Head Of Growth And Operations

Stranger Soccer; Manila; Remote; PHP 9,458,000 - 15,132,000; Full time

Job summary

Stranger Soccer is hiring a high-impact Growth & Operations Lead who will run day-to-day business activities remotely. You will own strategy, data, growth, systems, and the operating rhythm, reporting directly to the CEO as the second-most senior person in the business.

This role is not for those who wait to be told what to do; independence and proactive problem-solving are essential. You will manage P&L visibility, growth strategy, KPI reviews, and competitive positioning across markets.

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of experience in growth-stage startups or similar
• Strong track record growing two-sided marketplaces or consumer tech
• Experience with P&L visibility and business metrics
• Analytical mindset with ability to derive actions from data

Responsibilities

• Own P&L visibility, margins, and pricing decisions
• Define growth strategy: acquisition, retention, pricing, membership economics
• Lead weekly/monthly KPI reviews and report health of the business
• Conduct competitive analysis and position the product, pricing and channels
• Manage membership and pass performance; optimize channels and funnels
• Design, document and enforce SOPs; build dashboards and drive weekly cadences
• Coordinate with HQ product on roadmap; influence hiring decisions and team growth

Skills

Growth strategy

P&L management

Data analysis

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Operations design

Job description

Job Description:

About Stranger Soccer

The #1 way adults play football in the UAE. We operate across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman - 200+ games every month, 30,000+ downloads, a real community of players who show up, play, meet people, and come back. Two years in, were at the inflection point where disciplined execution on growth, retention and operational excellence is everything.

About the Role

You will run the business day-to-day on everything that doesnt require physical presence. On-ground Field Growth Operators (one per emirate) handle games, hosts, venues and players in person. You own strategy, data, growth, systems, and the operating rhythm. You report directly to the CEO and are the second-most senior person in the business.

This is not a role for someone who waits to be told what to do. If you need to be managed closely, this isnt the role.

What Youll Own

Strategic + Commercial

• P&L visibility and margin management
• Growth strategy - acquisition, retention, pricing, membership economics
• Weekly and monthly KPI reviews; health of the business
• Competitive analysis and product positioning
• Membership + Unlimited Pass performance management

Marketing + Growth

• Paid acquisition and marketing spend allocation
• Retention campaigns across all channels
• SEO, GBP, and partnership channels
• Customer journey mapping and intervention design

Operational Systems

• Design, document and enforce SOPs across the team
• Reporting and dashboards
• Monthly review framework with the CEO
• Coordination with HQ product team on roadmap and prioritization
• Weekly Friday delegation handoff - document weekend priorities and ensure Sat-Sun operations run smoothly without you

Team

• Direct reports: three Field Growth Operators (one per emirate)
• Direct management of the remote Customer Service / Ops team (2 people). Build SOPs, set and track KPIs, coach, raise the ceiling of what they can handle
• Coordination with external partners - SEO, legal, accounting, product
• Input into all hiring and firing decisions

What You WONT Do

• Attend games physically - FGOs do that
• Live in Dubai - this role is deliberately remote
• Handle in-person customer disputes - escalated to FGOs first
• Do venue on-site walkthroughs - FGOs scout, you review and approve

Who You Are

• 5-8 years of experience, at least 3 in a growth-stage startup
• Background in marketplace, consumer tech, food delivery, ride-hailing, fitness, or similar two-sided businesses strongly preferred
• Youve actually grown and scaled a business - not advised it, not strategized it, but moved real numbers. You can walk me through specific growth you drove and what you learned
• P&L exposure, real growth metrics, real customer behavior - not just slides
• Strongly analytical - you can procure our data, analyze it, and act on it. Specific tools dont matter; knowing what questions to ask and what to do with the answers does
• Proactive, independent operator - you spot problems, propose solutions, and execute without being chased
• Experience managing distributed teams, or as a senior IC across multiple workstreams
• English fluency essential; Arabic a bonus
• Writes clearly and concisely - this role runs on async communication
• Comfort with ambiguity and startup grit

Culture fit

• Honesty over politics. Tell me when Im wrong.
• Ownership over blame. Fix it before escalating.
• Data over opinions. Bring the numbers.
• Speed over perfection. Launch, measure, adjust.
• Self-direction over supervision.

Working Hours

Set the team up for success every day - but Saturday and Sunday are when youre offline. By Friday evening the team must now exactly what to do over the weekend without you.

• Working days: Monday to Friday
• Daily core hours: 11:00-19:00 UAE time (GST), fully online
• Daily extended coverage: 19:00-21:00 UAE time, reachable within 30 minutes for time-sensitive issues on game nights (Thu-Fri especially)
• Weekends off: Saturday + Sunday fully off, reachable only for genuine emergencies
• Friday delegation handoff: Document weekend priorities and empower the team before you log off Friday evening
• Total effort: 40-50 hours per week during working days
• Timezone requirement: South Asia, Middle East, Africa, or Eastern Europe ideal

Requirements: