Head Of Operations Johannesburg

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:-

The Head of Operations at ForAfrika South Africa is responsible for overseeing programme and contract delivery, managing the office's operations, procurement, and people functions, and ensuring compliance, timely delivery, and budget adherence. The role involves co-developing the country strategy with the Country Managing Director, leading programme managers and operational leads, and ensuring robust operational controls and safeguarding standards. The ideal candidate should have a strategic operations leadership background, significant experience in programme delivery and procurement, and a strong understanding of South African labour law and operational risk management.

Job Title: Chief Operations Officer Company: ForAfrika

Salary: Market Related Job Type: Contract Sectors: Admin NGO & Non-profit Reference: 208382

Vacancy Details Employer: ForAfrika

ForAfrika, an African-founded and led organisation with over four decades of impactful work across the continent, invites applications for the position of Chief Operations Officer in South Africa. Our mission is to partner with communities through an integrated development continuum: saving lives and building resilience for self-sufficiency via Humanitarian & Development work and unlocking commercial viability through Social Enterprise activities. We are committed to delivering African-led solutions for Africa, ensuring communities thrive in the long run.

Role Thesis

The Chief Operations Officer is the senior leader responsible for the programme and contract delivery for ForAfrika South Africa. Reporting to the Country Managing Director, this role oversees every funded project from initiation to completion and manages the office’s operations, procurement and people functions to ensure compliance, timely delivery, and budget adherence. As a member of the Country Leadership Team, the Chief Operations Officer co-develops the country strategy, grounding growth ambitions in delivery capacity, cost, risk, and performance evidence, and builds the operational systems and capability the Country Office needs to expand across humanitarian, institutional, Pre-Commercial Viability (PCV), and Commercial Transactions/FASE work.

Purpose of the Position

Reporting to the Country Managing Director, the Chief Operations Officer is ForAfrika South Africa’s senior operational leader, accountable for delivering the country’s programmes and contracts and for the operational functions that support them. This role covers the full country portfolio: humanitarian and donor-funded programmes, government and corporate/CSI-funded programmes and contracts, and approved PCV and FASE ventures. It also runs the operational backbone of the Country Office: operations, procurement, logistics and warehousing, fleet, facilities, assets, IT support, and people.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Country Strategy and Leadership Team Contribution

Serve on the Country Leadership Team to set the country strategy, target operating model, annual plan and Rocks, all approved by the MD. Co-develop the country strategy and 36-month country plan with the MD, grounding growth ambitions in delivery capacity, cost, risk, and performance evidence. Lead the operational components of the strategy: operating-model design, country footprint (sites, warehousing, fleet), supply-chain strategy, and capability roadmap. Recommend where the country portfolio should grow, consolidate, invest, partner or exit, and recommend bid/no-bid on new opportunities based on delivery feasibility and pricing. Identify operational assets and capabilities that could create strategic advantage or earned-income lanes, and develop them into options with the MD and FASE. Act for the MD on operational matters when delegated, and represent operations in enterprise forums and One ForAfrika planning.

Leadership, Management and Accountability

Model ForAfrika’s core values of Deep Love ForAfrika, Dependability, Compassion, Initiative, and Discipline, and build a culture of accountability, safety, and timely execution. Translate approved country plans into operational plans, Rocks, scorecards, and clear ownership for each programme and support team; own the operations scorecard within the country EOS cadence. Lead programme managers and operational leads through clear expectations, regular performance conversations, and disciplined follow-up. Provide timely, decision-ready reporting to the MD and escalate material operational, safeguarding, compliance, or reputational risks promptly, with a clear recommendation.

Decision Rights and Accountability

The Chief Operations Officer and Country Managing Director work as one leadership team. The Chief Operations Officer co-develops the country strategy; the MD holds final decision rights. To avoid duplicated ownership, accountabilities are divided as follows:

Area Head of Operations Country Managing Director

Country strategy and operating model Co-develops with the MD; leads operational components Owns and approves

Annual plan, Rocks, and budget Co-develops; owns operational plan and investment case Owns and approves

Bids and new opportunities Shapes; recommends bid/no-bid Decides, with Revenue & Growth

Country P&L and revenue target Manages delegated budgets Owns

Programme and contract delivery Owns delivery and contract performance Accountable overall; oversight

Mobilisation readiness Owns operational readiness Approves go/no-go

Operations, procurement, HR, and SOPs Owns and leads Oversight; endorses

Operational CAPEX/OPEX Proposes and manages within budget Approves within delegated authority

PCV/FASE ventures Assesses feasibility; runs approved ventures Approves with FASE/enterprise gates

Operational risk and safeguarding Owns operational controls and escalation Owns country risk register

Working Relationships and Role Boundaries

Revenue & Growth (including the Head of Development & Revenue) develops opportunities, builds the evidence, secures funding, and manages donor/partner relationships. The Chief Operations Officer provides delivery-feasibility, costing, and mobilisation input before commitments are made.

At the point of funding, each project, with its contract, budget, and reporting obligations, formally transfers to the Chief Operations Officer, who mobilises, delivers, reports, and is accountable for results, and feeds evidence and lessons back to Revenue & Growth.

Finance owns accounting, financial reporting, treasury, financial controls, and donor financial compliance. The Chief Operations Officer manages delegated budgets, provides cost and forecast inputs, and ensures operational transactions comply with financial controls.

Programme and project managers report to the Chief Operations Officer, who is accountable for delivery, quality, and contract performance; technical standards are set with Group technical and DMEAL functions.

Group functions set enterprise policies and standards; the Chief Operations Officer applies them in country.

Social Enterprise / FASE leads venture design and transactions; the Chief Operations Officer assesses feasibility and runs approved ventures.

Programme, Contract, and Venture Delivery

Take formal ownership of every funded project at handover and deliver it safely, compliantly, on time, and to agreed scope, quality, and budget. Own mobilisation readiness for new awards and approved ventures, including people, partners, supply chain, systems, cash, and risk controls. Own contract compliance for funder, investor, customer, and partner obligations; produce accurate, on-time narrative reports, and financial reports with Finance; maintain delivery records and audit trails. Mobilise and run approved PCV and FASE ventures to agreed standards and budgets, maintaining required separation of restricted, PCV, and commercial funds; make no commitments outside approved decision gates and delegated authority. Manage implementing partners operationally, including due diligence, performance monitoring, and corrective action, and maintain humanitarian response readiness proportionate to the country context. Intervene early when delivery is threatened, implement recovery plans, and close out projects properly (final reports, asset handover, financial close, lessons learnt).

Operations, Procurement, and People

Operations: run day-to-day operations across the Country Office and project sites; manage facilities, fleet, assets, and preventative maintenance in line with Group standards; coordinate in-country IT support; and ensure full compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993. Procurement and supply chain: run procurement in line with Group policy and funder rules; source, contract, and manage suppliers and vendors, negotiating and enforcing SLAs; and ensure procurement supports project timelines without compromising compliance. Controls: maintain fit-for-purpose operational controls for procurement, logistics, fleet, warehousing, and field offices, with robust asset registers, inventory control, and supply-chain tracking. People and HR: lead country HR operations within Group policy, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and payroll governance; plan workforce and FTE needs for each project and the office within approved budgets; handle industrial relations, including chairing disciplinary, incapacity, and appeal hearings; and keep employment practice compliant with South African labour law. Standards, SOPs, and systems: set operating standards and SOPs, audit sites against them and close gaps; design data-driven workflows that cut operational risk and improve efficiency; introduce digital and responsible AI tools within approved controls; and supply operational data to DMEAL for decisions and evidence.

Budgets, Cost Efficiency, and Asset Stewardship

Own project and operational budgets delegated by the MD, within the country P&L, the delegation of authority, and financial controls; partner with Finance on forecasting, burn-rate monitoring, and early identification of overruns. Prepare and manage operational CAPEX and OPEX proposals with clear justification, return, and lifecycle cost, for MD approval. Drive value for money across programmes and operations; add capacity only where funded delivery or approved growth justifies the cost; ensure realistic costing in proposals and business cases. Maintain robust asset, inventory, and supply-chain controls, ready for audits and partner asset verification.

Risk, Compliance, Safeguarding, and Duty of Care

Own operational risks on the country risk register and lead operational implementation of safeguarding standards across sites, partners, and field activities. Maintain security, access, staff safety, medical evacuation, and duty-of-care arrangements proportionate to the operating context, and business-continuity plans for critical operations, sites, and systems. Ensure procurement, supply chain, and partner activity comply with anti-corruption, sanctions, beneficial-ownership, and responsible-sourcing requirements. Ensure no delivery pressure, cost target, or revenue opportunity overrides safety, compliance, or mission guardrails.

People, Organisation, and Culture

Build a capable, accountable team aligned to the approved structure and funded work, with right people in the right seats and measurable scorecards for every role. Set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and address underperformance fairly, within People & Culture policies; develop national operational leadership and succession. Lead the integration of programme delivery and operations through the restructuring with clarity, respect, and decisiveness.

Key Performance Indicators

Measured through the operations scorecard within the country EOS cadence, with targets agreed annually with the MD. Indicative measures:

Strategy: quality and timeliness of contribution to the country strategy, annual plan, and bid decisions (MD assessment). Delivery: funded projects delivered to scope, time, quality, and budget; mobilisation lead times met. Compliance and reporting: zero material breaches of funder or customer obligations; reports on time and accepted without major revision; no material labour, payroll, OHS, procurement, or audit findings. Cost: spend within budget, variances corrected within the month; cost per beneficiary or unit of service. Operations: procurement turnaround and supplier SLA performance; vacancy fill time; fleet and asset utilisation; site audit scores. Safeguarding and safety: incidents reported and responded to within required timeframes. People: team scorecard achievement, retention, and succession coverage.

First 12-Month Priorities

Co-develop with the MD the refined country strategy and target operating model, including footprint, supply-chain, and capability roadmap. Complete an operational baseline across programmes, contracts, operations, assets, partners, and controls, feeding the MD’s country diagnostic. Integrate programme delivery and operations into one operating platform; agree the handover process with Revenue & Growth and take formal ownership of all funded projects. Establish the operations scorecard and Rocks within the EOS cadence; confirm mobilisation and recovery plans for all current contracts. Review operational costs and structure as input to the MD’s cost-base reset; complete a full asset and inventory verification. Publish core SOPs and site standards; validate risk, safeguarding, security, and business-continuity controls and close material gaps.

Knowledge and Skills and Abilities

Operations Leadership Standard: The ForAfrika Chief Operations Officer must be a strategic operator who co-develops country strategy with the MD and leads programme delivery and operations as one integrated platform, running complex, multi-site delivery reliably and safely with strong controls.

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, International Development, or a related field; Master's degree or formal management development training preferred. 10–12+ years of progressively responsible experience, including at least five years in a senior operations or multi-functional leadership role, preferably in Africa. Proven ownership of project or contract delivery, including budgets, milestones, and funder reporting, and experience running procurement, logistics, fleet, warehousing, asset management, and HR in a multi-site organisation. Understanding of institutional and humanitarian funding and compliance requirements; experience with UN agencies, bilateral donors, government-funded or corporate CSI programmes, or donor-, investor-, or grant-funded projects, is highly valuable. Working knowledge of South African labour law and the OHS Act, including chairing disciplinary and incapacity hearings. Demonstrated contribution to organisational strategy at leadership-team level, including operating-model design, investment cases, and growth planning. Commercial and financial literacy sufficient to cost operations, manage budgets, and assess the operational viability of earned-income ventures. Strong grounding in safeguarding, security, duty of care, partner management, and operational risk. Proven ability to lead change, build accountable teams, and develop national succession; clear, decision-ready communication. Fluency in English; other South African languages an advantage. Valid South African driver's licence and willingness to travel frequently.

Candidates may bring deeper humanitarian/institutional or private-sector operations experience but must demonstrate enough fluency to run programme delivery and operations across humanitarian, institutional, and commercial lanes and make disciplined decisions outside their original comfort zone.

DISCLAIMER: Please note candidates must have a right to live and work in South Africa