General Manager

Our client is seeking a commercially minded, hands-on Managing Director to lead a growing South African consumer business from its Cape Town head office.

This is a senior leadership role within a fast-moving, founder-led, scale-up environment. The business has moved beyond its early start-up phase, but still operates with the pace, flexibility, and entrepreneurial mindset of a smaller company. The team is lean, the structure is flat, and the right person will need to be comfortable moving between strategy, people leadership, execution, and operational problem-solving.

The Managing Director will report directly to the CEO and will eventually take leadership responsibility across the senior executive team, including operations, finance, technology, and strategy. This person will play a key role in shaping the next phase of growth, improving internal processes, driving innovation, and ensuring the business continues to scale without losing its culture.

This role is not suited to a traditional corporate leader who wants heavy structure, hierarchy, or distance from day-to-day execution. It requires someone smart, adaptable, commercially strong, people-focused, and willing to get involved wherever the business needs them.

Responsibilities

• Lead the business day to day, working closely with the CEO to drive strategic priorities and operational execution.
• Translate company goals into clear plans, actions, and measurable outcomes across teams.
• Provide leadership across key business functions, including operations, finance, technology, strategy, and people.
• Support and guide the senior leadership team, helping teams stay aligned, accountable, and commercially focused.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, streamline workflows, reduce manual ways of working, and increase operational efficiency.
• Drive innovation across the business, including the use of automation, AI, and smarter systems where appropriate.
• Maintain the company's fast-moving, low-bureaucracy, high-impact culture as the business grows.
• Move comfortably between strategic planning and hands-on execution, depending on what the business needs.
• Lead, coach, and develop people in a way that supports performance, ownership, and collaboration.
• Bring fresh thinking and practical ideas to improve how the business operates and scales.
• Make sound commercial decisions while balancing growth, efficiency, culture, and customer experience.
• Build strong relationships across the business and ensure teams remain connected, motivated, and aligned.
• Help create structure where needed without slowing the business down or introducing unnecessary red tape.

Requirements

• Proven experience in a senior leadership role such as Managing Director, General Manager, COO, Head of Operations, or similar.
• Experience leading within a founder-led, entrepreneurial, scale-up, high-growth, or smaller business environment.
• Strong ability to operate both strategically and operationally.
• Hands-on leadership style, with the willingness to get involved in execution and problem-solving.
• Experience managing people, teams, and cross-functional business operations.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to make decisions in a fast-moving environment.
• Comfortable working in a flat structure with limited hierarchy and a high level of ownership.
• Process-driven mindset, with a strong interest in improving, automating, and streamlining ways of working.
• High learning agility, with the ability to understand a unique business model quickly.
• Strong people leadership skills, with the ability to influence, motivate, and build trust across teams.
• Comfortable working from the Cape Town head office.
• Experience in e-commerce, retail, consumer goods, digital commerce, or a similar customer-focused environment would be advantageous, but is not essential.
• Interest in innovation, automation, AI, or technology-enabled process improvement would be highly beneficial.

Benefits

• Senior leadership opportunity in a growing South African business.
• Competitive executive package.
• Profit share and equity option.
• Direct access to the CEO and meaningful influence across the business.
• Opportunity to shape operations, culture, systems, and growth strategy.
• Fast-moving environment where strong ideas can be implemented quickly.

Keller is a recruitment agency that provides services to clients ranging from startups and non profits to multinational corporations. Keller emphasizes ethical search processes, attentive candidate care, and leadership placements that support long-term client outcomes.

To learn more about the firm and about our candidate services - please visit Executive Search and Recruitment Cape Town: Top Headhunters and Recruiters Cape Town

Equal Employment Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Both Keller Executive Search and our clients are Equal Opportunity Employers operating in accordance with South African employment legislation. For all positions, whether with Keller Executive Search or our clients, suitably qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without unfair discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language, birth, or any other arbitrary ground as prohibited by the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended.

Commitment to Employment Equity and Transformation

Keller Executive Search and its clients are committed to achieving employment equity and advancing the principles of transformation in the South African workplace. We recognize the imperative to redress the disadvantages experienced by designated groups during apartheid and other discriminatory laws and practices.

Designated Groups: In accordance with the Employment Equity Act, preference may be given to suitably qualified persons from designated groups, which include:

• Black people (African, Coloured, and Indian persons)
• Women
• People with disabilities

Affirmative Action Measures: Both Keller Executive Search and our clients may implement affirmative action measures to achieve equitable representation of designated groups at all occupational levels. Such measures are designed to ensure that suitably qualified people from designated groups have equal employment opportunities and are equitably represented in the workforce.

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE)

Keller Executive Search and our clients acknowledge the importance of B-BBEE in contributing to economic transformation in South Africa. Our clients may prioritize candidates from designated groups as part of their B-BBEE commitments and Employment Equity Plans. Where applicable, clients' B-BBEE requirements will be communicated during the recruitment process.

Reasonable Accommodation

Both Keller Executive Search and our clients are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to:

• Individuals with disabilities, in accordance with the Technical Assistance Guidelines on the Employment of People with Disabilities and the Code of Good Practice on the Employment of People with Disabilities
• Pregnant employees and those on family responsibility leave
• Individuals requiring accommodation for religious or cultural practices

We engage in consultation to determine effective, reasonable accommodations that do not impose unjustifiable hardship on the employer.

Compensation and Remuneration Information

For client positions, compensation information may be available in the job posting. If not provided initially, remuneration details will be shared during the interview process. Actual remuneration packages are d