Craig Thomson
Craig Thomson

Head of Operations

Open to offers · Member since 22 Jul 2026
Message
Location
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Desired salary
Unspecified
Work preference
Remote Only / Full Time, Contract
Experience level
Senior

About

Professional summary

I am an operations leader with more than 20 years of experience helping SaaS, e-commerce, and technology-enabled businesses scale sustainably.

I specialize in turning strategy into execution, building the processes, systems, and team structures that improve performance and support growth across multiple markets.

Throughout my career, I have led operational transformation, customer success, IT operations, and cross-functional delivery with a strong focus on measurable outcomes.

I have a track record of reducing customer attrition, improving service reliability, and driving revenue growth even in challenging market conditions.

I enjoy working across operations, marketing, product, and customer-facing teams to create alignment, accountability, and long-term commercial impact.

I bring a calm, structured, and hands-on leadership style, and I am comfortable operating at both strategic and execution levels to solve complex business problems.

Notice period: Immediate

Skills

27 capabilities

Experience

Career history

Head of Operations & IT RetailTribe

Owns end-to-end operational and IT strategy across the organisation, ensuring stability, scalability, and consistent service delivery. Designed standardised business processes, led product and platform upgrades, established governance frameworks and KPI reporting, and managed IT infrastructure and vendor relationships for a distributed global team.

Marketing Manager RetailTribe

Executed customer acquisition and growth initiatives after operational stabilisation. Collaborated with operations and product teams to align go-to-market activity with delivery capability and supported strategic commercial planning and campaign execution.

Global Operations Manager RetailTribe

Led a mid-sized global operations team responsible for service delivery, performance, and client satisfaction across multiple markets. Reduced customer attrition from over 10% to below 3% through process optimisation and proactive client management.

Senior Community Director RetailTribe

Managed 100+ key customer accounts as strategic advisor and primary relationship owner. Increased client revenue through improved marketing strategy and deeper platform utilisation while driving retention and upsell.

Online Retail & Operations Manager Sunshine Garden Services

Owned online retail operations, customer service, order processing, logistics, reporting, and team management. Grew annual turnover by £350,000 during the global financial crisis, launched Google AdWords campaigns, and managed SEO, website content, supplier relationships, and stock procurement.

New Business Development Manager Life Enhancement Holdings

Supported early-stage and previously disadvantaged entrepreneurs by developing business and operational skills, implementing marketing strategies, creating feasibility studies, and providing hands-on coaching.

Senior Event Manager Major Tom

Led and coordinated teams of 40+ staff in high-pressure event environments. Managed end-to-end operations, logistics, and execution for national concerts and major sporting events attended by 20,000+ patrons.

Education

Learning history

University of Pretoria

Bachelor's Degree, Entrepreneurship and Business Management

Awarded Golden Key

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