Operations Manager - Industrial Equipment | Durban North

Job Description

• This is a genuine hybrid of finance and operations management. It carries full responsibility for the financial management of the business alongside operational control of stock, purchasing and administration.
• It is a senior position reporting directly to the Managing Director, sitting at the centre of how the business runs day to day. A capable admin team is already in place, so this role is the oversight, control and reporting layer, not the person doing every task.

The Role

• Financial management: monthly management accounts and board packs, cash flow, payment approvals, forex management alongside the bookkeeper, financing facilities and P&L ownership.
• Doing this properly and on time is central to the role.
• Stock and purchasing: stock control and planning, ordering and lead-time management, costing and price lists, supplier and accessory negotiations.
• Operational control and reporting: oversight of the admin team, plus sales and service reporting and systems discipline CRM. This reporting deliberately sits outside the sales function as an independent control point.
• Systems and improvement: identifying and implementing systems to automate manual work, with a real appetite for integrating systems and using technology and AI to make the business more efficient.
• This seat is built with a long-term trajectory in mind. For the right person it carries real leadership potential over time. Beyond the financial and operational skill set, we are therefore looking for someone who brings leadership potential and ambition, the ability to engage confidently with customers and senior stakeholders, and genuine discipline and ownership. The Finance / Ops Manager role must be earned and delivered first. Everything beyond that follows from it.

Requirements

• Financial qualification
• Min 5 - 6 years relevant experience
• Strong financial fluency - understanding of the right numbers, presented clearly
• Operational instinct - comfortable owning stock, purchasing and processing, not just reporting on them.
• Systems mined - curious about how systems talk to each other and keen on automation - technically capable and willing

Benefits

• R55,000 to R70,000 per month, candidate dependent.
• A senior, high-autonomy role in a stable, growing, 30-year-old business.
• A real opportunity to make a difference in an owner-run company, with a long-term path for the right person.
• Durban-based, in-office.