and individual knowledge
• Introduce structure, governance and consistency without slowing the business down
• Improve operational performance across teams through smarter workflows and automation
• Work closely with the COO and leadership team to translate growth into executable structure

This is about building the operating model, not maintaining one.

What they’re looking for

You’ve seen this phase before.

Either

• You’ve taken a startup through scale

or

• You’ve stepped into a growing business and fixed how it operates

You likely bring

• Experience in a SaaS or technology environment
• A background in scaling businesses (circa 50 to 100+ employees)
• A track record of building or transforming operational functions
• Strong systems thinking and the ability to simplify complexity
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and creating structure where none exists
• A hands-on approach when required, not purely strategic
• The ability to influence across teams without relying on hierarchy

Exposure to security or compliance frameworks (ISO, SOC2) is advantageous.

Why this role

Most operations roles inherit structure. This one builds it.

You’ll have the opportunity to define how the business runs as it continues to scale, with direct impact on efficiency, performance and growth.

This is the point in a company’s journey where the right hire changes everything.

The reality

This is not a polished environment.

You will need to

• Challenge existing ways of working
• Build while operating
• Make decisions without perfect information

If you enjoy bringing order to chaos and building things properly, this is where you’ll do your best work.