General Manager Operations - Career Growth Potential

Join one of the South Island’s most progressive business support organisations with the purpose to be the best business partner for Canterbury business and create a thriving business community.

Business Canterbury, formerly known as The Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, is looking for someone passionate about operational excellence and keen to be part of our leadership team as GM Operations.

With over 2,600 members who are at the heart of everything we do, it is an exciting time to be part of Business Canterbury. We have just been through a major transformation including a new business model, a new membership framework and value proposition, a new digital infrastructure, new brand and name and a new governance structure. As our GM Operations, you will play an integral role in helping us evolve our operating model and embed the outcomes of our transformation.

This new role of GM Operations will work closely across our leadership team and alongside GM Commercial and the CEO.

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, the primary focus of this executive role will be to oversee smooth operational delivery across the organisation to drive continuous improvement, an exceptional customer experience and change management in alignment with our recent transformation.

Key areas of responsibility

• Strategy and operational planning development, monitoring and reporting
• Overseeing our financial management and the annual budget development
• Human Resources and leading our People and Culture Strategy and implementation
• Management of our digital governance and IT infrastructure ensuring this supports our customer experience, ways of working and drives efficiency
• Lead and facilitate the ongoing review of organisational operating models (ways of working)
• Developing robust systems and processes and implementation
• Overseeing our sustainability and Toitu accreditation
• Stakeholder and Business Partner Engagement
• Overseeing the leadership of our facilities management

What You'll Bring

You will be a collaborative and inclusive people leader who knows how to bring out the best in other people across an organisation. You will be able to demonstrate relevant experience at an executive level and have proven experience in successfully leading and executing organisational and digital transformation and change management, with the following skills, experience and attributes:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience operating at an executive level including in an operational/general management capacity
• Be comfortable operating at both a strategic and implementation level knowing when to get out of the detail and empower others
• Strong people leadership and HR and ER knowledge and experience including:

- building and maintaining a strong team culture

- successfully leading and executing organisation change

• Digital business evolution and transition
• Proven project management and risk management experience
• Be a critical thinker experienced in research, insights and analysis
• Strong financial and commercial acumen and previous experience of financial management
• Proven experience in facilitating the design of organisational operating models (ways of working), with a strong focus on continuous improvement
• Have strong written and oral communication skills
• Have empathy and high awareness of self and others
• Be comfortable in working in an environment where the end point is not always known at the start of a project and be comfortable in working with imperfect data to make decisions
• Be highly collaborative, recognising and utilising the skills and experience of those around them
• Be excited and driven by results, be self-directed, highly motivated and well organised

You will thrive in working in a fast-paced organisation and have a genuine interest in the business environment and understand issues that impact the business community.

In return, we’ll offer you

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a small and ambitious team in a progressive purpose-led organisation as the home and voice of Canterbury business and we will offer you:

• A supportive and empowering culture – we love to see our people excel and their ideas come to life
• The opportunity to be part of an organisation that is a key part of Canterbury’s business future
• A flexible environment that focuses on impact and outcomes
• Great learning and development opportunities through our comprehensive training programme and engagement across our network
• The opportunity to develop and deliver on your own ideas

Be part of a great team thriving in a collaborative fast-paced environment.

If this sounds like you and you have the skills and experience we are looking for, please request the job description by emailing [email protected] before submitting your CV and application letter by 5pm Monday 10 June 2024. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Leeann Watson by email [email protected]