Operations Lead

Embelo; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading South African operations firm seeks an experienced Operations Lead to define and implement best practices across a diverse portfolio of businesses. The role involves leading financial processes, supporting UK founders, and driving operational efficiencies with a strong focus on growth. Ideal candidates should have a degree in Operations Management and a solid background in commercial and operational leadership.

Benefits

Exposure to international operations

Supportive team environment

Opportunities for growth

Qualifications

• Strong operational, organisational and commercial background.
• Excellent leadership and people development skills.
• Good understanding of finance management and experience in accounting platforms.
• Proactive mindset with strong problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead all Embelo operations to ensure smooth delivery.
• Define full operational plans across key areas.
• Provide leadership and support across broader network.
• Collaborate with leadership teams to define effective processes.

Skills

Operational expertise

Leadership skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management or Business Administration

Tools

Accounting platforms (e.g., Xero)

Microsoft Excel

Job description

About Us

At Embelo, we’re dedicated to helping established international businesses and consultancies scale efficiently within South Africa. Backed by our UK-based investors and clients, we deliver exceptional client services to a growing group of UK businesses — combining technical expertise, South African spirit, and the latest in AI-powered services.

We have launched a new central operations function based within South Africa in order to underpin the running of a portfolio of UK based businesses. As part of this, we are now looking to build our leadership team to enable scaling of all end-to-end operations and development of our capabilities, whilst delivering this growth profitably and at pace. We believe it takes great people to grow great businesses. That’s why we’re building a culture that values innovation, curiosity, and getting things done with excellence.

About the Role:

We are going through an exciting period of growth, building our operational capability in Cape Town to enable us to scale efficiently, we need a specific focus on our end-to-end processes including commercial and financial management. Embelo are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Operations Lead with a commercial focus to define and implement best practice across a portfolio of fast growing and diverse companies. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Operations Lead who will relish the prospect of taking on a challenge and has the skills to drive future initiatives across all operations, enabling our business ramp up significantly over the next 12 months, whilst maintaining a substantial focus on improving the valuations of each business within our portfolio.

The ideal candidate must have a strong operational grounding, ideally combined with some direct Finance experience which will also enable them to own the current end-to-end financial processes. Hardworking and ambitious with a proactive and results driven mindset, you will be able to demonstrate your experience of leading a commercially successful operation, along with the style and finesse to work with founders across multiple businesses, each with their own challenging agendas and timescales.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Lead all Embelo operations and capabilities to ensure smooth, efficient, profitable and scalable delivery.
• Define full business operational plans across people, finance, marketing, technology and other key areas to deliver against the Embelo strategy.
• Provide leadership for the immediate Embelo team and offer support across broader network as required.
• Collaborate with leadership teams and businesses across the network to define and embed effective end-to-end processes.
• Support the day to day running of each business from an E2E finance perspective including: Project financials, invoicing and billing cycle, cash flow management, budgeting and forecasting
• Drive and own monthly financial and operational reporting across Embelo and the broader portfolio of companies
• Lead and evolve our nearshore ways of working, ensuring a seamless experience for our people and our businesses
• Review, recommend and support implementation of required software solutions, technology and AI strategy across the business.

Essential Knowledge and Skills:

This role provides a unique opportunity for a proactive and driven individual. We are looking for applicants who have:

Strong operational, organisational and commercial background with a proven track record of defining and implementing best practices within high performing organisations.

• Excellent leadership and people development skills, with the ability to grow and motivate teams.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and reporting skills with a data-driven/commercial approach to decision making.
• Good understanding of finance management and ideally with hands-on experience in accounting platforms (e.g., Xero or similar) including demonstrated experience preparing basic financial reports and managing operational budgets - Proficiency in Microsoft Office (particularly Excel)
• Confidence to challenge existing ways of working, recognise opportunities and propose innovative, value-adding solutions.
• Proactive mindset with strong problem-solving abilities.
• Experience in performance-led or commercially driven environments.
• Experience of making operational decisions that consider financial and commercial impact.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment independently and collaboratively across teams and regions whilst meeting time-sensitive deadlines.
• Detail-oriented with excellent organisational and prioritisation skills.
• High level of integrity, discretion and professionalism in handling sensitive matters.
• A Keen interest in technology and the scaled application of AI across operations and finance would be a distinct advantage

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management or Business Administration or a related field.

Why Join Us?

At Embelo, you will work directly with UK founders and leaders while gaining exposure to international operations in a supportive, close-knit team that values initiative, growth, and quality delivery. You’ll have the chance to shape processes and build your operational management skills while contributing to a business that believes in developing talent and growing sustainably.

If you are organised, proactive, and excited by the opportunity to support UK founders while working in a dynamic South African team, we would love to hear from you.