Director of Operations - UK

Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Remote · United Kingdom
Experience
Senior · 5+ years

Job description

Director of Operations, UK at Focal Systems, leading the field operations team that installs and maintains shelf cameras across UK retail partners. A senior leadership role owning UK operations end to end, including people, processes, metrics and customer outcomes.

At a glance

Employment
Full-time · Employee (employment agreement)
Work mode
Remote · United Kingdom
Pay
GBP 98,000 – 112,000 / year

What you'll do

  • Own ongoing field-service performance and SLA delivery, prioritising maintenance work and driving issues through to resolution.
  • Build, lead, and develop a high-performing UK field operations team responsible for installing and maintaining shelf cameras at scale
  • Own the operational plan for UK deployments, from scheduling and logistics through installation, quality checks, and ongoing maintenance
  • Define, track, and report on the key metrics for field performance and SLA adherence
  • Partner with executive leadership to set performance goals, budgets, and long-term operational strategy for the UK
  • Analyse operational processes end to end, identify bottlenecks, and lead improvements that increase speed, quality, and efficiency
  • Work across Product, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Customer Success to feed field insights back into hardware, software, and deployment playbooks
  • Act as the senior escalation point for operational and customer issues, removing blockers quickly and owning the outcome
  • Build strong relationships with retail partners, understand their store operations, agree success criteria, and deliver against them
  • Manage relationships with any third-party installers or service partners, including performance, quality, and cost
  • Establish safe working practices and ensure field activity meets health and safety requirements at every retailer site

What we're looking for

  • 5+ years in an operations leadership role, with a track record of managing people, processes, and budgets
  • Experience leading field operations, installation, or service teams across multiple sites, ideally deploying hardware at scale
  • Strong working knowledge of core operational functions, including finance and budgeting, customer service, logistics, and people management
  • Proven ability to plan and run operations for efficiency and productivity, using data and KPIs to drive decisions
  • Experience designing and implementing new structures, roles, and processes that support rapid growth and shifting business needs
  • Solid understanding of account management and customer success, and comfort working directly with senior customer stakeholders
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to present clearly to executives, customers, and field teams
  • Ability to work independently in a remote environment and travel regularly within the UK

Nice to have

  • Knowledge of retail or grocery operations
  • Familiarity with retail technology such as shopper-facing apps, back-room inventory management, or POS systems
  • Experience managing third-party installers, contractors, or service partners
  • Lean Six Sigma or a similar process improvement certification
  • Experience in a high-growth startup or scale-up environment

Your team

UK field operations

Field operations team that installs and maintains Focal Systems shelf cameras across UK retail partners

Apply

Direct apply at Focalsystems

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About Focal Systems

The industry leader in retail AI solutions

Focal Systems is a Deep Learning first company, headquartered in San Francisco, California with operations in Canada and the UK, and a tech-hub in Poland. Its solutions have been deployed at scale with some of the top retailers in the world.

Mission

To automate and optimize brick and mortar retail using deep learning computer vision.

Key facts

  • San Francisco, California
  • Retail AI / Deep Learning computer vision
  • Headquartered in San Francisco, California with operations in Canada and the UK, and a tech-hub in Poland
  • Deep Learning first company
  • 100,000+ camera units live or rolling out at leading retailers around the world
  • Works with 10+ of the largest retailers in the world

What they value

  • Strong Values and Mission
  • Exceptional Team
  • Outstanding Partners