Retail Operations Manager

About Devoli

Devoli exists to make telco and connectivity simpler. The company runs a leading platform for coordinating and managing data, mobile, and voice services, removing the complexity of connectivity for customers.

Established in 2008, Devoli combines the momentum of a growing company with the stability of a proven track record. The business has been recognised by Deloitte as a top performer and has appeared in the Master of Growth Index for five consecutive years. Its customers range from local managed service providers to well-known brands such as Contact Energy. The SaaS platform, including its portal and APIs, supports access to a broad range of products and manages more than 250,000 connections.

Devoli is a compact but varied team of 50 people based in a heritage building in Victoria Park, on the Auckland city fringe, alongside some of New Zealand's most innovative tech companies.

Role overview

Devoli is seeking a Retail Operations Manager to take ownership of, and improve, the way the business supports its largest retail partners from an operational perspective.

This is not a maintenance-only role. You will keep daily service delivery dependable, but the core focus is to reduce cost-to-serve and build the operational structure that is currently missing. The position involves creating SLA frameworks, developing a cost-to-serve reduction plan, leading major operational initiatives such as migrations and product launches, and establishing self-service goals that lower partner reliance on the team. Where processes are manual and high-volume, you will identify the issue and work with internal teams to streamline, automate, or redesign the workflow.

You will work closely with the Strategic Partnerships Manager, who manages the commercial relationship, contract approach, and renewals, while you own the operating model beneath it. Together, you will ensure partners experience aligned commercial promises and efficient, dependable delivery. You will also act as the retail operations representative across Product, Software, and Network teams, turning partner needs into a prioritised improvement list and shaping how those needs feed into the wider platform roadmap. The role requires both cross-functional influence and strong operational discipline.

This is a strong opportunity to step into a growing platform where retail partnerships are central to the company's expansion and where there is room to build core operating practices from the ground up.

What you'll do

Operational design and delivery

• Take full ownership of the operating model for retail partners, including how it is structured, how it performs, and how it improves over time.
• Create and manage the SLA framework for uptime, provisioning turnaround times, and fault resolution, including setting targets, measuring performance, and driving needed structural changes when standards are not met.
• Lead large operational initiatives affecting retail partners, such as migrations, bulk moves, and new product launches, by building the delivery plan and coordinating dependencies across internal teams.
• Handle operational escalations end to end by identifying the root cause, driving resolution, and putting permanent fixes in place to avoid repeat issues.

Cost-to-serve and automation

• Own the roadmap and execution plan for reducing cost-to-serve through automation, self-service improvements, and ticket deflection.
• Spot repetitive, manual workflows and work with Product, Software, and Network teams to remove or redesign them.
• Measure and present cost-to-serve metrics each quarter so the Strategic Partnerships Manager has evidence for QBRs, renewal conversations, and contract discussions.
• Deliver against defined cost-to-serve reduction commitments by building the programme plan, reporting progress, and being accountable for the results.
• Monitor new AI and automation opportunities and assess how AI-led approaches can materially reduce cost-to-serve for Devoli and its retail partners.

Cross-functional influence

• Maintain a prioritised backlog of operational improvements by translating partner pain points into scoped requests for internal teams and tracking delivery.
• Represent retail operational requirements in roadmap discussions, release planning, and platform investment decisions.
• Prepare the operational performance pack for quarterly business reviews and provide the Strategic Partnerships Manager with the operational detail and context needed.

Supplier management

• Manage day-to-day supplier performance across LFCs and mobile carriers.
• Ensure suppliers meet their SLA commitments for retail partners and escalate any commercial breaches to the Strategic Partnerships Manager.

Partner enablement

• Lead operational onboarding for retail partner staff using the Devoli platform.
• Set and monitor a self-service target for each partner, building the documentation, tools, and capability required to achieve it and using support demand as a signal of gaps to fix.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in operations management, operational improvement, or partner operations, with emphasis on changing how processes work rather than only maintaining them.
• Proven experience designing and improving operating models for enterprise partners.
• Clear history of delivering measurable improvements in cost-to-serve or process automation.
• Strong ability to design operational processes, roll them out across partner and internal teams, and refine them using data.
• Experience managing suppliers or vendors against agreed performance commitments.
• Solid analytical skills, including building reporting structures and turning operational data into insights that support decisions.
• Active day-to-day use of AI tools, with a willingness to keep exploring practical applications for the role.
• Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders, especially technical teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

• Background in telecommunications, SaaS, or another related technology environment.
• Experience working directly inside partner operational teams to find opportunities for automation or process redesign.
• Experience creating partner enablement or self-service programmes that clearly reduced inbound support demand.

What makes someone a good fit

• You naturally look for ways to improve manual work through automation.
• You are comfortable balancing immediate operational needs with longer-term transformation work.
• You handle uncertainty and competing priorities with a practical, solutions-first approach.
• You stay calm, credible, and effective under pressure, especially during incidents or major programmes.
• You are curious, improvement-minded, and focused on removing friction while adding value.
• You work well with others and take strong ownership of outcomes.

Benefits

• Required tools and office setup are provided, including a laptop, standing desk, and screens while in the office.
• Home broadband and a Devoli Mobile connection are included.
• Weekly groceries support office meals, along with regular lunches, BBQs, and team events.
• The culture is inclusive, welcoming, and strongly team-oriented.
• Learning and development are supported through courses, events, coaching, and an individual training budget.
• Your birthday is a day off.