Senior Ops Manager - Asia

Accountabilities:

• Take full accountability for operations in India, including field teams, vendors, logistics, contracting, budgets, and operational processes.
• Develop and execute the India operating plan, manage budgets, deliver against targets, and approve contracts and field expenditure within delegated authority.
• Recruit, train, manage, and develop the India field team while establishing clear expectations and maintaining high performance standards.
• Set and maintain strong data-quality standards and approve country-level outputs before they are shared externally.
• Build and manage senior relationships with growers, estate owners, exporters, government bodies, industry associations, partners, and clients.
• Identify operational risks early, recommend practical solutions, and escalate issues appropriately to regional leadership.
• Collaborate with country leads across Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on planning, budgets, logistics, field operations, and data quality.
• Review country plans and results, help resolve complex operational challenges, and provide direct support during peak periods, staffing gaps, or operational crises.
• Lead regional hiring activities, including role scoping, interviewing, onboarding, and team development.
• Develop a strong operational talent pipeline and progressively take on line-management responsibilities for country leads as the role expands.
• Represent the organization confidently with external stakeholders and make sound decisions regarding commitments, priorities, and opportunities.
• Contribute to regional strategy, annual planning, budgeting, global operations projects, cross-regional working groups, and strategic reviews.
• Represent Asia in relevant global forums and act on behalf of regional leadership on specific decisions and initiatives as required.

Requirements:

• 8–12 years of relevant experience in operations, programme delivery, consulting, or a comparable field, with significant direct delivery accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to build an operation, country programme, function, or field initiative from the ground up with limited guidance.
• Hands-on experience managing logistics, contracts, vendors, field teams, and operational delivery rather than solely overseeing these activities at a strategic level.
• At least 3 years of direct people-management experience, including managing experienced professionals and providing clear, constructive feedback.
• Strong judgment, independence, and proportionality, with the ability to distinguish significant operational issues from routine challenges and act without unnecessary escalation.
• Strong academic background from a well-regarded institution or an exceptional track record of professional achievement demonstrating comparable capability.
• Credibility and composure when working with senior external stakeholders, including agricultural communities, multinational organizations, government representatives, and industry bodies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear written recommendations and navigate challenging conversations.
• Strong analytical capabilities, with experience working with datasets, exploring data, deriving insights, and maintaining rigorous data-quality standards.
• Proven ability to work effectively in fast-paced, multicultural, independent, and remote environments.
• Genuine commitment to social impact, poverty alleviation, and creating positive change.
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency with Google Workspace and familiarity with quantitative data-collection platforms.
• Experience with programming languages or large language models is a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in development studies, economics, business, statistics, agriculture, or a related discipline; relevant postgraduate qualifications are welcome but not required.
• Experience in agriculture, commodities, sustainability, development, or research operations is advantageous. Direct coffee or cocoa experience is not required, but genuine interest in these sectors is beneficial.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly, approximately 30–40% of the time, including to remote agricultural regions in India, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Benefits:

• Global remote working arrangement.
• Ideally based in Singapore, with strong candidates elsewhere in Southeast Asia also considered.
• Opportunity to take full ownership of a country-level operation and contribute to broader regional strategy.
• Potential to grow into wider regional leadership responsibilities based on demonstrated performance.
• Significant autonomy in decision-making and operational execution.
• Opportunity to work across multiple countries and multicultural teams.
• Exposure to agriculture, commodities, sustainability, development, and research operations.
• Meaningful social-impact focus centered on improving livelihoods and contributing to poverty alleviation.
• Regular opportunities to engage with growers, industry bodies, government agencies, partners, and international stakeholders.
• Approximately 30–40% travel, including to remote agricultural regions and other countries during peak operational periods.
• No specific salary or additional healthcare/insurance benefits were provided in the source posting.