Operations Director

Sector: Food Retail, Discount Format
Location: GCC
Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer
Package: SAR 60,000 total monthly package, plus family status benefits including schooling, medical insurance, visa support and annual flights

Role Overview

The Operations Director will lead the operational and commercial performance of a large-scale food retail business operating within a value and discount-led model.

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Operations Director will be accountable for store performance, operational standards, customer experience, profitability and the execution of the company’s growth strategy.

This is not a traditional pure operations position. The successful candidate must combine strong multi-site retail operations leadership with a deep commercial understanding of the discount food retail model.

The role requires experience in businesses where operational simplicity, limited assortment, private label, cost control, availability, productivity and disciplined commercial execution are central to the customer proposition.

Relevant experience may have been gained within leading discount and value food retailers such as Aldi, Lidl, Netto, DIA or comparable international businesses.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

Lead the operational performance of the company’s store network across Saudi Arabia.

Establish and maintain consistent operating standards across all stores, regions and formats.

Ensure stores deliver strong levels of availability, customer service, cleanliness, food safety and operational compliance.

Develop a simple, efficient and scalable operating model suited to a high-volume discount food retail environment.

Drive execution across store operations, regional management and field leadership teams.

Create clear operational routines, performance standards and accountability across the business.

Identify and remove unnecessary complexity from store processes, systems and ways of working.

Commercial Performance

Take ownership of store-level sales, margin, profitability, cost control and productivity.

Work closely with Commercial, Buying, Merchandising and Supply Chain teams to ensure the proposition is effectively executed in stores.

Bring a strong commercial perspective to range, pricing, promotions, private label and customer value.

Ensure promotional activity is operationally executable and delivers the required sales and margin performance.

Analyse store, category and regional performance to identify opportunities for commercial improvement.

Balance customer value, operational efficiency and profitability within the discount model.

Support the development of store economics, labour models and productivity targets.

Discount Retail Operating Model

Develop and strengthen the company’s discount food retail operating model.

Drive operational simplicity through disciplined processes, limited complexity and clear store routines.

Ensure the business maintains a strong price and value position while protecting profitability.

Work with Buying and Supply Chain to improve product availability, stock flow and inventory productivity.

Support the development and execution of private label and exclusive product strategies.

Embed a culture of cost awareness and operational discipline throughout the store network.

Benchmark the business against leading international discount food retailers.

Store Performance and Productivity

Establish clear performance measures across sales, margin, labour, availability, waste, shrinkage, stock accuracy and customer experience.

Improve labour planning and productivity without compromising operational standards.

Develop effective store and regional performance reviews.

Create clear intervention plans for underperforming stores and regions.

Drive continuous improvement across store processes, operating costs and customer service.

Ensure store teams understand the commercial impact of their decisions and actions.

Expansion and New Store Development

Support the CEO in delivering the company’s store expansion and growth strategy.

Provide operational input into site selection, store design, format development and investment decisions.

Ensure new stores are opened on time, within budget and to the required operational standards.

Develop repeatable and scalable processes for new store openings.

Ensure operational capability, leadership capacity and infrastructure are aligned with the expansion plan.

Review existing store formats and identify opportunities to improve space productivity and return on investment.

Supply Chain and Availability

Work closely with Supply Chain, Distribution and Commercial teams to improve product availability.

Ensure store ordering, replenishment, inventory and stock management processes are effective and disciplined.

Reduce waste, markdowns, shrinkage and stock loss.

Support improvements in forecasting, distribution and store delivery performance.

Ensure stores maintain appropriate stock levels while avoiding unnecessary inventory complexity.

Customer Experience

Ensure the customer proposition is delivered consistently across every store.

Maintain a strong focus on value, availability, convenience, speed and simplicity.

Develop operational standards that support a compelling discount retail customer experience.

Use customer feedback and operational data to identify areas for improvement.

Ensure store teams understand and deliver the company’s customer promise.

People Leadership

Lead, develop and motivate the senior operations leadership team.

Build strong regional, area and store management capability.

Establish clear accountability, performance expectations and succession plans.

Create a high-performance culture based on discipline, commercial awareness and operational excellence.

Ensure leadership capability keeps pace with the growth of the business.

Develop a strong pipeline of Saudi national talent across operations and store leadership.

Governance and Compliance

Ensure compliance with Saudi Arabian regulations, food safety standards and company policies.

Maintain strong controls covering cash, stock, waste, shrinkage, health and safety and operational risk.

Work with Finance, Human Resources, Legal and Internal Audit to maintain appropriate governance.

Ensure all stores operate within agreed budgets, policies and operating procedures.

Candidate Profile

Experience

Minimum of 12 years of senior retail operations experience, including significant leadership responsibility within food retail.

Strong experience within a discount, value or limited-assortment food retail model.

Experience from businesses such as Aldi, Lidl, Netto, DIA or comparable international food retailers is highly desirable.

Proven experience leading a substantial multi-site store network.

Strong commercial experience in addition to operational leadership.

Demonstrable understanding of pricing, promotions, private label, margin, range and store economics.

Proven success in improving sales, profitability, productivity and operational standards.

Experience managing large teams through regional, area and store management structures.

Experience supporting store expansion, new store openings or retail transformation.

International experience and exposure to developing or high-growth markets would be advantageous.

Skills and Capabilities

Strong understanding of discount food retail economics and operating models.

Commercially minded and capable of looking beyond traditional store operations.

Strong financial and analytical capability.

Ability to translate strategy into clear operational execution.

Deep understanding of store productivity, labour management, stock control, shrinkage and waste.

Strong knowledge of food retail standards, compliance and customer expectations.

Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth and changing environment.

Strong leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills.

Comfortable challenging existing practices and simplifying complex processes.

Able to work closely with the CEO and contribute to broader business strategy.

Leadership Style

Hands-on, visible and commercially focused.

Decisive and comfortable holding teams accountable.

Highly disciplined with a strong focus on execution.

Customer-focused while maintaining clear commercial priorities.

Able to build credibility across stores, support functions and senior leadership.

Comfortable operating with pace, ambiguity and significant organisational change.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Retail Management, Commerce or a related discipline.

A postgraduate business or management qualification would be advantageous.

Key Success Measures

Growth in like-for-like sales and store profitability.

Improvement in gross margin and operational contribution.

Improved labour productivity and store operating costs.

Higher levels of product availability and stock accuracy.

Reduction in waste, shrinkage and markdowns.

Consistent delivery of operational and customer standards.

Successful execution of the new store opening programme.

Development of a scalable discount food retail operating model.

Improvement in regional and store leadership capability.

Successful delivery of the company’s commercial and operational growth plan.

Package

Total monthly package of SAR 60,000.

The position also includes family status benefits, including:

Schooling support.

Family medical insurance.

Visa and residency support.

Annual return flights.

Relocation support in accordance with company policy.