Vice President Operations

Fortune Hill; Köln; Hybrid; EUR 80.000 - 100.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

A family office-backed eCommerce firm in North Rhine-Westphalia is seeking a VP Operations to lead a diverse team of 150 FTE across logistics and customer service. This role involves improving operational processes, ensuring cost efficiency, and driving significant change within the organization. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in senior operations roles, fluency in German and English, and a collaborative leadership style. The position offers a hybrid working model with bi-weekly on-site expectations.

Qualifikationen

• Proven ability to manage diverse teams in logistics and customer service.
• Experience in scaling operations within eCommerce or retail.
• Strong execution capability and change management experience.

Aufgaben

• Overall responsibility for a team of 150 FTE across various departments.
• Improve operational processes from order to cash and purchase to pay.
• Collaborate closely with finance, technology, and procurement departments.

Kenntnisse

Senior operations leadership experience

Understanding of unit economics

Leadership style collaboration

Fluency in German and English

Jobbeschreibung

Overview

VP Operations (m / f / d)

Family Office-backed Sports Ecommerce Business

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany | Hybrid

German business fluency required

Our client is a well-established, family office-backed sports eCommerce business with a loyal customer base and a strong European footprint. The company is entering an exciting next phase, focused on scaling operations, strengthening processes, and supporting sustainable growth.

This role offers the opportunity to shape and evolve the operational backbone of a complex, fast-moving eCommerce business, with real influence at leadership level and a long-term ownership mindset from its shareholders.

The Opportunity

The VP Operations role reports directly to the CEO and is a key member of the senior leadership team. The focus is on building scalable, efficient, and customer-centric operations that support growth while improving cost discipline and performance.

This is an opportunity suited to an experienced operations leader who enjoys combining strategic direction with hands-on execution and who is motivated by meaningful, long-term impact rather than short-term fixes.

What the Role Covers

• Overall responsibility for a diverse team of 150 FTE across logistics fulfilment, customer service, IT and operational excellence
• Continuous improvement of end-to-end operational processes, including order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay
• Introduction and optimisation of systems, automation, and data-driven performance management
• Close collaboration with commercial, finance, technology, and procurement colleagues
• Leadership, development, and engagement of multi-disciplinary operational teams
• Ensuring a strong balance between customer experience, cost efficiency, and scalability

Candidate Profile

The client is open-minded on background and values practical experience and mindset over sector purity. Suitable candidates are likely to bring :

• Senior operations leadership experience within eCommerce, retail, logistics, or consumer businesses
• Exposure to scaling operations in a growing or transforming organisation
• A solid understanding of unit economics, cost drivers, and operational KPIs
• Experience leading change, modernisation, or automation initiatives
• A collaborative, grounded leadership style with strong execution capability
• German and English fluency required (German at business level)

Location and Working Model

• Role based in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany
• Hybrid working model
• Bi-weekly on-site presence is required