Head of Operations

About the role: Candela is building a new standard in private education - delivering premium support to families and students across the globe. As Head of Operations, you'll own end-to-end commercial growth, manage global service delivery, and build the operating system that allows us to scale. This is a high-autonomy, high-accountability role with significant responsibility but tremendous upside. This is a key leadership position with significant responsibility, rapid exposure, and direct access to the founders. It's an opportunity to grow with the business, share in the upside, and leave your mark on a fast-moving company. Key Responsibilities:

Partner Acquisition & Account Management Own the full commercial pipeline:

lead generation → pitch → close → onboard Negotiate partnership agreements and activate partner channelsManage all partnerships (with white-glove service); upsell and expand accountsLead discovery & scoping calls with prospective clients Operational Excellence & Automation Build and optimise workflows, iterate SOPsDeploy CRM, BI, and AI tooling to automate operations and measure KPIsRun weekly operations reviews and deliver margin, utilisation, and service metricsOwn all invoicing and financial reconciliationTutor / Mentor / Advisor Management Lead end-to-end recruitment, onboarding and performance tracking of tutorsCoordinate capacity planning in collaboration with Education ManagerClient Escalation & QualityLead dispute resolution and ensure rapid service recovery Analyse root causes, extract insights, and feed into process improvementsRequirementsRequired Skills & Experience:

Non-negotiables: Fluent, polished English. Native-level speaking and writing; proven rapport-builder with C-suite, partners and clients. Academic Excellence. 2: 1 or above from a top-20 UK or US university onlyAble to take full ownership of commercial and operational execution from Day 1 (We will provide full training and onboarding on the education side)Experience in commercial operations / consultative B2B sales Proven track record of owning and closing 6-figure commercial dealsMastery of workflow design, SOP implementation and SaaS tooling (HubSpot, Notion, BI tools)Financial & commercial fluency: margin management, pricing strategy, P&L, and budget control Ideal Candidate Profile: Ownership Mindset:

You thrive in high-growth environments and take full ownership of your domain. You want to build something. Commercial Operator: You are revenue-driven, data-literate, and naturally persuasive. You win and grow commercial partnerships with rigour Structured & Strategic: You bring structure to ambiguity - designing processes, dashboards, and systems that scale global operations efficiently Globally Adaptable: You're comfortable working across time zones and cultures, and naturally adapt to different stakeholders Calm & Reliable:

You manage complexity with composure, follow through without fail, and value clarity, consistency and excellenceBenefitsWhy CandelaLead a core function at an ambitious, global education companyGeographic flexibility and travel opportunitiesBuild on a strong foundation and shape our commercial engineOperate with real autonomy, velocity and ownership Share in the company's success. You'll be compensated in proportion to the results you deliver - not just your time. This role suits someone who wants meaningful performance upside and direct accountabilityCompensationCompetitive base salary supplemented by a substantial performance bonus.

The compensation model is weighted heavily toward results - ideal for candidates confident in delivering strong outcomes and client satisfaction. Total earnings up to £120,000+, based on delivery and results.