Operation Manager

Independent contractor, full time hours.
Remote. You must be able to work US Eastern Time hours.
Reports directly to the CEO.

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS
Our Operations Manager is moving into a COO seat. Before that can happen, someone has to take the department off their hands.
That is the job. Not filling a vacancy. You are inheriting a functioning department from the person who built it, while they are still here to hand it over properly.
You will be trained directly by them, then given real ownership of what they were carrying.

BEFORE YOU KEEP READING
We get a lot of applications for roles like this and most are rejected in under a minute. Not because the people are bad, but because they did not read the posting or they do not have the experience it asks for.
So, plainly: if you have not run operations for a real business before, this is not your role. Stop here. It will save us both the time.

If you have, keep going. We are genuinely looking for you and there are not many of you.

THE BUSINESS
A $7M+ education and mentorship company. 140+ active students, plus partnerships, offer launches, webinars and multi day challenge events.
It moves fast and the standard is high. We over deliver and we expect the same from the person running operations.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN
Daily operations across offer launches, webinars and multi day events
Launch and project management: timelines, deliverables and cross team coordination, so every launch ships on time and nothing slips

Building, documenting, maintaining and ENFORCING SOPs, so the business runs on systems rather than on any one person
Meeting coordination and team accountability: keeping people on their tasks, deliverables and daily reporting
Taking work off the current Operations Manager so they can step into their COO role. This is your primary mandate and how you will be judged.

Making sure the executive level work the CEO and leadership set lands on time and to standard
A direct line to the CEO. You surface problems fast. No filters, no surprises.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
You have actually held an operations manager or ops lead role, running operations for a real business. An executive assistant trying the role for the first time is not a fit.
A track record you can walk us through: businesses you have operated, launches you have run, teams you have managed
Clear, professional English, spoken and written. You will be understood easily on calls with the team, clients and stakeholders.

Genuinely comfortable on the phone and on camera. You will be on calls every day.
Systems minded. You build and enforce process, not just follow it.
A self starter who owns outcomes. You are not looking to be handed tasks all day.
Obsessively detail oriented. You triple check your work.
Your own reliable computer, a stable connection good enough for daily video calls, and a quiet space to take them from

MANDATORY SKILLS
Operations management. You have held the role before, at a real business.
SOP development, documentation and enforcement
Project management and launch management
Team management and accountability
English, spoken and written, at a professional level
Confident on video calls and phone calls, daily
Time management and prioritization
Attention to detail

STRONGLY PREFERRED
Experience in coaching, education or info product businesses
Webinar and multi day challenge event operations
Managing remote or distributed teams
Hiring and onboarding
Project management tools such as ClickUp, Asana, Notion or Monday
CRM and automation platforms
You do not need to have used our exact tools. You do need to pick up new systems fast.

WHO THIS IS NOT FOR
Executive assistants presenting themselves as operations managers
People who need to be told what to do all day
Anyone without real, prior operations management experience

Anyone juggling three or four other clients where things fall through the cracks. This is not a side gig.
We build long term. Our current Operations Manager has worked with the owner 3.5+ years. Team members have been here 2+ years. We are looking for someone who wants to grow as the company scales, not someone passing through.

SCHEDULE
These are our operating windows. Final hours are agreed with you before the engagement begins.

Monday to Friday: 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET. A 9 hour window with a 1 hour break, roughly 8 hours worked.
Saturday: until 12:00 PM ET, half day
Sunday: a short 2 hour window before 12:00 PM ET, to prep the week ahead

Approximately 46 hours per week. We are telling you this up front rather than after you are invested. It is a demanding schedule and it includes weekend hours. If that does not work for your life, this is the moment to say so, and there is no hard feeling in it. As an independent contractor you control how you deliver the work. These windows reflect when the business runs and when the team needs you reachable.

COMPENSATION
Base $1,400 to $1,800 USD per month depending on experience
Performance bonuses after a 60 to 90 day ramp. Criteria and targets are agreed with you in writing before the ramp ends, based on the measures below. Paid monthly. You are responsible for your own taxes and any registrations required where you are based.

HOW YOU WILL BE MEASURED
Work successfully taken off the current Operations Manager. This is the primary measure.
Full ownership of your department
SOP compliance and on time launch delivery
Team accountability: meetings run, people on their deliverables
Executive level work delivered on schedule Specific targets are agreed in writing during your first 30 days. You will always know what you are being measured against.

YOUR FIRST FEW MONTHS
Weeks 1 and 2: shadow the current Operations Manager. Step in wherever you can take responsibility. Learn the business and the process.

Ramp: take ownership of a department. Report directly to the CEO. Become the operator the business runs with.
Then: demonstrated ownership opens the path to Director of Operations.

Advancement is based on performance and business need. It is the path we are hiring for and we mean it, but it is not a guaranteed timeline and we are not going to pretend otherwise to get you in the door.
The first 90 days are a mutual trial. Either side may end the engagement in that period with written notice.

CONFIDENTIALITY
This role touches client information, financials and internal systems. A confidentiality agreement is signed before you start. Client names, numbers and internal conversations do not leave the business.

WHAT WE DELETE WITHOUT READING:
Copy pasted applications that could have gone to any job

Anything written entirely by AI with no specifics in it
Anyone who has not read far enough to know the schedule
Shortlisted candidates go through a scenario based interview. We will hand you real operational problems and ask how you would fix them. It is not a checklist of tools.

Come ready to show how you think and what you have actually done.
We verify what you tell us. References and confirmation of the experience described may be requested before an offer. If it is embellished, it surfaces at the reference stage and we will not move forward.

Every application is considered on the strength of the experience presented.

HOW TO APPLY
Apply here: jobs.lighthousevoyages.com