Head of Operations / Operations Lead

Our client is building the infrastructure layer for how advanced hardware companies buy, track, and manage the parts that run their businesses. Customers run complex supply chains; our job is to turn that chaos into clarity.

We need an operator who can take messy real-world procurement and convert it into repeatable execution. This is a senior, high-trust role with a broad remit: build the operating system for how we deliver to customers, run cross-functional execution, and scale internal processes without adding bureaucracy.

The role is hands-on. Early on, you’ll do a lot personally, then turn that work into playbooks, tooling, metrics, and cadences others can run. As we expand into deeper workflows and new product lines, you’ll help define the operating model and strategy for delivering those offerings across product, engineering, growth, and customer ops.

What You’ll Own

1)      Customer Delivery Ops (core)

• Build and run our onboarding and implementation motion end-to-end (discovery → data mapping → workflow design → UAT → go-live → post-go-live).
• Create the templates that make delivery predictable: project plans, checklists, comms packs, risk logs, escalation paths.
• Drive single-source-of-truth reporting for each account: status, blockers, owners, next steps.

2)      Systems + Supply Chain Fluency

• Be conversant in ERP/MRP, MES, PLM, configuration management, part masters, doc control, approval routings, and adjacent infrastructure.
• Work with engineering and product on integrations and workflows. You don’t need to write the code, but you do need to spec things cleanly, align stakeholders, and understand how data needs to move.
• Treat data hygiene as a product. This role benefits from someone who has lived PLM/admin, data cleanup, and doc control in the wild.
  

3)      Metrics + Decision-Quality Data

• Define and maintain dashboards/metrics for delivery throughput, implementation cycle time, customer health, risk, and internal execution.
• Build an operating cadence around those metrics (weekly reviews, escalations, postmortems).
• Strong preference for someone who can query data and build BI dashboards.

4)      Cross-functional Execution

• Drive cross-functional projects end-to-end: scope, plan, unblock, follow up, land the plane.
• Keep leadership and teams aligned with crisp written updates, clean meeting hygiene, and tight action-item ownership.
• This maps well to a product/people-ops/TPM-style operator who lives in process improvement and program management. As the client launches new capabilities, you’ll help shape how they’re operationalized across teams.
  

5)      Build the Function (depending on level)

• Ops Lead: high-ownership IC / player-coach.
• Head of Ops: define the function, hire the team, set OKRs/KPIs, build the rhythms, and own the company execution engine.

6)      Trust & Compliance Posture

• Help us stay audit-ready culturally: documentation, access/process discipline, vendor/tooling hygiene.
• Experience with trust/privacy/regulatory programs and internal business apps is a plus.

What Success Looks Like

First 30–60 Days

• Implementations run on a consistent playbook (templates, owners, cadence).
• There’s a trusted customer-status truth source (no more archaeology).

First 90 Days

• Predictable delivery: fewer surprises, fewer dropped balls, tighter communication.
• Clear throughput and customer-health metrics used by leadership weekly.

6–12 Months

• The client becomes scalable: delivery is repeatable, ops/processes are durable, and we can add new customers and product lines without chaos tax.

The Kind of Operator Who Thrives Here

You’re likely a fit if you’ve:

• Admin’d or been close to an MES/ERP implementation/configuration and understand manufacturing processes.
• Built integrations/workflows across ERP, MES, PLM and can use SQL/BI to answer real business questions.
• Defined a SaaS implementation motion and then built a team around it.
• Built new ops functions from scratch (finance ops, people ops, product ops).
• Scaled an ops org, redesigned onboarding to increase capacity, and built target-setting/tracking systems.
• Run company-wide operating rhythms / OKRs / KPIs and hired across functions.
• Owned Head-of-Ops/BizOps-style work in a fast-moving company (consulting → operator is totally fine).

Requirements (Non-negotiable)

• Relentless organization and follow-through.
• Strong writing: playbooks, runbooks, crisp exec updates.
• Comfort in ambiguity and pace (Seed–Series A reality).
• Enough supply chain/manufacturing systems fluency to earn trust quickly.

Nice-to-haves

• Advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defense, energy, or robotics exposure.
• Prior ownership of Delivery Ops / Implementation Ops / BizOps in B2B SaaS.
• Comfort in security-conscious environments and with trust/compliance stakeholders.

Leveling

• Operations Lead (IC/player-coach): 4–8 years, proven builder, heavy execution.
• Head of Operations: 8–12+ years, owns org-wide execution, hires the function, runs cadence and metrics.

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $150,000 – $200,000 per year.

The equity range for this role is .15% – .25%