<h2>About the Role</h2>Role Overview:As Chief of Staff and Head of Operations (hereafter referred to as CoS), you will be a critical member of Zeraki’s executive team, overseeing day-to-day operations and driving scalability as we expand across Africa and beyond. You will partner closely with the CEO to translate strategy into operational excellence, ensuring Zeraki’s vision is achieved while maintaining a culture of innovation, integrity, and impact.This role combines strategic foresight with operational discipline—empowering the CEO to focus on growth while ensuring Zeraki’s operations run with precision, speed, and accountability. It also evolves with Zeraki’s scale—serving as a pre-COO leadership position that will mature into full operational stewardship as the company’s footprint grows. The CoS ensures Zeraki operates as a unified organism—where information flows seamlessly, decisions are transparent, and every part of the organization acts in concert. Scope &amp; Authority:- Reports directly to the CEO.- Authority to lead operational audits, approve workflow changes, and enforce SLA standards across departments.- Works closely with Department leads to align strategy and execution.<h2>Requirements</h2><h2>Key Responsibilities</h2> 1. Strategic Leadership <ul><li>Translate strategic initiatives into actionable operational plans, optimizing processes and systems to support scalability.</li><li>Champion data-driven decision-making by developing and tracking key operational metrics.</li><li>Ensure alignment between team structures, KPIs, and Zeraki’s strategic priorities. </li></ul>Translate strategic initiatives into actionable operational plans, optimizing processes and systems to support scalability.Champion data-driven decision-making by developing and tracking key operational metrics.Ensure alignment between team structures, KPIs, and Zeraki’s strategic priorities. 2. Operational Governance &amp; Audit <ul><li>Lead periodic operational audits across departments to identify inefficiencies, compliance gaps, and process risks.</li><li>Approve and standardize workflow/process changes, ensuring adherence to company-wide SLA standards.</li><li>Establish clear accountability frameworks and escalation protocols for operational issues. </li></ul>Lead periodic operational audits across departments to identify inefficiencies, compliance gaps, and process risks.Approve and standardize workflow/process changes, ensuring adherence to company-wide SLA standards.Establish clear accountability frameworks and escalation protocols for operational issues. 3. Process, Workflow &amp; Systems Optimization <ul><li>Map and standardize key workflows across BD, CX, Finance, and Product to enhance efficiency and scalability.</li><li>Implement process automation for core workflows such as invoicing, disbursements, and client onboarding.</li><li>Lead adoption of enterprise-grade tools and automation systems (e.g. ERP, workflow, or analytics platforms) to enhance efficiency, visibility, and scalability across the organization.</li><li>Develop an operational playbook to guide process execution and knowledge transfer across functions. </li></ul>Map and standardize key workflows across BD, CX, Finance, and Product to enhance efficiency and scalability.Implement process automation for core workflows such as invoicing, disbursements, and client onboarding.Lead adoption of enterprise-grade tools and automation systems (e.g. ERP, workflow, or analytics platforms) to enhance efficiency, visibility, and scalability across the organization.Develop an operational playbook to guide process execution and knowledge transfer across functions. 4. Operational Planning &amp; Execution <ul><li>Coordinate resources for cross-functional strategic initiatives, ensuring clear ownership and timely delivery.</li><li>Drive operational readiness for product rollouts and market expansion.</li><li>Establish and monitor company-wide execution rhythms, reviews, and milestone reporting. </li></ul>Coordinate resources for cross-functional strategic initiatives, ensuring clear ownership and timely delivery.Drive operational readiness for product rollouts and market expansion.Establish and monitor company-wide execution rhythms, reviews, and milestone reporting. 5. Performance Monitoring &amp; Analytics <ul><li>Develop and maintain real-time operational dashboards to track KPIs, SLA compliance, and risk metrics.</li><li>Translate performance data into actionable operational insights and continuous improvement initiatives.</li><li>Promote transparency and accountability through regular reporting and performance reviews. </li></ul>Develop and maintain real-time operational dashboards to track KPIs, SLA compliance, and risk metrics.Translate performance data into actionable operational insights and continuous improvement initiatives.Promote transparency and accountability through regular reporting and performance reviews. 6. Operational Risk &amp; Compliance <ul><li>Establish operational risk and compliance frameworks, including business continuity planning, legal/regulatory adherence, and data governance in operational systems.</li><li>Collaborate with Legal, Finance, and HR to ensure policies and contracts meet compliance standards.</li><li> </li></ul>Establish operational risk and compliance frameworks, including business continuity planning, legal/regulatory adherence, and data governance in operational systems.Collaborate with Legal, Finance, and HR to ensure policies and contracts meet compliance standards. 7. Cross-Functional Leadership &amp; Change Management <ul><li>Serve as the primary bridge between departments, resolving bottlenecks and ensuring alignment between strategy and day-to-day execution.</li><li>Drive change management for new operational systems and policies, communicating benefits and ensuring adoption.</li><li>Promote a culture of continuous improvement across all teams.</li><li>Mentor and coach department heads to enhance strategic and operational leadership capabilities. </li></ul>Serve as the primary bridge between departments, resolving bottlenecks and ensuring alignment between strategy and day-to-day execution.Drive change management for new operational systems and policies, communicating benefits and ensuring adoption.Promote a culture of continuous improvement across all teams.Mentor and coach department heads to enhance strategic and operational leadership capabilities. 8. Organizational Intelligence &amp; Decision Flow <ul><li>Champion information flow and transparency across the company, ensuring decisions, insights, and updates move fluidly between teams, functions, and leadership levels.</li><li>Oversee Zeraki’s Meetings and Decisions Framework, maintaining company-wide visibility into recurring meetings, decisions, and escalations through standardized tools (e.g., SharePoint Meeting Hub, Decision Register, and Teams channels).</li><li>Institutionalize decision-making discipline by ensuring all meetings follow structured agenda, documentation, and follow-up practices; decisions are recorded with rationale and ownership; and unresolved issues escalate cleanly to higher forums.</li><li>Foster alignment and context continuity—ensuring that teams operate with shared situational awareness and that leadership decisions are informed by complete organizational context.</li><li>Curate a single source of truth for decisions, enabling every team member to find “what was decided, when, and why” without dependence on informal channels.</li><li>Promote a culture of inclusive participation and clarity, where meeting visibility, agenda contribution, and post-meeting digest communication are standard practice across Zeraki. </li></ul>Champion information flow and transparency across the company, ensuring decisions, insights, and updates move fluidly between teams, functions, and leadership levels.Oversee Zeraki’s Meetings and Decisions Framework, maintaining company-wide visibility into recurring meetings, decisions, and escalations through standardized tools (e.g., SharePoint Meeting Hub, Decision Register, and Teams channels).Institutionalize decision-making discipline by ensuring all meetings follow structured agenda, documentation, and follow-up practices; decisions are recorded with rationale and ownership; and unresolved issues escalate cleanly to higher forums.Foster alignment and context continuity—ensuring that teams operate with shared situational awareness and that leadership decisions are informed by complete organizational context.Curate a single source of truth for decisions, enabling every team member to find “what was decided, when, and why” without dependence on informal channels.Promote a culture of inclusive participation and clarity, where meeting visibility, agenda contribution, and post-meeting digest communication are standard practice across Zeraki. 90-Day Plan <ul><li>Complete a comprehensive operational audit across key departments to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.</li><li>Implement process mapping and standardization to reduce cross-departmental friction.</li><li>Automate invoicing and follow-up workflows to enhance cash flow predictability.</li><li>Improve SLA compliance and reduce SLA breaches by 30% on high-priority issues.</li><li>Establish a materials and disbursement management process to ensure BD teams have timely access to tools and resources.</li></ul>Complete a comprehensive operational audit across key departments to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.Implement process mapping and standardization to reduce cross-departmental friction.Automate invoicing and follow-up workflows to enhance cash flow predictability.Improve SLA compliance and reduce SLA breaches by 30% on high-priority issues.Establish a materials and disbursement management process to ensure BD teams have timely access to tools and resources.<h2>What We’re Looking For</h2> Experience &amp; Skills <ul><li>8+ years of progressive experience in operations, strategy, consulting, business management, Chief of Staff, transformation or a closely related field, ideally in EdTech, SaaS, or other high-growth sectors.</li><li>A strong background in Business, Economics, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Strategy or another analytically demanding discipline</li><li>Experience operating across multiple business functions, rather than within a single functional silo.</li><li>A demonstrated track record of building or significantly improving operating systems, processes, performance-management mechanisms or organizational rhythms.</li><li>Experience working directly with senior executives or executive teams on strategic priorities, business performance and organizational execution.</li><li>Strong analytical mindset with proficiency in data visualization and KPI tracking tools.</li><li>Experience in a high-growth, technology, startup, scale-up or complex operating environment is strongly preferred.</li><li>Experience with process automation, enterprise systems, AI-enabled workflows or digital transformation.</li></ul>8+ years of progressive experience in operations, strategy, consulting, business management, Chief of Staff, transformation or a closely related field, ideally in EdTech, SaaS, or other high-growth sectors.A strong background in Business, Economics, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Strategy or another analytically demanding disciplineExperience operating across multiple business functions, rather than within a single functional silo.A demonstrated track record of building or significantly improving operating systems, processes, performance-management mechanisms or organizational rhythms.Experience working directly with senior executives or executive teams on strategic priorities, business performance and organizational execution.Strong analytical mindset with proficiency in data visualization and KPI tracking tools.Experience in a high-growth, technology, startup, scale-up or complex operating environment is strongly preferred.Experience with process automation, enterprise systems, AI-enabled workflows or digital transformation. Leadership Style <ul><li>Hands-on yet strategic—able to zoom into operational details without losing sight of long-term goals.</li><li>Adept at building systems and frameworks that balance innovation with operational rigor.</li></ul>Hands-on yet strategic—able to zoom into operational details without losing sight of long-term goals.Adept at building systems and frameworks that balance innovation with operational rigor. Values Alignment <ul><li>Passionate about education and committed to Zeraki’s mission to transform learning across Africa.</li></ul>Passionate about education and committed to Zeraki’s mission to transform learning across Africa. Educational Background <ul><li>Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.</li></ul>Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.<h2>What We Offer</h2>● A chance to contribute to a mission-driven company that's making a real difference in education across Africa.● A collaborative, inclusive, and dynamic work environment where your input is valued.<h2>Our Culture</h2>At Zeraki, our culture defines how we work, how we make decisions, and how we succeed together. We are united by eight core values: Integrity, Love of Learning, Highest Standards, Deliver Results, Hire &amp; Develop the Best, Manage Through Trust, Empathy, and Have Backbone; Disagree &amp; Commit. We act with integrity, doing what is right and taking ownership of our actions. We have a love of learning, staying curious and continuously seeking to improve. We hold ourselves to the highest standards, continually raising the bar in the quality of our work, and we deliver results by taking ownership, acting with urgency, and following through on our commitments. We hire and develop the best, surrounding ourselves with exceptional people and creating opportunities for them to grow and excel. We manage through trust, giving people the context, freedom, responsibility, and accountability to do their best work. We lead with empathy, creating an environment where people are respected, supported, and able to thrive. And we have backbone, disagree and commit - we speak up when we disagree, challenge ideas respectfully, and once a decision is made, commit fully to making it successful. Together, these values create a culture of freedom and responsibility, high performance, continuous learning, and meaningful impact, empowering every Zerakian to Be Extraordinary. Copy