Sannams4

Location: New Delhi, Delhi

Experience: 12 - 15 years

Job Title:

Head, Operations

Job Description:

What are we seeking?
Sannam S4 continues to grow, a relentless focus on customer service, efficiency, discipline and planning ahead of growth is going to be critical for the business achieving its ambitious plans. We are therefore seeking to recruit an executive to design, build and lead the overall operations and administrative solutions at Sannam S4.

This role will be vital in bringing efficiencies in processes, and leading teams across systems and administration. Having particular expertise in specific areas such as Business excellence, Infrastructure, change management, Administration, Customer focused service delivery and other process enhancement activities would be particularly welcome.

Why apply?
This role provides a unique opportunity to design, build and lead your own team, leveraging your previous experiences and implementing a strategy based on your vision for what a world class operation should look like in 2020 and beyond. You will join a respected, entrepreneurial and highly ambitious company. As part of the India Leadership team you will be working closely with Board of Directors in India and will take on additional responsibilities within the group as your skills and interest dictate

Our partners and stakeholders
Sannam S4 places tremendous value on its strategic partnerships and close affiliations with respected organizations which include a formal Strategic Partnership with the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) U.S. Department of Commerce, the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) and close working relations with the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland. We work very closely with the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. and with the federal and state government(s) in India.

Sannam S4 leads and collaborates in thought leadership and policy discussions via close working relationships with the U.S. India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC), American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM), British Business Group (BBG), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) amongst others.

What drives us?
At Sannam S4 we are committed to building the world’s leading and most respected international market entry and expansion services business. We have built our business in a space between traditional global consultants, accountants, law firms and government agencies whereby we do not only consult, but we implement on our research and advice, a combination of skill sets which our clients truly appreciate.

We are passionate about providing corporations, universities, vocational training providers and national and federal governments, as well as non-profit organizations and trade sector bodies, with the highest quality support in markets where it is needed most. Our success is entirely built on our ability to drive our clients’ success. This symbiotic relationship supports long term relationships and very high client retention.

Sannam S4’s largest office in New Delhi holds the distinction of being certified against the ISO 27001:2013 standard, demonstrating our commitment to adhering to international standards and the importance of securing our clients’ data.

What we look for at Sannam S4
Whilst we perform daily tasks for our clients, through successful implementation of these projects, we have the ability to positively impact many thousands of people’s lives across the world. We aspire to hire entrepreneurial talent, people with an energy and enthusiasm for our mission.

We look for professionals who relish being given responsibility and who seek to design, own and lead their own strategies and impact within our business.

As a rapidly expanding firm we look for new members of the team who can take on executive responsibilities as we scale the business and expand in India and beyond.

We hire team players who share our passion for international cross border business and collaboration and who give our clients and partners the confidence, solutions and support they need to explore, enter and expand worldwide.

We love hiring people who are enthusiastic, who recognize opportunities, can help realize them and who thrive from being part of a vibrant, energetic and highly ambitious international team.



Role summary: 
As Sannam S4 continues to grow, a relentless focus on customer service, efficiency, discipline and planning ahead of growth is going to be critical for the business achieving its ambitious plans. The Head of Operations role is intended to lead this activity, championing the importance of operational rigour and with overall ownership for the company’s Quality management system as well as management of a number of key operational teams.

The Head of Operations role is a pivotal role within Sannam S4 and one that will set the standards of service delivery, engagement with clients, staff and external market participants. Recognizing the importance of this role, it reports to Finance Director and dotted line reporting to Managing Director, Asia Pacific.

The key focus of this role will be operational intervention in all the departments/service lines to maximize resource utilisation, ease of use, and efficiency of employees. This should be achieved by having a well-defined change management strategy.

Experience Range:

12 - 15 years

Educational Qualifications:

Any graduation, and MBA/PGDM

Job Responsibilities:

• Strategy:

oWorking closely with senior management, you will develop and present next 3-year operations strategy / plan to the Board within 90 days of joining Sannam S4;
oStrategically focused on bringing business excellence methods, processes and policies;
oMaintain the operations strategy / plan in line with stakeholder needs and in keeping up with current best practice in the field of changing operational requirement;
oAnalyse business requirements by partnering with key stakeholders across the organization to develop solutions for efficient service delivery.
 

• Process improvement, Change Management and Business excellence

oWorking alongside other leaders in the business, identify areas suitable for improvement e.g.
i. Service improvements
ii. Efficiency improvements
iii. Control improvements
iv. Improvements to enable repeatability and scalability
oSupport operational managers in implementing improvements (and working closely with the Head of Technology in those aspects that involve automation);
oAchieve above objectives by deploying structured techniques (such as Lean, Six Sigma etc.);
oChampioning a continuous improvement mind set and, over time, identify train and support continuous improvement champions embedded within all functions / departments in the business (to act as a catalyst to identify and support change activity);
oBringing to bear professional expertise in project management to ensure change is delivered in a controlled manner;
oLeading and implementing business excellence plan.
 

• Ownership of Sannam S4’s Real Estate footprint in India

oEnsure that Sannam S4’s real estate / offices are fit for purpose, maintaining a high standard of working environment;
oEnsure the smooth operation of day to day operational activity for Sannam S4’s real estate and the associated team (covering admin, front desk, office boy/girl staff etc.);
oTake full responsibility of company’s offices for upscaling, aesthetic wellbeing, maintenance, improving user desk ratio and client satisfaction;
oComplete on-going and carefully forecasted capacity planning for Sannam S4’s offices. Identify/expand alternate solutions as required.
 

• Travel management

oEnhance and manage company’s travel desk, process, vendors and growing travel requirement of the staff.
 

• Vendor Management

oManage relationships with vendors and suppliers, ensuring contracts and service levels are negotiated in line with strategic aims and financial constraints and ongoing service is in-line with agreed terms;
oEnsuring identification of new vendors and suppliers follows the company’s procurement process.
 

• Ownership of the Company’s Administration department

oLead and enhance the impact of admin functions to clients and stakeholders experience;
oDevelop and manage admin teams
 

• Governance

oOwnership of the Business Continuity Plan for the business. Ensure this is kept up to date and is tested in line with the plan and that the results of these tests are communicated to management;
oTo ensure business operations operate in-line with agreed strategy and the policy is in compliance with government legislation and standards;
oIdentify security vulnerabilities and eliminate them with strategic solutions that increase asset safety.
 

• Ownership of the company’s Operational Risk Management framework

oEnsure adequate levels of inspection and audit take place to provide comfort to management on the integrity of Sannam S4’s operations (and controls). Support all audit activity (whether internal or external) and ensure requests are met in a timely manner;
oProvide regular reporting to management on the performance of the Operations function (including quarterly board paper submissions for the areas this role is responsible for).
 

• Stakeholder engagement

o Regular face-to-face meetings particularly with senior leadership and other types of communication in order to ensure a) strong personal relationships are developed with colleagues, b) stakeholders concerns are well understood and addressed and c) change management activity is fully integrated with the teams responsible for operational delivery. In particular, this role will need to work closely on this with the Head of Technology.
 

• Documentation

o Ensure all Operations policies, standard operating procedures and processes are documented and make sure these are reviewed periodically for suitability (and updated where required)

Skills Required :

Operations, Business Excellence, Administrative, Quality Management, Business Process Improvement, Project Management, Change Management, Lean Six Sigma, ISO Procedures,

Candidate Attributes :

Minimum required qualifications
 

• Degree and / or MBA in Operations and Administrative Management related subject preferred (to include engineering) ;
• Lean / Six Sigma (extensive experience as a black belt or master black belt) qualified and practitioner;
• First-hand experience at leading/managing ISO 9001 (or similar); ideally a qualified ISO practitioner / assessor.
• Project Management certification such as PMP or Prince2 desirable

Work Experience:
 

• Preferred candidate will have 12-15 years of experience working in operations in a services industry (ideally in BPO or professional services), delivering services to international clients;
• Prior Experience as Operations leader (Head or Senior Manager) required;
• The preferred candidate will have a solid background in operations, administration, travel desk, project and change management, process improvement and quality management as well as an ability to manage teams across multiple locations;
• An experienced change agent with a track record in business transformation.
• First-hand experience in risk management.

Desired/Preferred Skills:

With a strong track record of professionalism and support for our clients, Sannam S4 has built its business on individuals who bring value and experience to the business and its clients and the accountability that a medium sized business requires.

Below are the desired and preferred skills and competencies for this position:
 

• A people person with the ability to lead, motivate and coach individuals in a strong operational environment (in which we aspire to military/manufacturing-like precision);
• Strong organization and project management skills;
• A client centric mind-set (whether internal or external client), naturally soliciting voice of the customer feedback and acting on it;
• The ability to multi-task - managing a combination of operational responsibilities alongside change initiatives, working under pressure and always operating to the highest levels of integrity;
• A naturally inquisitive and action-oriented mind-set with high standards and an eye for detail;
• People management skills - someone with a pleasant personality, who enjoys engaging with people and a keen interest on people career development;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. A keen listener, experienced in asking questions in order to solicit information and data;
• Influencing skills – experience at working across organizational boundaries to gain the support of individuals as part of change initiatives;
• Comfort with handling data – experienced at using data to make decisions, building and implementing dashboards etc. As a result, someone that is strong with data management and excel skills;
• Sound commercial understanding;
• Computer and IT literate – experienced Microsoft Office user (highly experienced in Microsoft Excel) as well as data tools for process improvement;
• Ultimately you are a change agent with a passion in operational excellence and highly results oriented.