Head of Operations (iGaming)

Initiate International; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading iGaming firm in Cape Town is seeking a Head of Operations to oversee the operational performance and deliver exceptional service quality. The role involves leading customer operations, driving efficiency, and maintaining performance standards across all functions. Candidates must have extensive experience in operational leadership, an understanding of compliance and risk management, and familiarity with platforms like Zendesk. Strong leadership, communication skills, and a bachelor's degree in business or management are essential. Join us to shape operational success in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years experience in operational leadership roles within high-volume environments.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end operational management.
• Familiarity with operational systems and platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational delivery across customer operations and support functions.
• Oversee customer-facing operations ensuring consistent service quality.
• Drive operational performance by managing KPIs.

Skills

Operational Leadership

Customer Operations

Performance Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Compliance Knowledge

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or Management

Tools

Zendesk

Microsoft Copilot Studio

Job description

Head of Operations (iGaming) required in Cape Town.

The Head of Operations is responsible for owning and directing the overall operational performance of the organization. This includes ensuring efficient, scalable, and compliant delivery across people, processes, and technology to support business growth and service excellence.

The role is accountable for setting operational direction, driving efficiency, and maintaining performance standards across customer-facing and support functions.

The Head of Operations ensures service levels, quality metrics, and budgets are consistently achieved, while building operational capability that can scale in line with business demands.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Operational Leadership & Execution
  • Lead end-to-end operational delivery across customer operations, support functions, and enabling systems by translating business objectives into clear operational plans, targets, and execution measures.
  • Provide leadership to team leaders and supervisors by setting performance expectations, coaching subordinates, and ensuring accountability against agreed KPIs and SLAs.
  • Encourage a performance-driven, customer-centric operating culture by embedding service standards, continuous improvement practices, and clear ownership at all levels of the operation.
  • Ensure operational strategies align with business growth, regulatory requirements, and risk management by integrating compliance, responsible service, and quality controls into daily operations.
• Customer Operations & Service Delivery
  • Oversee customer-facing operations across all support channels by ensuring consistent service quality, responsiveness, and resolution outcomes.
  • Act as the senior escalation point for complex or high-risk customer matters by coordinating resolution across customer service, payments, compliance, and technical teams.
  • Improve customer experience and retention by analysing service data, customer feedback, and complaint trends, and implementing targeted operational improvements.
  • Ensure customer service operations remain scalable and cost-effective by optimizing workflows, staffing models, and self-service solutions.
• Performance Management & Continuous Improvement
  • Drive operational performance by defining, monitoring, and managing KPIs covering productivity, quality, turnaround times, customer satisfaction, and cost efficiency.
  • Establish and maintain quality assurance frameworks by implementing review processes, coaching loops, and corrective actions based on performance insights.
  • Identify operational inefficiencies and risks by reviewing data, processes, and system performance, and implementing improvement initiatives with measurable outcomes.
  • Lead post-incident reviews following service disruptions or operational failures by ensuring root causes are addressed and controls strengthened.
• People Management & Workforce Planning
  • Build and scale operational teams by planning capacity, recruiting talent, and aligning workforce structures with current and future demand.
  • Develop operational capability by overseeing onboarding, training, coaching, and performance management frameworks.
  • Partner with HR on employee relations, disciplinary processes, and succession planning by ensuring fair, compliant, and consistent people management practices.
  • Maintain strong employee engagement and morale by fostering a positive, accountable, and performance-oriented work environment.
• Systems, Processes & Digital Enablement
  • Own operational systems and workflows by ensuring platforms such as Zendesk and Microsoft Copilot Studio are properly configured, adopted, and continuously optimized to support scale, efficiency, and service quality.
  • Lead the development, documentation, and implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) across all key operational areas to ensure consistency, compliance, and operational control.
  • Establish and maintain knowledge management frameworks, ensuring customer-facing and internal documentation remains current, accessible, and aligned with business and system changes.
  • Identify gaps, inefficiencies, or risks in existing processes and systems, and address them through process redesign, system enhancements, or escalation to relevant stakeholders.
  • Coordinate cross-functional participation in the development and review of operational controls.
  • Provide strategic oversight of business systems development and integration, supporting decentralised ways of working and improved operational visibility.
  • Evaluate current and future technology needs and contribute to decisions on system investments that enhance scalability, reliability, and performance.
  • Drive automation and digital improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve service consistency, and increase operational efficiency.
  • Ensure effective transition to new systems and tools by overseeing change management, user enablement, and adoption monitoring.
• Compliance, Risk & Governance
  • Ensure operational compliance with applicable regulations, policies, and internal controls by embedding compliance requirements into processes, training, and monitoring activities.
  • Support audits, regulatory reviews, and investigations by coordinating operational inputs and ensuring timely remediation of findings.
  • Manage operational risk by identifying potential service, compliance, or reputational risks and implementing mitigation plans.
• Stakeholder & Client Management
  • Build and maintain strong internal and external stakeholder relationships by acting as a key operational contact and aligning delivery with stakeholder expectations.
  • Translate stakeholder and customer insights into operational improvements by working closely with product, technology, finance, and compliance teams.
  • Support new initiatives, launches, or changes by ensuring operational readiness and effective execution.
• Self-Management
  • Follow through to ensure that personal quality and productivity standards are consistently and accurately maintained
  • Demonstrate consistent application of internal procedures
  • Plan and prioritise, demonstrating abilities to manage competing demands
  • Demonstrate abilities to anticipate and manage change
  • Demonstrate flexibility in balancing achievement of own objectives with abilities to understand and respond to organizational needs
• Ad-Hoc
  • Perform all such duties and exercise all such powers in relation to the business of the Company as may from time to time be vested in or assigned to you, despite the fact that such duties and powers may not normally be performed by you.

Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in Business, Management or a related field (NQF level 7)
• 8–10 years experience in operational leadership roles within high-volume, service-driven environments (e.g. call centres, BPO, online platforms, regulated services).
• +3 years experience as a manager or a senior managerial role.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end operational management, including people, process, systems, and performance. Knowledge of workforce planning, capacity forecasting, and service-level management.
• Understanding of customer operations, including multi-channel support models and escalation handling.
• Knowledge of operational risk, compliance principles, and internal controls.
• Familiarity with operational systems and platforms (e.g. CRM, ticketing, workflow, automation tools).
• Basic financial acumen, including budget awareness, cost efficiency, and productivity metrics.
• Deep understanding of online gaming customer support and compliance Familiarity with SoftSwiss or similar platforms Proficiency in Zendesk, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and CRM systems Strong communication, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement skills
• Knowledge of GDPR and South African labour laws