Head of Operations

Role overview

Gocertify is looking for a Head of Operations to help the business run more smoothly as it scales. This is a senior, hands-on role focused on strengthening internal operations, improving how teams work together, and building lightweight systems that create leverage without adding unnecessary process.

The position reports to the Founder/CEO and is based in the UK, with fully remote working and monthly meetups in London. The company is a bootstrapped UK tech start-up that helps brands run more targeted reward campaigns by verifying eligible audiences such as students, key workers and seniors.

Gocertify supports more than 500 brands, including Samsung, Sainsbury's and FARFETCH, works with over 2 million shoppers each year, and has driven £125 million+ in retail sales since being founded in 2020. The team is remote-first, around 20 people strong, and intentionally keeps its structure lean, ownership clear, and operating rhythm efficient.

Why this role exists

The business has reached a stage where stronger operating leverage matters more than simply increasing headcount. Gocertify already has solid foundations, specialist support in key functions, and a culture built around speed and practicality. The next step is to bring in a senior operator who can connect the moving parts, improve the internal operating system, and help the company scale in a more structured way.

This role sits between company rhythm and hands-on delivery. The ideal person will identify friction, design better approaches, and turn them into working systems. A strong interest in tooling, automation and AI is important, because part of the job is to use modern tools to reduce manual effort and make the business easier to run.

What is already in place

This is not a greenfield role. Several support functions and routines already exist, and the Head of Operations will help align them more effectively rather than personally owning every operational discipline.

• An established cadence that includes fortnightly all-hands meetings, monthly co-working sessions, and quarterly reviews
• A People Lead responsible for people strategy, delivery and craft
• A Senior Ops Manager overseeing Data Protection and InfoSec
• Specialist finance support through a fractional CFO and a Finance Manager
• External legal support available when needed
• Two assistants already in the business, including one within Ops, with room to expand assistant support where appropriate

The Head of Operations will improve the way these areas work together, make ownership clearer, and ensure people have the context, systems and follow-through needed to execute well.

Initial phase of the role

During the first few months, you will take on a broad operational workload so you can see how the company actually works before improving it. This early immersion will likely cover finance operations, legal and compliance work, shopper support readiness, systems and tooling, and the company operating rhythm.

Examples include month-end processes, invoicing and debtor management, payroll changes, supplier coordination, contracts, DPAs, GDPR business-as-usual work, ISO 27001, insurance, vendor diligence, tooling and documentation, access management, device setup, Notion, SLT meetings, all-hands, quarterly planning, reviews, and cross-functional work where ownership or follow-through is weak.

Some of this work may remain in the long-term remit, while other parts may later be automated, improved or redistributed. The role requires someone who is comfortable with breadth, able to prioritise effectively, and motivated by building better systems from day one.

Scope and core purpose

The main objective of the role is to make the company easier to run as it grows. You will own the operating rhythm, lead cross-functional projects that need a clear operator, and improve day-to-day workflows that keep the business moving.

You will also manage the People Lead, Senior Ops Manager and Finance Manager, helping those functions stay connected to company priorities and operate as part of one coherent system. Working closely with the Founder, leadership team, and specialist owners across Finance, Legal and Revenue, you will make sure critical work has a clear owner, an appropriate level of structure, and the momentum needed to move forward.

What success looks like

• Strengthening the company’s operational foundations by reviewing existing processes, identifying friction points, and building better ways of working
• Improving finance, compliance, support and internal systems through more effective workflows, clearer documentation, and better access management
• Creating simple systems that are fast to use, easy to maintain, and suited to the size and stage of the business
• Leading cross-functional projects by turning unclear issues into practical plans, decisions, owners and timelines
• Removing blockers when work stalls between teams and keeping important initiatives moving without adding unnecessary bureaucracy
• Owning and refining the company’s operating rhythm, including SLT cadence, all-hands meetings, quarterly planning and quarterly reviews
• Making priorities, decisions and follow-through easier to see across the business while reducing drift
• Supporting the Founder and leadership team so they spend less time on operational follow-up
• Managing and aligning the broader ops ecosystem, including People, Ops, compliance and finance support
• Using data, operational context and modern tools to help the company stay lean, high-output and effective as it grows

Ideal background and working style

You may have previously held a title such as Head of Operations, Business Operations Lead, Chief of Staff, BizOps Lead, Strategy & Operations Lead, or worked as a broad generalist operator in a fast-moving small business. The exact title is less important than the scope and quality of your experience.

The strongest candidates will bring broad operational exposure, strong judgment, and a practical mindset. This is a role for someone who enjoys getting close to the detail, spotting what is broken, and improving it in a way that people will actually use.

Gocertify values people who can operate strategically and tactically at the same time: someone who can align with the Founder on direction, then dive into the process itself to fix what is not working. Comfort with ambiguity, sound prioritisation, commercial awareness and the ability to make sensible trade-offs are all essential.

Tools and working environment

The company is fully remote within the UK, with monthly in-person meetings in London. Core working hours are 10am to 4pm UK time, with flexibility around the rest of the day.

Gocertify uses a modern operating stack including Airtable, Notion, Slack, Front, Linear, Make and Google Workspace. The team also makes heavy use of AI tools such as Claude, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and Lovable, plus other business systems like HubSpot, accounting and payments platforms, contract tools and password management software. Deep experience in every tool is not required; the key expectation is that you can learn quickly and use tools practically to create leverage.

Benefits

• Annual salary of £75,000 to £80,000
• Meaningful EMI share options
• 25 days of annual leave plus UK bank holidays
• Private health insurance with AVIVA, including optical and dental cashback, plus the option to self-fund coverage for partners or dependents
• Enhanced sick pay
• Work-from-home budget
• MacBook or equivalent laptop
• Flexible remote working in many countries around core hours of 10am to 4pm UK time
• Unlimited access to coworking spaces in more than 48 countries through Hubble
• Access to Gocertify offers

Additional information

This role is intended for a senior, self-directed operator who enjoys building clarity, improving systems and helping a lean company scale without losing its agility. The business is already profitable and expects the Head of Operations to add leverage, not bureaucracy.