Head of Operations

Initiate International; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 1 500 000 - 2 000 000; Full time

Job summary

A high-growth online gaming business in South Africa seeks a Head of Operations to lead comprehensive operational performance. This role involves owning the operational ecosystem, ensuring compliance and enhancing customer experience. The ideal candidate will have 8-10 years of senior leadership experience in high-volume environments, a Bachelor's degree, and expertise in customer operations, compliance, and risk management. This is an opportunity to build a world-class operational function within a fast-paced, competitive landscape.

Benefits

Fast-paced growth

Impact-driven role

Qualifications

• 8-10 years’ experience in senior operational leadership in high-volume, service-driven environments.
• Proven experience in workforce planning and service level management.
• Deep understanding of online gaming customer support and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end operational delivery across customer operations and compliance.
• Oversee multi-channel customer support operations ensuring service quality.
• Drive automation and digital transformation to improve consistency.

Skills

Operational Leadership

Customer Operations

Performance Management

Risk Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Management

Tools

Zendesk

Microsoft Copilot Studio

CRM

Job description

This is not a maintenance role. This is a scale, performance and transformation mandate.

Our client is a high‑growth, highly regulated online gaming business that is building a world‑class operational engine across customer support, payments, compliance and technology.

They are now looking for a Head of Operations who can take full ownership of operational performance and turn complexity into competitive advantage.

You will own the end‑to‑end operational ecosystem: people, processes, systems and performance. Your mission is simple in theory and brutally hard in practice — deliver a scalable, compliant, customer‑obsessed operation that hits service levels, protects the business, and enables aggressive growth.

If you thrive in high‑volume, high‑accountability environments, enjoy fixing broken processes, and know how to build elite operational teams, this is your seat at the table.

What You’ll Be Accountable For:

Operational Leadership & Execution

• Own end‑to‑end operational delivery across customer operations, payments, compliance and enabling systems, translating business strategy into executable operational plans, targets and governance.
• Lead, coach and hold team leaders and managers accountable against clearly defined KPIs, SLAs and performance standards.
• Build a performance‑driven, customer‑centric operating culture where ownership, accountability and continuous improvement are non‑negotiable.
• Align operational strategy with business growth, regulatory requirements and risk management, embedding compliance and responsible gaming into daily operations.

Customer Operations & Service Delivery

• Oversee multi‑channel customer support operations, ensuring consistent service quality, responsiveness and first‑time resolution.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex, high‑risk and regulatory‑sensitive customer matters.
• Drive customer experience and retention through data‑led insight, service analytics and targeted operational improvement programmes.
• Design scalable, cost‑effective operating models through workflow optimisation, workforce planning and self‑service enablement.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Define, monitor and optimise KPIs across productivity, quality, turnaround time, CSAT, cost efficiency and risk.
• Build and run quality assurance frameworks with coaching loops, performance reviews and corrective action plans.
• Lead root‑cause analysis and post‑incident reviews, ensuring operational failures are fixed permanently, not patched temporarily.
• Identify and eliminate operational inefficiencies through structured continuous improvement initiatives with measurable impact.

People Leadership & Workforce Planning

• Build, scale and develop high‑performing operational teams aligned to business growth and demand forecasting.
• Own onboarding, training, coaching and performance management frameworks that create operational excellence at scale.
• Partner with HR on employee relations, succession planning and leadership development.
• Create an engaged, accountable and performance‑oriented culture where great operators want to build their careers.

Systems, Process & Digital Enablement

• Own operational platforms including Zendesk, Microsoft Copilot Studio, CRM and workflow tools, ensuring they are optimised for scale, automation and service quality.
• Lead SOP design, documentation and governance to ensure consistency, compliance and operational control.
• Drive automation and digital transformation initiatives to reduce manual effort, improve consistency and increase throughput.
• Provide strategic oversight of systems development and integration, improving visibility, reporting and decentralised ways of working.
• Lead change management and adoption for new tools, platforms and operating models.

Compliance, Risk & Governance

• Embed regulatory, compliance and responsible gaming requirements into operational processes, training and monitoring.
• Support audits and regulatory reviews, ensuring findings are remediated and controls strengthened.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational, compliance and reputational risks.

Stakeholder & Client Leadership

• Act as the senior operational partner to Product, Technology, Finance and Compliance, aligning delivery with business priorities.
• Translate stakeholder insight into operational improvement and execution excellence.
• Ensure operational readiness for new launches, products and market expansion.

What Success Looks Like

• Service levels are consistently achieved and exceeded.
• Customer experience is measurably improving.
• Compliance is embedded, not bolted on.
• Operational cost per customer is falling while quality rises.
• Teams are engaged, accountable and relentlessly performance‑driven.

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Management or a related field (NQF Level 7).
• 8–10 years’ experience in senior operational leadership within high‑volume, service‑driven environments (call centres, BPO, online platforms, regulated services).
• Minimum 3+ years in a senior management role leading large operational teams.
• Deep expertise across people, process, systems and performance management.
• Proven experience in workforce planning, capacity forecasting and service level management.
• Strong understanding of multi‑channel customer operations and escalation management.
• Solid knowledge of operational risk, compliance frameworks and internal controls.
• Hands‑on experience with Zendesk, Microsoft Copilot Studio, CRM and workflow automation platforms.
• Strong financial acumen with a focus on cost efficiency, productivity and margin protection.
• Deep understanding of online gaming customer support and regulatory compliance, with familiarity with SoftSwiss or similar platforms.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, decision‑making and leadership presence.
• Working knowledge of GDPR and South African labour legislation.

Why This Role Matters:

This is a career‑defining opportunity to build a world‑class operations function in a fast‑moving, highly regulated and commercially ambitious online gaming business. You will shape the operating model, build the leadership bench, and create the systems and culture that power sustainable growth.

If you want to leave a legacy rather than just run a function, this is your role.