Role Overview

Our fast-paced, results-oriented, and strategic PR agency is seeking a high-caliber Director of Operations to serve as the operational backbone of our organization. This is an executive-level leadership role designed for a "systems-first" thinker who can manage the agency’s infrastructure with minimal oversight.

As the Director of Operations, you will bridge the gap between vision and execution. You won't just manage tasks; you will own the agency’s operational cadence, refine our systems, and lead team accountability. We are looking for a proactive partner who reduces the CEO's operational load by anticipating needs two steps ahead and solving problems before they escalate.

Position Details

Employment Type: Full-Time Independent Contractor
Compensation: Market Related
Hours: 40 hours/week (Fixed Schedule: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST)
Location: Remote (Latin America or South Africa preferred)
Reporting To: Founder & CEO

Core Responsibilities

Executive Support & Gatekeeping
- Calendar & Time Protection: Manage the CEO's calendar, prioritizing requests, resolving conflicts, and actively protecting strategic working time.
- Inbound Triage: Triage email and meeting requests to flag urgent items requiring direct CEO attention while autonomously handling, delegating, or deferring the rest.
- Event & Logistics Coordination: Coordinate all logistics for external commitments (e.g., speaking engagements, media interviews) to ensure the CEO arrives fully briefed and prepared.
Team & Self-Accountability & Workflow
- Operational Cadence: Own daily Asana management, tracking deadlines, and ensuring team members stay on schedule.
- Proactive Accountability: Lead weekly team check-ins, identify bottlenecks, and resolve capacity risks. Demonstrate rigorous self-accountability by proactively flagging your own at-risk deadlines before they are missed, including end-of-day status updates whenever a deliverable is running behind schedule.
- Deliverable Standards: Ensure all final work products (reports, documents, decks) are delivered complete, proofed, and ready to use with zero rework required. Clearly mark in-progress work as such—never presenting drafts as final.
- SOP Development: Audit existing processes and build/refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for onboarding, reporting, and internal communications.
New Business & Research Support
- Prospect Intelligence: Conduct deep-dive research into target brands (funding, decision-makers, current PR agency relationships) to build a prospect library.
- Meeting Prep: Generate one-page pre-call briefs and polish pitch decks/capability presentations using existing templates.
- Pipeline Management: Manage post-meeting follow-ups and lead the transition from signed contract to client onboarding.
Vendor & Financial Management
- Vendor Relations: Research, vet, and negotiate terms with US-based vendors and contractors; maintain organized contract records.
- Budget & Financial Oversight: Process timecards, invoices, and expense reports weekly, flagging discrepancies. Drive proactive budget management by tracking spend against target budgets and actively identifying opportunities to streamline operations or reduce agency costs.
HR & Hiring Support
- Talent Acquisition: Write job descriptions, screen resumes, and conduct first-round candidate screenings to streamline hiring for the CEO.
- Onboarding: Manage documentation and system access for all new contractors.

Candidate Profile

Hard Skills & Qualifications
- Experience: 5+ years in Operations, Executive Assistance, or Account/Project Management within a PR, communications, or marketing agency strongly preferred. Direct familiarity with media/press cycle deadlines and high-caliber client-facing deliverable standards is a major differentiator.
- Track Record: Demonstrated history of meeting tight deadlines consistently without requiring reminders, hand-holding, or follow-up.
- AI-Augmented, Not AI-Dependent: Expert-level proficiency in Asana (or similar PM tools) and AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT) for research and drafting. Must treat all AI output strictly as a first draft—independently verifying all facts, dates, tool references, and figures before presenting work.
- US Context: Prior experience supporting US-based clients or businesses remotely is strongly preferred.
- Communication: Exceptional written and verbal English; ability to synthesize complex research into actionable summaries.
- Logistics: Reliable high-speed internet and a dedicated, professional home workspace.
Soft Skills (The "Must-Haves")
- Executive-Level Thinking: The ability to operate independently and make confident decisions within your scope.
- Proactive Ownership: You bring solutions to problems, not just observations.
- Direct Communication: High emotional intelligence paired with the ability to hold team members accountable professionally.
- Intellectual Curiosity: A natural drive to research US industry events, media landscapes, and competitive benchmarks without being prompted.

What to Expect

High Autonomy: We provide the tools and context; we expect you to run the engine.
Structured Success: Structured onboarding with formal review check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days featuring clear go/no-go criteria based on deliverable quality and communication cadence.
Consistent Rhythm: Daily async updates via Asana and weekly video syncs with the CEO.

Why This Role? This is a rare opportunity for a top-tier operator in Latin America or South Africa to take a seat at the leadership table of a fast-paced, strategic US agency. You will have a direct impact on the scale and efficiency of a high-performing firm representing some of the most exciting brands in the beauty industry.