Stellenbosch University LaunchLab (“SU LL”) is Africa’s leading University Business Incubator focused on transforming seemingly impossible ideas into world shaping businesses. Focusing on the 0 to 1 journey for early stage ventures allows SU LL to build the next generation of high impact, sustainable companies across University Technology Transfer, Climate, AgriTech and FoodTech. Over 250 companies have come through our programs resulting in over $30M USD of funds raised, $32M of annual revenue and 250+ jobs created.
SU LL is seeking an experienced, passionate professional to join its rapidly growing team as Global Operations Director. This is a critical role that sits directly between the CEO and our Future Builder programs. This positioning offers a unique opportunity to work directly with our company building team as well as our startups to ensure the smooth & efficient execution of our Inspire (webinars, Design Thinking workshops, informational sessions) and Build (Countdown, Orbit, Lift Off, SuperNova) programs.
The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in building, managing and scaling operations at a pre-Series B startup organisation in Africa. They will have a laser sharp attention to detail, ability to work collaboratively between various teams, passion for business intelligence & desire to build a world class operations platform with Pan-African scale ambitions.
An entrepreneurial aptitude, matched by a willingness to get your hands dirty while delivering solutions are essential qualities in the successful candidate. If you have a passion for using your Operations skills to help grow the next generation of exciting African startups, then SU LaunchLab will be an excellent environment for you to deploy your skills in a growing, ambitious team bent on transforming seemingly impossible ideas into world shaping businesses.
Position: Operations Director
Role: Full Time Employment
Reporting: Reports directly to Chief Executive Officer
Fixed Salary: R50 – 60k per month
Variable Salary: Incentive Package including quarterly bonus, annual profit sharing & payouts based on liquidity events of portfolio companies
Location: Western Cape, SA
Timing: 1 September 2021 or earlier
Operations Job Purpose:
Direct and coordinate the internal structure of SU LaunchLab based on company policies, goals, and objectives to ensure an efficient working environment and that deadlines are met consistently. Play a leading role in creating tactical & strategic plans, KPIs and processes to ensure execution of these initiatives.
Major Duties & Responsibilities:
- Lead, collaborate and manage the execution of numerous venture building programs across Climate, Agri & Health by working directly with Program Directors and their teams
- Create & distribute business intelligence reports & dashboards on a monthly basis that track the efficiency & performance of programs and portfolio companies
- Assist the CEO in developing tactical & strategic plans to support future growth
- Oversee daily activity of the Venture Creator, Future Builder & FoodTech Lab teams
- Prepare budgets, schedules, and other organisational reports as needed
- Manage team workloads in order to meet goals and deadlines
- Develop plans to increase efficiency and reduce costs
- Improve existing systems and policies
- Ensure all customer requirements are met in a timely manner
- Identify improvement areas and plans and implements systems to boost company effectiveness
- Executes plans designed to meet company goals by changing policies and coaching employees
Role Qualifications:
- 7+ years of experience as Operations Director or Manager at a medium to large corporate
- 3+ years of experience as Operations or Manager at a pre-Series B startup operating in Africa
- Degree in Operations Management or related business field required from a top University
- Advanced degree (MBA, CA, CFA, etc) or additional Project Management training (Six Sigma, Kanban, etc) a plus
- Strong financial modeling experience & skills; coding and/or data query/data management ability a plus
- Experience creating business intelligence reports for Senior Management
Skills Requirements:
- Excellent organisational & communication skills across written, verbal & modelling
- Passion for problem solving especially in a startup environment with a ‘yes and’ attitude
- Ability to work across multi-disciplinary teams in an inspiring and efficient manner
- Ability to schedule and plan complex projects on tight deadlines
- Strong coaching skills with a passion for mentoring
- Adaptable to change, motivated by creating new systems & a self starter mentality
- Self-starter with excellent interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills
- Comfort dealing with ambiguity and the ability to work independently
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment
Areas of Experience:
Program Management, Project Management, Operational Process Design, Developing Standards, Quality Management, Problem Solving, Process Improvement, Statistical Analysis, Financial Planning and Strategy, Reporting Research Results, Requirements Analysis, Financial Skills
In order to apply, please submit the following information here:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Video of 60 seconds or less discussing your ‘why’ for working with SU LaunchLab
- Motivation Letter of 250 words or less describing your applicable experience in Financial Management and vision for the role
We look forward to transforming seemingly impossible into world-shaping with you!