National Operations Manager

About the Company

Our e-commerce platform unlocks the potential of the informal economy and its entrepreneurs by stimulating local trade. We achieve this by providing entrepreneurs (Partners) with everything they need to serve local markets, including access to supply chain, a local distribution and payment solution, and training so they can grow with their businesses. Since our launch, we have completed tens of thousands of orders, generating over 10M for hundreds of (Partners). An impact that has led us to secure partnerships with Old Mutual, represent South Africa in the Dubai Expo 2020 Innovation Awards, and become a seed fund winner of SAB's 2020 Social Innovation Awards.

About the Role

We are looking for an organised, hands-on, and solutions-driven National Operations Manager. This role sits at the heart of Word of Mouth's operations, connecting procurement, warehouse, fulfilment, delivery, and Partner support into one seamless experience. The ideal candidate is someone who values efficiency and people in equal measure. A leader who thrives on developing and coaching teams while building structure, excellence, and accountability in a fast-paced environment. This role offers the opportunity to shape not only WoM's operational excellence but also the future of township commerce at scale.

Responsibilities

User and Partner Support

Delivering a seamless Partner and customer experience is central to building trust with Partners and their customers. Our order support function manages the full lifecycle of inbound and outbound communication, from assisting Partners with queries to confirming orders, resolving issues, and capturing valuable feedback. As such the National Operations Manager is responsible for:

• Overseeing the omni-channel inbound order support (WhatsApp, app, telephonic) process for order related queries;

• Overseeing omni-channel outbound order confirmation process (WhatsApp and telephonic);

• Overseeing the returns, exchanges and ticket resolution process and provide support for escalated tickets;

• Managing User review and conducting User and Partner insight calls.

Procurement and Inventory Management

Our ability to deliver on Partners orders depends on maintaining accurate and optimal stock levels, while ensuring seamless coordination between procurement, warehouse, and fulfilment operations. The National Operations Manager is responsible for:

• Overseeing procurement of on-hand inventory, ensuring products are sourced in line with demand forecasts and budget parameters provided by the internal team;

• Overseeing regional warehouse operations to ensure smooth stock flow, accurate cross-shipping between regions;

• Overseeing the procurement process for next-day fulfilment stock, ensuring products are sourced on-time and accurately to maximise fulfilled orders;

• Overseeing warehouse picking and packing operations, ensuring both in-stock and newly procured items are integrated efficiently into fulfilment workflows and dispatched accurately;

• Holding the regional warehouse teams accountable for maintaining stock accuracy, and process compliance.

Outbound Shipping

Reliable last-mile delivery is key to Partner and customer satisfaction. The National Operations Manager ensures that outbound shipping and logistics processes run efficiently across all regions, working closely with the Delivery Coordinator to maintain high delivery standards, driver performance, and financial accuracy. In this role, they are responsible for:

• Overseeing national logistics performance, identifying and addressing inefficiencies to maintain delivery reliability and Partner satisfaction;

• Ensuring effective systems and reporting for revenue reconciliation and delivery-day performance;

• Supporting and guiding the Delivery Coordinator in managing driver recruitment, onboarding, and safety processes.

Team Management

The National Operations Manager will be motivating, coaching and developing a team with 10+ individuals, and will be responsible for:

• Overseeing national logistics performance, identifying and addressing inefficiencies to ensure key targets and KPI's are achieved across the business units;

• Ensuring that systems are kept up to date, and that data quality is maintained at all times;

• Lead staff planning, recruitment and onboarding processes for operations business units; and

• Lead the performance management process for all operations business units.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of experience in operations, logistics, or customer service management, ideally within e-commerce, retail, or platform-based environments;

• Proven ability to oversee end-to-end operational functions, including procurement, warehousing, fulfilment, delivery, and customer or Partner support;

• Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional or multi-site teams, with strong people management and coaching skills;

• Experience working with CRM or support systems (e.g., Freshdesk, Zendesk, , or WhatsApp Business) and inventory or fulfilment tools (e.g., Airtable, Shopify, Zoho, or equivalent);

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data, identify bottlenecks, and drive performance improvements;

• Excellent communication, coordination, and stakeholder management skills across regional teams and departments;

• Highly organised, resourceful, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-volume social enterprise environment.

Required Skills

• A bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred.

• Equivalent practical experience in operations or customer service leadership may be considered in place of formal qualification.

Pay range and compensation package

Remuneration: 40-60K (based on experience)

Hours of Work: Full-time

Location: Cape Town (on-site)