Director of Operations at Gathern

Gathern; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 300,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Gathern is seeking a senior operations leader to run Content Operations, Contact Centers, and Quality as a unified unit. You will own the end‑to‑end KPI set—from CSAT to activation—driving forecastable growth and operational excellence across a digital platform in Riyadh.

You will lead three function teams, partner with Product and Data, and push automation and process improvements. The role requires a postgraduate depth, Arabic and English fluency, and a proven track record of transforming

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree; a postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• Ten or more years in operations, including five or more leading multi‑function or multi‑site teams in a marketplace, e‑commerce platform.
• Proven turnaround of contact‑center service levels, evidenced on first contact resolution, response time, and resolution time.
• A numerate operator who owns a KPI tree, sets targets, runs a monthly performance cycle and defends the numbers to an executive audience.
• Experience as a transformation leader.
• Professional fluency in Arabic and English.
• Preferred KSA or GCC market experience in a digital platform.
• Exposure to Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, or an equivalent process‑improvement discipline.
• Experience introducing automation or AI‑assisted tooling into a contact centre.

Responsibilities

• Own the operational KPI tree and deliver the monthly and annual targets for CSAT, complaints per 1,000 reservations, guest rating, destination search conversion rate, occupancy of active listings, and unit activation rate.
• Set, defend and re-base targets with Strategy and the CSO, and ensure every KPI is instrumented, defined, and scoreable.
• Run the monthly Operations performance cycle and present results, causes and actions to the Executive Committee.
• Own the service levels: first response time, first contact resolution, average resolution time and reopened tickets.
• Restore and hold first contact resolution at or above 80% through root‑cause analysis of repeat‑contact drivers, Agent enablement and process redesign.
• Manage capacity, scheduling, quality monitoring, and any outsourced service partners.
• Reduce cost to serve per booking without trading away resolution quality.
• Own listing content completeness, photo quality and destination content readiness.
• Scale proven content interventions across the destination portfolio; the Abha pilot lifted click‑through from 6.0% to 11.8%.
• Set and enforce the host content standard with clear controls and consequences.
• Own the unit onboarding and activation journey: activation rate, time to activate, and time to first reservation with clear SLA.
• Close the gap between activation and occupancy by working with Commercial and Product on destination readiness.
• Run the quality assurance framework across both the guest and the host journey.
• Lead, develop and structure the three function teams, and build capability and succession within them.
• Partner with Product on operational defects that require a product fix, sorting and visibility, and claims.
• Partner with Data & Analytics to close instrumentation gaps and automate departmental reporting.
• Transform the team to be the centre of operational excellence.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical thinking

Accountability

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Postgraduate qualification

Tools

Lean

Six Sigma

DMAIC

Automation tooling

AI tooling

Job description

This Full time on site position offers great opportunities for career growth.

JOB PURPOSE

Run Content Operations, Contact Centers, and Quality as one accountable unit and own the operational KPI set end-to-end — customer satisfaction, complaints per reservation, guest rating, destination search conversion, occupancy of active listings, and unit activation — so that operational performance becomes a managed, forecastable input to growth rather than a monthly report of outcomes.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Performance ownership: Own the operational KPI tree and deliver the monthly and annual targets for CSAT, complaints per 1,000 reservations, guest rating, destination search conversion rate, occupancy of active listings, and unit activation rate. Set, defend and re-base targets with Strategy and the CSO, and ensure every KPI is instrumented, defined, and scoreable. Run the monthly Operations performance cycle and present results, causes and actions to the Executive Committee.
• Contact Centers: Own the service levels: first response time, first contact resolution, average resolution time and reopened tickets. Restore and hold first contact resolution at or above 80% through root‑cause analysis of repeat‑contact drivers, Agent enablement and process redesign. Manage capacity, scheduling, quality monitoring, and any outsourced service partners. Reduce cost to serve per booking without trading away resolution quality.
• Content Operations: Own listing content completeness, photo quality and destination content readiness. Scale proven content interventions across the destination portfolio; the Abha pilot lifted click‑through from 6.0% to 11.8%. Set and enforce the host content standard with clear controls and consequences.
• Quality and unit readiness: Own the unit onboarding and activation journey: activation rate, time to activate, and time to first reservation with clear SLA. Close the gap between activation and occupancy by working with Commercial and Product on destination readiness. Run the quality assurance framework across both the guest and the host journey.
• Leadership and cross‑functional: Lead, develop and structure the three function teams, and build capability and succession within them. Partner with Product on operational defects that require a product fix, sorting and visibility, and claims. Partner with Data & Analytics to close instrumentation gaps and automate departmental reporting.
• Transform the team to be the centre of operational excellence.

CORE BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

• Accountability: owns the number, not the activity.
• Operational rigour: root cause before remedy, measures before and after.
• People leadership: turns function leads into owners.
• Cross‑functional influence: gets fixes prioritised outside their own reporting line.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree; a postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• Ten or more years in operations, including five or more leading multi‑function or multi‑site teams in a marketplace, e‑commerce platform.
• Proven turnaround of contact‑center service levels, evidenced on first contact resolution, response time, and resolution time.
• A numerate operator who owns a KPI tree, sets targets, runs a monthly performance cycle and defends the numbers to an executive audience.
• Experience as a transformation leader.
• Professional fluency in Arabic and English.
• Preferred KSA or GCC market experience in a digital platform.
• Exposure to Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, or an equivalent process‑improvement discipline.
• Experience introducing automation or AI‑assisted tooling into a contact centre.