Head - Operations

Head of Operations Rocket Technologies Limited JOB DESCRIPTION Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with regional travel Reports to: Chief Executive Officer Employment: Full-time, Senior Leadership Experience: 12 - 18 years Business focus: 70% Business-to-Business and 30% Business-to-Consumer About Rocket Technologies Rocket Technologies Limited is the technology arm of Wadsworth Distributors Limited, an established Fast-Moving Consumer Goods distributor in Tanzania. UTrade, Rocket's Business-to-Business e-commerce platform, connects manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers across the country. Building on this distribution network, Rocket is developing technology-led commerce operations and expanding its consumer businesses. The next phase requires disciplined growth, reliable service and an operating model that can be repeated across regions. Role Purpose The Head of Operations will take end-to-end ownership of Sales, Procurement, Warehousing, Fulfilment, Logistics and Expansion, integrating these functions with customer service into one accountable operating organisation. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the role will turn Rocket's growth strategy into a scalable, controlled and measurable operating model. It connects customer demand and sales execution with procurement, inventory, warehouse capacity and last-mile delivery, protecting margins, working capital and customer experience as the business grows. Approximately 70% of the role will focus on Business-to-Business commerce, primarily UTrade and related distribution operations, and 30% on Business-to-Consumer operations and emerging consumer platforms. Experience Across Both Business Models Candidates should bring meaningful experience across both models, preferably around 60 - 75% Business-to-Business and 25 - 40% Business-to-Consumer career exposure. - Business-to-Business experience should include distribution, wholesale, general trade, institutional sales or supply-led marketplaces, with an understanding of bulk orders, credit customers, field sales, supplier economics and multi-depot inventory. - Business-to-Consumer experience should include e-commerce, quick commerce, retail, food delivery, dark stores or hyperlocal operations, covering smaller, frequent orders, rapid fulfilment, delivery density, service expectations and retention. Consumer marketplace experience alone is insufficient. Traditional distribution leaders should demonstrate successful experience operating technology-enabled businesses. Key Responsibilities 1. Sales and Commercial Operations: - Lead sales execution across regions, districts and channels, with clear ownership of acquisition, activation, repeat ordering, retention and reactivation. - Convert Wadsworth's existing business customers onto UTrade through segmentation, field activation, assisted ordering, call centre support and appropriate sales incentives. - Improve sales representative productivity, customer coverage, average order value and category penetration through onboarding playbooks, cross-selling, category bundling and customer plans. - Align sales targets with stock availability, procurement capacity and fulfilment capability. Grow geographical coverage while protecting margin, working capital and service quality. - Work with Finance and relevant partners on viable business credit, trade finance and collections models. Evaluate delivery fees, supplier promotions and other value-added revenue opportunities. 2. Procurement and Supply: - Lead procurement performance, using customer demand, sales velocity, stock cover, supplier lead times and growth forecasts to guide purchasing and replenishment. - Improve supplier reliability, service levels, catalogue depth and product availability. Use demand and stock-out data to support supplier negotiations and purchase decisions. - Establish controls for purchase planning, ageing and slow-moving stock, inventory exposure and stock-outs. - Work with Finance on supplier terms, purchase economics and working capital so supply plans support growth without creating avoidable inventory risk. 3. Warehousing and Inventory: - Own operating performance across warehouses, depots and dark stores, aligning space, staffing and infrastructure with projected order growth. - Standardise receiving, put-away, storage, picking, packing, dispatch, stock counts, reconciliation, returns and transfers between locations. - Improve inventory and Available to Sell accuracy, with clear controls for loss, damage, expiry, shrinkage and reconciliation differences. - Build a repeatable warehouse operating model that can be deployed across future Rocket locations. 4. Fulfilment and Customer Service: - Own the order journey from confirmation to successful delivery and customer closure, including partial orders, cancellations, rejections, returns and failed deliveries. - Improve order fill rate, picking accuracy and processing time. Resolve daily exceptions before they become recurring problems. - Set clear customer complaint, escalation and resolution processes, using customer feedback to correct underlying operational failures. - Develop fulfilment processes suited to the different order profiles and service expectations of business and consumer customers. 5. Logistics and Fleet: - Own delivery performance across both businesses, improving route planning, vehicle and load utilisation, driver productivity and cost per successful delivery. - Select appropriate fleet models across trucks, vans, electric vehicles, motorcycles and three-wheelers according to order profile, route conditions and delivery economics. - Maintain visibility of route performance, delivery success, failures and vehicle productivity. Work with Technology to automate routing, dispatch and delivery tracking. - Use Wadsworth's distribution network and suitable transport partnerships to support scheduled business deliveries and faster consumer fulfilment. 6. Regional and Depot Expansion: - Lead operational readiness for expansion across Tanzania, assessing priority locations such as Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma, Tanga and Kilimanjaro against demand, supply and delivery capacity. - Create an expansion playbook covering market potential, customer density, sales coverage, suppliers, premises, fleet, staffing, technology, inventory, working capital, delivery economics and break-even assumptions. - Launch controlled pilots with measurable readiness criteria before full operation or significant capital commitments. Build local supply, transport and distribution partnerships where they improve service or cost. - Develop a model that can be replicated nationally. Recommend expansion into East Africa or other suitable African markets only when Tanzania's core operation is stable, financially controlled and repeatable. 7. Business to Consumer Operations: - Build operating capability for consumer commerce, food delivery, retail delivery and other consumer-facing services. - Use distinct processes where business and consumer economics require them, sharing infrastructure where this improves efficiency. - Improve delivery speed, fulfilment accuracy, customer experience and retention while maintaining sound unit economics. 8. Technology and Automation: - Work with the Chief Technology Officer to translate operational problems and customer pain points into clear system requirements and priorities. - Prioritise measurable improvements in inventory accuracy, forecasting, order fill, fulfilment speed, route utilisation, delivery cost, sales productivity and real-time visibility. - Reduce manual reconciliation and follow-up. Own the business processes while Technology owns system architecture and implementation. 9. Leadership and Organisation: - Recruit, structure and lead the managers responsible for Sales, Procurement, Warehousing, Fulfilment, Logistics and Regional Operations, with