Head of Operations & Continuous Improvement (Accelerated Pathway to COO)
We manufacture and retail architectural building materials for high-end projects across Australia. Design, manufacture, pack, dispatch — all from our Coolum workshop. Relatively small, flat team. No corporate layers. Quality over quantity, simplicity over complexity, outcomes over ego.
The Role
We need someone to build the operating playbook for this business — and then make sure it's followed.
Too much of how things work currently lives in the founder's head, in conversations, and in tribal knowledge. Some SOPs exist, others don't. Some KPIs are tracked, others should be. Improvement initiatives get designed but not all of them land. The business needs documented standards, structured measurement, and consistent accountability across every area — sales, production, lead generation, quality, procurement, HR, systems, and finance.
You will run two engines:
Engine 1 — Keeping the current BAU operations humming
* Standards: Every area should have clear, documented standards: what good looks like, how it's measured, what happens when we're not hitting it. Where they don't exist, you build them with the founder and the relevant lead.
* Accountability: You hold each lead accountable for their area's performance. When something's off track, you work directly with them to understand why and agree what changes.
* Enforcement: Where standards aren't being followed, you address it. Directly, promptly, consistently. The standard is the standard.
* Cadence: Weekly meetings with the relevant leads and the founder. Scorecards reviewed. Actions tracked in Asana. Follow-up before the next meeting. Nothing drifts.
Engine 2 — Driving implementation of continuous improvement initiatives
* Capture & triage: Every improvement opportunity is logged, framed correctly, and prioritised with the founder against agreed business goals. Not everything becomes a project — you recommend what's worth pursuing and when.
* Execution: Drive implementation to completion. Scope, plan, assign, track through Asana, clear roadblocks with the lead or task owner. The founder contributes diagnostics and solution design. You make sure the fix lands — fully, not half‐finished.
* Verification: Confirm it worked. Measure against defined success criteria. If it held, update the SOP, set the new BAU standard, and enforce it. If it didn't, cycle back.
* Capacity management: Protect the business from taking on more than it can finish. When a new initiative is raised, scope the impact and present the trade‐off. "We can do this, but we're pausing that."
What You Will Personally Build (with the founder)
SOPs, KPI scorecards, performance management frameworks, meeting rhythms, deviation management systems, initiative tracking in Asana, and the institutional knowledge base ("bus book") that means the business doesn't depend on any one person's memory.
The Growth Path
Progresses to Chief Operating Officer within 24 months — earned, not given.
Year one: you co‐own performance management with the founder. Founder retains P&L ownership and final call on contested decisions.
Promotion criteria:
* The business rhythm runs without the founder driving it.
* Initiatives complete consistently.
* You handle difficult conversations independently.
* Leads treat your direction as authoritative.
On promotion: full people authority, operational P&L, initiative authority without founder approval.
About You
No specific industry experience required — the founder covers the technical domain.
You're relentless on follow-through — Open loops don't sit comfortably with you. When you own something, you track it until it's verified complete — finished, measured, sustained.
You build the standard, then hold it — You create the systems the business runs on. Once set, you enforce them — clearly, fairly, promptly. Not aggressively, but not ambiguously.
You're structured and methodical — Documenting decisions, tracking actions, and reviewing data is habit, not effort. If it isn't written down, it didn't happen.
You hold your position — When a fast‐moving founder wants to launch three things on Monday, you present what's already in flight and have the prioritisation conversation with evidence.
You're persistent where others lose patience — Same cadence, same scorecard, same follow-ups, week after week. Sustained discipline is how results compound.
You take input on its merits — The founder contributes constantly. You integrate what works, push back on what doesn't, implement without ego. The outcome matters, not the credit.
You learn fast — New domains, new industries — you get across them quickly by asking the right questions and reading the data.
What you've done before
* Personally built SOPs, scorecards, or frameworks that a business adopted and kept using.
* Driven an improvement initiative to a verified, measured, sustained result.
* Built a meeting rhythm or accountability structure that stuck.
* Held someone to a standard — had the conversation, followed through.
* Managed work across multiple teams simultaneously.
* Learned an unfamiliar domain on the job quickly.
Nice to have
* Manufacturing experience
* CI methodology
* Experience with a founder/owner‐operator
* Financial literacy
How We Work
Small, flat team. Frankness expected both ways. Best idea wins. Three things done properly beats ten done poorly. Long‐term commitment — we want someone who grows with the business.
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