About the Company
Our client is a full-service eCommerce agency, running Amazon, Walmart, Meta/Google, and TikTok for established brands. It's built one of the operating machines to beat in the space: a proven model, a strong book of business, and real momentum. Having won the first game, the client is now playing a bigger one: becoming the first wholly AI-enabled agency in its category.
Role Overview
This is a VP of Operations role, remote, reporting directly to the CEO. This is the number-two seat, on a real path to COO. The real role is bigger than the title, the client is hiring the operator who becomes the CEO's right hand and, soon after, the company's COO. The seat is posted as VP because it's earned, not handed over.
This person runs the day-to-day operating machine of the company, and builds the machine to its next level. They'll set the cadence, hold every department head to their numbers, and lead the company's transformation into a wholly AI-enabled company, along with the systems and automation that compound operating leverage.
Responsibilities
- Lead the weekly leadership meeting and monthly business review; run weekly 1:1s with each department lead.
- Sharpen the scorecards, accountability structures, and delivery systems the company runs on, and build what scale demands next.
- Make every department AI-native. Identify, ship, document, and measure automation that lifts margin, speed, and quality. This is a standing mandate, not a side project.
- Own the P&L levers (delivery cost, utilization, pricing, vendor spend) that push operating margins to best-in-class as the company scales.
- Build the delivery-quality and account-health systems that keep partner retention best-in-class.
- Department heads hit their OKRs and KPIs, or issues get surfaced early and driven to resolution.
- Standardize the SOPs that automation is built on, and own capacity and team allocation so headcount matches client load (with HR).
- Report up monthly: department performance, AI-enablement progress, risks, projections, decisions needed.
Results
First 90 days
- Full operating cadence live, every department on a consistent scorecard owned by this person.
- A CEO-approved margin-expansion plan with the top 3-5 levers in motion.
- An AI-enablement roadmap for all departments, with the first 2-3 automations shipped and their margin/time impact measured.
- A clear read on retention drivers, with the first improvements shipped.
The long game
- Best-in-class operating margins, sustained at scale through efficiency and automation.
- Best-in-class partner retention, held as the company grows.
- The company running as a wholly AI-enabled organization, AI-augmented workflows as the default everywhere.
- Department heads who own their numbers, and a clear, earned path into the COO seat.
Who They're Looking For
- Has built at scale: helped grow an agency (eCommerce/Amazon ideal; any real services agency counts) to $50M+ as the strong number two, Head/VP of Operations, or a former exec.
- Is AI-native, for real: has personally shipped automation that changed how a business runs and moved a P&L, not just "uses ChatGPT." This is a hard requirement, and receipts will be requested.
- Builds operating models, not just maintains them: has designed cadence, scorecards, and accountability structures, not only inherited them.
- Moves numbers: has owned operational metrics that shifted margin and/or retention, with figures they can defend.
- Does more with less: instinct at a wall is to build a system, not request headcount.
- Closes loops: initiative, follow-through, and the spine to hold others accountable without drama.
- Plus: Amazon / eCommerce agency experience.
- Plus: exposure to M&A or integration relevant to a category roll-up strategy.
