Head of Operations

We are excited to announce a senior opportunity to join our rapidly growing women’s jewellery brand, D.LOUISE. We are one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies with an expanding footprint in the US and ambitious plans for international growth.

We’re looking for a hands-on Head of Operations to serve as the CEO’s right hand and second-in-command — the operational backbone of the business and the connective tissue between product, marketing, e-commerce, logistics, CX and finance. You will own the operating rhythm end-to-end, run our inbound and outbound shipping across UK and US, and hold every function accountable to what they said they’d do.

The ideal candidate isn’t a corporate “process admin” — you’re a builder-operator: someone who thrives in fast-moving environments, builds systems from the ground up, and treats the business like it’s your own.

This role also requires someone who is genuinely AI-first — not curious about AI, but already using it every day to multiply their own output and their team’s. If that isn’t you, this role isn’t for you.

Key Responsibilities

Operating Rhythm & Execution
• Own the operating rhythm: weekly trade, monthly planning, quarterly reviews, launch readiness — with the project management system as the single source of truth.
• Hold function leaders accountable to commitments. Chase politely, firmly, and on time.
• Give the CEO early-warning visibility on what’s on track, what’s at risk, and what needs a decision — by 6am UAE time, without messaging anyone.

Logistics, Stock & CX
• Own UK and US 3PLs as key accounts — SLAs, cost per order, dispatch performance — plus inbound freight, landed cost, customs, and cross-border compliance.
• Own a single source of truth for stock across Shopify, 3PLs, and in-transit inventory; coordinate UK?US transfers; partner with merchandising and finance on forecasting and margin.
• Oversee the CX function and its KPIs — someone runs the day-to-day; you hold them accountable, and make sure issues feed back into product, logistics and ops.

AI, Systems & Reporting
• Drive AI and automation adoption across operations — finding leverage, building workflows, replacing manual work.
• Build SOPs and systems that work without constant oversight; recommend hires before capacity breaks.
• Build dashboards that surface what matters — trade, stock, 3PL SLAs, CX, launch status, P&L — so the CEO can ask one question and get an answer with the receipts.

You’re not a fit for this role if
• You haven’t worked at a DTC e-commerce company.
• You haven’t managed 3PL or vendor networks.
• You haven’t built systems and SOPs from scratch.
You’re a fit if
• 5–10+ years in operations, logistics, or supply chain, specifically in DTC/e-commerce brands in the $10M–$50M revenue range.
• Proven track record of building scalable systems (dashboards, SOPs, reporting) — not just maintaining corporate processes.
• Hands-on experience managing international supply chains (China, US, EU), 3PLs, and vendors.
• Strong financial acumen: margins, landed costs, forecasting, and cost optimisation.
• Builder mindset. You roll up your sleeves, fix what’s broken, then scale it.
• Comfort with chaos and urgency — making fast decisions, firefighting, and then creating structure.
• Experience leading lean teams (3–15 people) in start-up or scale-up environments.
• AI-first. Not “I’ve used ChatGPT.” You’ve built workflows, agents, or automations that have meaningfully replaced manual work.
• Proficiency with tools like Shopify, Amazon, Notion, Slack, n8n, AI tools, and reporting dashboards (Google Sheets / Looker Studio / ERP).
• Excellent communication with internal teams and external partners across geographies.
• Flexibility to travel internationally (China, US, EU) a few times per year.

How to Apply

This is a senior, builder-operator role — so the application is itself part of the assessment. We want to see how you think, how you communicate, and how you operate before we sit down with you. We’re not interested in polished CVs alone.

To apply, send us three things:

1. The Task — a written response (no longer than 1,000 words)
Imagine you’ve been Head of Operations at D.LOUISE for 60 days. Prepare a written response covering:

• Your assessment of the three biggest operational risks you’d expect to find in a business like ours (educated guesses are fine — we want to see your operator instincts).
• A 90-day plan: what you’d prioritise, in what order, and why.
• One specific AI/automation workflow you’d build inside the first 60 days — with a rough architecture: which tools, what it replaces, what it costs.
• Three KPIs you’d put on the CEO’s dashboard from day one, and why.
• One thing you’d ask the CEO to stop doing.

Full creative freedom on format — Google Doc, Notion page, Loom walkthrough, whatever you’d naturally produce. We care more about how you think than how it looks.

2. A 2-5 minute Loom video
Walk us though whatever project management system you use and how you would set it up for us

3. Your CV and a short note
One paragraph on why this role specifically. No cover letter, no long essays.

How we’ll handle applications
• We review every application that follows the instructions. We don’t review applications that don’t.
• Shortlisted candidates will hear from us within 7 days.
• From there: a screening call, a deep-dive interview with the CEO, and a final stage with the leadership team. We aim to make an offer within 2–3 weeks of first contact.