Head of Operations

Picture this: The CEO is in back-to-back meetings with enterprise clients, closing strategic deals and building the brand. Meanwhile, the engineering team is shipping new features, product is refining the roadmap, and the entire company is executing flawlessly. Behind the scenes, you're the person helping it all come together. Ensuring teams have what they need, managing the financial engine, provide direction to customer success and keeping strategic initiatives on track. That's the impact you'll have.

In April 2024, we released Markmi, the markdown optimization assistant for fashion retailers that helps merchandising teams make faster, confident, and more profitable pricing decisions. Markmi replaces outdated spreadsheets with a fashion-specific workflow that combines industry expertise with the latest in AI. By automating the complex parts of markdown planning, it frees up teams to focus on what really matters: weighing trade-offs and choosing the best scenario. Retailers typically experience a margin improvement of 3% to 7% and an 80% to 95% reduction in workload.

Today, we're a 11-person team based in Ghent, serving around 10 paying customers and generating €750K+ in annual recurring revenue. In April ‘25, we secured an €1.2M investment and are therefore in an exciting growth phase.

With solid traction and investor backing, we need someone to run the operational backbone that will carry us from sub-€1M to €5M+ ARR. This is the CEO's right hand, the person who manages finance, legal & HR, provides direction to Customer Success and coordinates strategic initiatives so the commercial, engineering and product teams can focus on what they do best.

Now here's the thing: this isn't your typical ‘operations’ role where you're managing established processes in a mature company. You'll help build the foundation from scratch, establishing financial rigor, updating HR processes, coordinating strategic projects, and ensuring increased operational excellence as we scale.

But it takes someone with a decent amount of financial acumen, operational discipline, customer feel and the ability to juggle multiple critical functions to make it happen. That is where you fit in.

The Role

As our Head of Operations, you'll own a number of responsibilities that keeps the business running smoothly behind the scenes. You'll manage our financial operations, coordinate with legal and compliance partners, run HR and people processes, facilitate leadership coordination, steer Customer Success and assist the CEO with strategic initiatives. You'll be the operational backbone that enables our CEO to focus on commercial strategy and our teams to execute without operational friction.

Your Responsibilities

Financial Operations

You'll own the entire financial engine of the company, working with CEO and external partners.

• Own the financial engine: manage cash flow, runway, and overall financial health as we scale from sub-€1M to €5M+ ARR

• Drive budgeting, forecasting, and scenario planning to support growth decisions

• Maintain financial visibility: deliver clear P&L, cash flow reporting, and key metrics to leadership

• Support the CEO with financial models for strategic decisions and fundraising rounds

• Coordinate with external accountants, bookkeepers, and financial partners

Customer Success Operations

You'll provide structure and guidance to the customer success function while the CS team executes.

• Give structure and process to customer operations as we scale

• Guide and support the CS manager and technical team where needed

• Coordinate between CS, engineering, and data science on customer delivery

People Operations & HR

You'll coordinate people-related processes with support from external HR partners and administrative help.

• Coordinate recruiting and onboarding processes across all departments

• Shape and nurture company culture: organize team events, rituals, and initiatives that strengthen our team

• Handle employee relations and maintain HR policies with guidance from external HR partners

• Support performance reviews and maintain role clarity across the organization

• Coordinate with payroll and benefits providers for administrative execution

Legal & Compliance

You'll manage all legal and compliance needs, coordinating with external counsel.

• Manage relationships with external legal counsel and coordinate all legal processes

• Coordinate contract review, negotiation, and execution (NDAs, vendor agreements, partnership contracts, employment agreements)

• Manage insurance policies & compliance matters

Operations & Strategic Coordination

You'll keep the leadership team aligned, operations running smoothly, and strategic priorities on track.

• Plan and facilitate leadership team meetings with clear agendas and action tracking

• Oversee office operations and ensure teams have what they need to execute

• Assist the CEO with strategic initiatives and special projects

• Turn strategic priorities into executable plans with clear owners and timelines

• Track progress and escalate issues proactively

Why Join Markmi?

This is the CEO's right-hand role where you establish the systems and infrastructure needed to scale a fast-growing SaaS company. As we grow from sub-€1M toward €5M+ ARR, you'll build the operational rigor that allows our commercial, engineering, and product teams to move fast without breaking things.

Join an ambitious 11-person team where ownership matters and speed wins. We're transforming markdown pricing for fashion retailers across Europe, and you'll be compensated competitively for the outsized impact you'll create.

Our office sits in the heart of Ghent with excellent connections by car, train, or (e-)bike, and plenty of spots nearby to relax after work. We provide a competitive salary package with comprehensive benefits, including an optional company car and fuel card, bike plan, hospitalization insurance, plus your laptop and smartphone.

Beyond the day-to-day, we invest in our team culture through regular company trips, organized events, and impromptu get-togethers that bring everyone together. We're committed to creating a collaborative environment where you can grow, connect with colleagues, and do your best work.

How to Apply

If you're excited to run the operational foundation of a fast-growing SaaS company and enable the CEO and team to focus on what they do best, we'd love to hear from you.

Send us your CV and a few short lines on why this role excites you. You may be invited for an initial conversation, followed by a job-specific challenge where you can showcase your approach. Impress us, and you could be the next key addition to our growing team in Ghent!

What We're Looking For

Experience & Background

• 5–8 years of experience in operations, finance, or strategy consulting roles

• Solid financial operations background, you're comfortable with P&Ls, budgets, and cash flow management

• Solid customer operations background, you’re comfortable structuring and working on projects with clients

• Experience in B2B SaaS scale-ups (Seed / Series A stage ideal)

• Proven track record managing multiple operational functions simultaneously

• Bonus points: experience in Chief of Staff or similar coordination roles

Personal Qualities

• You're both analytically sharp and emotionally intelligent, equally comfortable building financial models and nurturing team culture

• You thrive on creating structure, building processes, and maintaining order

• You're comfortable juggling multiple critical functions without dropping balls

• You're based in Belgium (or nearby) and happy to be in the office at least 3 days/week

• You have low ego but high impact, comfortable being the operational backbone that enables others to shine