Operations Manager

Tuhf Capital; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Tuhf Capital is seeking an Operations Manager to design and continuously improve the operating model for efficient service delivery from lead generation to client outcomes. The role focuses on optimizing workflows, reducing cycle times, and ensuring high-quality outcomes in a digital-enabled environment.

The candidate will lead process improvement initiatives, establish governance around standards, and collaborate with IT to deliver automation and dashboards that provide visibility into pipeline

Qualifications

• Requires an NQF Level 7/8 qualification in industrial engineering, operations management or similar.
• Formal grounding in Lean Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt) or equivalent process-improvement certification.

Responsibilities

• Design the end-to-end client service delivery model from lead ingestion to contraction and handover.
• Map current processes, identify bottlenecks, and redesign based on evidence.
• Establish a continuous-improvement cycle with cadence and measurable outcomes.
• Ensure processes scale with volume and maintain a current operating model document.
• Develop and maintain the annual operations delivery plan aligned to strategy.
• Define service standards, measure flow, and manage cycle times and throughput.
• Lead quality assurance, risk controls, and compliance with standards (FICA/KYC).
• Plan capacity and allocate resources across teams to meet demand.
• Own the automation and digital enablement roadmap, partnering with IT for delivery.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration across sales, credit, legal, finance, and operations.
• Mentor and develop Associates and teams to foster a high-performance culture.

Skills

Kanban

Lean Six Sigma

Theory of Constraints

Operations management

Process improvement

Education

NQF Level 7/8 qualification in Industrial Engineering or related

Tools

CRM systems

Dashboards

Job description

The Operations Manager is responsible for designing, implementing, and continuously improving the business's operating model to ensure efficient, consistent, and high-quality service delivery. This includes overseeing the processes, systems, controls, and team structures that enable work to move effectively from initial lead generation through to the final client outcome.

The role focuses on creating and refining the way work is performed by ensuring that workflows are efficient, service delivery is reliable, operational risks are controlled, and performance is measured and enhanced on an ongoing basis. The Operations Manager is accountable for improving operational effectiveness, turnaround times, service quality, and overall business performance.

Operating Approach

The role is expected to bring recognised operations-management methodology into the business and to make it work in a digital environment rather than on paper. Specifically:

• Theory of Constraints
• Flow and pull-based work management (Kanban).
• Lean and Six Sigma.

Key performance areas

Operating model design and continuous improvement

• Design the end-to-end client service delivery model, from lead ingestion through application, credit submission, approval, contracting, registration, disbursement and operational handover.
• Map the current process, quantify where time and quality are actually lost, and redesign against evidence rather than assumption.
• Establish a standing continuous-improvement cycle with a defined cadence, so that the model improves on a schedule rather than only in response to problems.
• Ensure processes are scalable and capable of supporting increased transaction volumes without proportionate increases in headcount.
• Document the operating model and keep it current as the authoritative reference for how work is done.
• Develop and maintain the annual operations delivery plan in support of the business strategy, for approval.

Flow, throughput and service-level management

• Define and publish service standards and turnaround times for each stage of the transaction lifecycle.
• Measure and manage flow, including cycle time, work item age, throughput, queue depth and conversion between stages.
• Identify bottlenecks and act on them using constraint-based prioritisation, rather than applying uniform pressure across every step.
• Manage the movement of approved transactions into contracting, fulfilment and disbursement so that they complete within agreed timeframes once conditions precedent are satisfied.
• Report performance against service standards monthly and as required, with cause and corrective action rather than numbers alone.

Quality assurance, standard-setting and operational controls

• Set the quality standards that Associates, Administration and Contracting and Conveyancing work to, and assure output against them. The role sets and assures standards; it does not perform the credit, compliance or legal work itself.
• Establish quality standards for credit-submission readiness and application packs so that work reaching Credit is complete, accurate and consistent. Ownership of credit assessment and of Credit Committee decision-making authority is unchanged by this role.
• Establish and assure standards for FICA/KYC and application compliance administration, maintaining appropriate audit trails and documentation.
• Set and assure standards for loan agreement, addendum and cession drafting quality, and for registration and cession tracking. Specialist legal expertise remains within Contracting and Conveyancing; the operations, systems and process flow through that function sit with this role.
• Measure error and rework rates by process step, identify root causes, and implement durable fixes rather than relying on corrective administration.
• Ensure operational risk controls are designed into the process, and that credit, legal, FICA and disbursement decisions remain with authorised employees.

Capacity planning and resource modelling

• Build and maintain capacity models that translate expected transaction volume into staffing requirements by function and skill.
• Allocate work according to transaction volume, complexity, urgency and employee capability, and rebalance as the constraint moves.
• Define staff requirements across the teams and resource them through retention, recruitment, selection and appointment.
• Plan for peak and seasonal load rather than absorbing it through overtime and escalation.

Systems, data, automation and digital enablement

• Own the operational systems, automation and AI roadmap for the function, and work closely with IT to deliver it.
• Translate operational requirements into specifications that IT can build, and lead system integration, testing, implementation and staff adoption.
• Ensure the CRM and lending systems reflect the true status of every transaction and manage data quality by validating system data against approved loan agreements.
• Build dashboards and management information giving visibility of pipeline, applications, credit submissions, approvals, declines, transactions in contracting, fulfilment, disbursements, turnaround times, bottlenecks and conversion rates.
• Identify and deliver automation of manual and repetitive steps and track realised benefit rather than intended benefit.
• Ensure appropriate data security, audit trails and human oversight within automated processes.

Cross-functional integration

• Work closely with Finance so that the systems and processes supporting disbursement are integrated across the business and deliver a good client experience.
• Provide the front office with a central operational capability, so that Client Coverage Consultants can concentrate on origination and client relationships, supported by standardised application and submission packs, templates, tools and clear service standards.
• Coordinate across Credit, Legal, Risk, IT, Finance and external service providers, including attorneys, to resolve issues that cross functional boundaries.
• Act as the escalation point for operational issues, resolving cause rather than instance, and monitor agreed actions through to completion.

People leadership and capability building

• Lead the Associates, Administration and Contracting and Conveyancing teams, including the operations, systems and workflow oversight of Contracting and Conveyancing.
• Build a high-performance culture of ownership, responsiveness, accuracy and continuous improvement through leadership, mentoring, development and performance management.
• Develop operational capability within the teams, including basic process-improvement literacy, so that improvement is not dependent on a single individual.
• Lead change, embedding new processes and ways of working so that they hold after implementation

Requirements

• An NQF Level 7/8 qualification in industrial engineering, operations management, business process engineering, supply chain management or similar which could be from one or a combination of Industrial/Chemical Engineering, Operations Management, Business Management, Project Management, Information Systems or Data Science disciplines.
• Formal grounding in a recognised operations methodology is strongly preferred: Lean Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt), Theory of Constraints, or an equivalent process-improvement or flow-management certification.

Experience

• At least 5 years designing and delivering operating models or process-improvement programmes in a service business, with measurable results.
• Between 3 and 5 years leading teams, ideally spanning more than one function.
• Demonstrable experience implementing or improving systems and automation in an operational environment, and working effectively with IT.
• Experience working across multiple functions, particularly sales, credit, legal, finance and operations.