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.