Job Opportunities API

Our client is seeking a commercially minded, hands-on Managing Director to lead a growing South African consumer business from its Cape Town head office. This is a senior leadership role within a fast-moving, founder-led, scale-up environment. The business has moved beyond its early start-up phase, but still operates with the pace, flexibility, and entrepreneurial mindset of a smaller company. The team is lean, the structure is flat, and the right person will need to be comfortable moving between strategy, people leadership, execution, and operational problem-solving. The Managing Director will report directly to the CEO and will eventually take leadership responsibility across the senior executive team, including operations, finance, technology, and strategy. This person will play a key role in shaping the next phase of growth, improving internal processes, driving innovation, and ensuring the business continues to scale without losing its culture. This role is not suited to a traditional corporate leader who wants heavy structure, hierarchy, or distance from day-to-day execution. It requires someone smart, adaptable, commercially strong, people-focused, and willing to get involved wherever the business needs them. Responsibilities Lead the business day to day, working closely with the CEO to drive strategic priorities and operational execution. Translate company goals into clear plans, actions, and measurable outcomes across teams. Provide leadership across key business functions, including operations, finance, technology, strategy, and people. Support and guide the senior leadership team, helping teams stay aligned, accountable, and commercially focused. Identify opportunities to improve processes, streamline workflows, reduce manual ways of working, and increase operational efficiency. Drive innovation across the business, including the use of automation, AI, and smarter systems where appropriate. Maintain the company’s fast-moving, low-bureaucracy, high-impact culture as the business grows. Move comfortably between strategic planning and hands-on execution, depending on what the business needs. Lead, coach, and develop people in a way that supports performance, ownership, and collaboration. Bring fresh thinking and practical ideas to improve how the business operates and scales. Make sound commercial decisions while balancing growth, efficiency, culture, and customer experience. Build strong relationships across the business and ensure teams remain connected, motivated, and aligned. Help create structure where needed without slowing the business down or introducing unnecessary red tape. Requirements Proven experience in a senior leadership role such as Managing Director, General Manager, COO, Head of Operations, or similar. Experience leading within a founder-led, entrepreneurial, scale-up, high-growth, or smaller business environment. Strong ability to operate both strategically and operationally. Hands-on leadership style, with the willingness to get involved in execution and problem-solving. Experience managing people, teams, and cross-functional business operations. Strong commercial judgement and the ability to make decisions in a fast-moving environment. Comfortable working in a flat structure with limited hierarchy and a high level of ownership. Process-driven mindset, with a strong interest in improving, automating, and streamlining ways of working. High learning agility, with the ability to understand a unique business model quickly. Strong people leadership skills, with the ability to influence, motivate, and build trust across teams. Comfortable working from the Cape Town head office. Experience in e-commerce, retail, consumer goods, digital commerce, or a similar customer-focused environment would be advantageous, but is not essential. Interest in innovation, automation, AI, or technology-enabled process improvement would be