PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:
- The National People Operations Manager leads the delivery of all People Operations processes across the organisation. This role drives excellence in recruitment, learning & development, employee relations, performance management, and HR governance across all business units.
- The role ensures consistency, compliance, and operational efficiency while enabling a high-performance, values-driven culture.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
People Operations Leadership
- Drive the People Ops strategy in alignment with business priorities and culture initiatives.
- Lead the national People Ops team and ensure aligned execution of HR practices across all regions.
- Drive the People Ops strategy in alignment with business priorities and culture initiatives.
- Ensure Line Leaders receive accurate, timely People Ops support to enable operational success.
- Partner with business leaders to support growth, productivity, organisational effectiveness, and leadership capability.
- Drive People Ops alignment across Retail, Logistics, Production, B2B, and Central Office environments (where applicable).
Team Management
- Lead, coach, and develop regional and site-based People Operations teams.
- Ensure clear role clarity, capacity planning, and performance management within the People Ops function.
- Build strong capability across the team in recruitment, IR, performance management, employee engagement and company culture.
- Foster collaboration, accountability, and a service-oriented People Ops culture.
Recruitment, Workforce Planning & Talent Management
- Oversee workforce planning process, aligned to business demand and budget.
- Oversee recruitment strategy, quality of hire, time-to-fill, and succession pipelines.
- Ensure consistent recruitment standards, tools, and assessment practices across the business.
- Partner with leadership on succession planning, leadership development, and critical role coverage.
Employee Relations & Labour Relations
- Provide oversight and escalation support on complex employee and labour relations matters.
- Ensure consistent and fair application of disciplinary, grievance, incapacity, and performance management processes.
- Support organisational changes, restructures, and retrenchment consultations when required.
Performance Management, Rewards & Recognition
- Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of performance management frameworks.
- Drive pay equity, maintain role grading integrity, and reward governance.
- Support meaningful recognition practices that reinforce desired behaviours and culture.
Learning & Development, Capability & Leadership Development
- Lead the implementation of national training programs, including leadership, compliance, and skills development.
- Support the School of Excellence and SETA learning initiatives.
- Monitor training effectiveness, workplace application, and make recommendations on ROI.
- Support the design and rollout of national learning and development initiatives.
- Ensure leadership development programs are aligned to organisational values and capability needs.
- Promote a continuous learning culture across all levels of the business.
Policy, Governance & Legislative Compliance
- Ensure compliance with South African labour legislation (LRA, BCEA, EEA, SDA, OHSA) and internal policies.
- Oversee the development, review, and consistent application of People Ops policies and procedures.
- Ensure strong People Ops governance, audits, and risk mitigation practices.
People Data, Insights & Reporting
- Own national People Operations metrics, reporting, and dashboards (e.g. turnover, vacancies, IR cases, training, engagement).
- Use people data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for operational improvements.
- Prepare people-related inputs for People Operations Executive.
- Drive continuous improvement through evidence-based People Ops practices.
Culture, Engagement & Change Management
- Champion organisational culture, values, and employee engagement nationally.
- Embed company values (e.g., HO HOLA culture) into People Ops practices.
- Lead initiatives that enhance engagement, retention, and employee experience.
KEY SUCCESS METRICS (KPI’S):
- Quality of hire, workforce stability, reduce turnover and capability growth.
- Leadership Development and Learning and Development program execution.
- Leadership satisfaction and effectiveness of People Ops partnering.
- Employee engagement and culture indicators.
- Compliance and governance outcomes.
Requirements
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:
- HR / Industrial Psychology / Business Degree (Honours advantageous).
- 7–10 years HR generalist experience, with at least 3 years in a managerial role – leading a HR team.
- Experience in retail, FMCG, manufacturing, supply chain, or multi-site environments strongly preferred
- Proven experience in a national, multi-site or distributed environment.
- Experience leading a team of People Operations and working with Senior leadership teams.
- Proven experience representing organisations at CCMA and/or bargaining councils.
- Exposure to change management.
SKILLS & COMPETENCIES REQUIRED:
- Exceptional relationship-building and interpersonal skills, aligned to the HO HOLA values.
- Friendly, helpful, confident, humble, and team-oriented with strong emotional intelligence.
- Deep knowledge of South African labour law and People Ops (HR) best practice.
- Proven ability to lead multi-site, multi-disciplinary teams.
- Excellent stakeholder management and executive presence.
- Data-driven decision-making and problem-solving.
- Change leadership and resilience.
- High emotional intelligence and sound judgement.
- Ability to operate in a competitive, high-pressure, dynamic retail environment.
- Strong planning, prioritisation and execution skills.
- Strong communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to influence and build trust.
- High accuracy, attention to detail, and strong administrative capability.
- Demonstrates integrity, ownership, resilience, and a willingness to go the extra mile.
- Willingness to travel.
CLOSING DATE
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ROLE PURPOSE
- The Commercial Financial Manager will act as a strategic finance partner to the Merchandise function (the heart of the business) and Food Services (B2B) business units.
- This role is critical in driving sales volume growth, margin per kilogram improvement, and margin rands growth across both Retail and B2B channels. The successful candidate will provide deep financial insights, leveraging internal and external data to influence decision-making and optimize performance in a highly competitive and challenging trade environment.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
FINANCIAL PLANNING and ANALYSIS
- Develop and manage budgeting, forecasting, and performance tracking for Merchandise and B2B
- Provide scenario analysis and margin optimization strategies to support pricing, promotions, and assortment decisions.
- Monitor sales volume, margin per kilogram, and margin rands against plan and identify corrective actions.
BUSINESS PARTNERING
- Work closely with the Merchandise Executive, and B2B Head of Sales to align financial goals with commercial strategies.
- Support category managers and B2B sales managers with actionable insights to drive growth.
- Act as a trusted advisor, challenging assumptions and influencing decisions with data-driven recommendations.
INSIGHT AND ANALYTICS
- Deliver detailed margin analysis, including supplier funding, rebates, and cost-to-serve metrics.
Identify and manage key levers to balance:
- Sales Volume Growth (e.g., pricing, promotions, assortment depth)
- Margin per Kilogram (e.g., mix management, supplier negotiations, shrink control)
- Margin Rands Growth (e.g., upselling, cross-selling, optimizing high-margin categories)
- Rebate Management (e.g., ensuring growth hurdles are met and the Sally’s and Tally’s get recorded timely and correctly)
Provide granular insights across The Sales Teams locations in South Africa, analysing:
- Customer segmentation (e.g., Foods Services vs Wholesale)
- Product mix (e.g., per Product category)
- Regional performance trends (across Sales Teams) and opportunities for margin improvement.
- Work with the Data team building dashboards and reporting tools for real-time visibility of these KPIs.
EXPENSE MANAGEMENT
- Manage salary budgets and traveling costs within Merchandise and Food Services functions.
- Ensure cost efficiency while supporting operational effectiveness.
- Track and report variances against budget, recommending corrective actions where necessary.
RISK AND COMPLIANCE
- Ensure adherence to financial controls, company policies, and regulatory requirements.
- Manage risk assessments related to pricing, supplier agreements, and credit exposure in B2B.
LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION
- Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain, Operations, and Commercial teams to ensure alignment on financial objectives.
Requirements
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- B.Comm in Finance/Accounting; CA(SA) or CIMA equivalent professional qualification preferred.
- Minimum 5–7 years’ experience in financial management, ideally within retail, wholesale, or FMCG.
- Strong understanding of merchandise finance, margin management, and B2B commercial models.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel, financial modelling, and BI tools (Power BI, QLIK).
- Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive commercial outcomes.
COMPETENCIES REQUIRED
- Commercial Acumen: Deep understanding of retail and food service economics will be helpful.
- Analytical Thinking: Ability to interpret complex data and translate into actionable insights.
- Influencing Skills: Confident in challenging and guiding business decisions.
- Resilience: Thrives in a fast-paced, tough trading environment.
- Collaboration: Works effectively across multiple functions and levels. Building and maintaining relationships with strong interpersonal skills - living out the company values and unique HO HOLA culture.
- Detail-oriented with ability to connect strategic vision and operational detail.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
- Champion the Ho Hola culture of transparency, accountability, and execution.
- Drive performance management processes aligned to Merchandise and B2B objectives.
CLOSING DATE
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