Managing Director

RunwaySale; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

MyRunway is seeking a dynamic leader to own the commercial and operational performance of a fast-growing ecommerce business in Cape Town. You’ll drive revenue, profitability, and pace, fix what's broken, and push momentum week by week.

You’ll work with the strategy team but will be empowered to make decisions, lead a small, capable team, and ensure execution stays sharp even in chaos. If you relish owning outcomes, this is your role.

Qualifications

• Has run or led a fast-paced ecommerce or retail business.
• Understands drivers of revenue and profitability.
• Able to make decisions and move quickly in a chaotic environment.
• Willing to dive into detail when it matters.

Responsibilities

• Own revenue, margin, and profitability metrics.
• Lead a cross-functional team across Supply, Demand, Tech and Ops.
• Unblock teams and remove friction to speed up execution.
• Partner with Strategy to translate vision into action.
• Drive rapid improvements and reduce bottlenecks.

Skills

Ecommerce leadership

Decision making

Ownership mindset

Analytical thinking

Job description

This isn’t a sit-in-meetings-and-nod MD role. Forget layers of middle management and dusty 40-page strategy decks. You’re here to run the business, fix what’s broken, and make things better week by week. You own performance, pace, and outcomes. Something’s off? You don’t write a doc, you sort it out. You’ll work alongside our strategy team, but ultimately, this is “here are the keys, drive” territory.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial performance

• -Own revenue, margin, and profitability like it’s your own money.
• -Spot opportunities and move quickly
• -Make good calls without waiting for perfect data (it rarely exists)

Execution & ops

• -Keep things running across Supply, Demand, Tech and Operations
• -Unblock teams and remove friction
• -Fix what’s not working without overcomplicating it

Leadership

• -Lead a team of smart, driven people
• -Build a culture of ownership and follow-through
• -Have the awkward conversations early, not after 6 months of side-eye

Strategy

• -Set direction, but stay close to what’s actually happening
• -Balance big picture thinking with day-to-day reality

Strat Team Partnership

• -The Bridge: You aren't a solo act. You’re a key player in our Strat Team, turning high-level vision into floor-level results.
• -Sparring Partner: Be the one who challenges the "why" and perfects the "how." We need a leader who aligns with the executive layer but isn't afraid to poke holes in a plan if it's too slow or too complex.

Personal Skills and Attributes

• -You’ve run or played a key role in a fast-paced ecommerce or retail business
• -You understand the numbers and what drives them
• -You make decisions and keep things moving
• -You’re comfortable in a bit of chaos and can bring order where needed
• -You take proper ownership
• -You’re happy to get into the detail when it counts

Experience

This is NOT the opportunity for you if…

• -You enjoy strategy more than execution
• -You need everything perfectly structured before starting
• -You avoid tough conversations
• -You want a polished corporate environment
• -You’re here for the title, not the work
• -You don’t like getting into the detail when things get messy

What success looks like in 12 months

• -Revenue and profitability are clearly up
• -The team is stronger and more accountable
• -Decisions happen faster
• -Fewer bottlenecks, more momentum
• -The business runs better, plain and simple

A peek into how we operate

• -We’re a small team doing big things.
• -We focus on getting things done, not looking busy
• -We’re honest and direct, but fair
• -We move quickly and fix as we go
• -We take the work seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously

MyRunway is committed to transformation and redressing of past inequalities. Our employment equity goals will be taken into account in our selection process.