Talo is hiring on behalf of a client

Head of Operations

A confidential search run by Talo for one of its clients. The full brief is shared with shortlisted candidates.

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About youStep 1 of 6

Full nameEmailPhone — optionalLocation and time zone — optionalLinkedIn — optionalPortfolio — optionalYour CV — PDF please, up to 4 MB; it is read as part of your applicationWhy this role? — optional

What is your salary expectation per month, in USD?

Give a single monthly gross figure or a tight range in USD (for example "$6,000/month"). State whether this is as an employee or as an independent contractor.

What is the earliest date you could start?

If you have a notice period, give the first date you would genuinely be available.

Which country will you be working from, and on what basis can you be engaged there?

This role is remote, so contracts and working hours depend on it. Tell us your country of residence, your nationality or work authorization in that country, and whether you can invoice as a contractor or need employment.

How many hours of your working day can overlap with 9am–6pm Central European Time?

Operations needs live coordination with managers and partners, so be realistic.

How many years have you worked in operations leadership (owning company-wide or multi-department operations, not a single function)?

Count only time where operational systems, KPIs and cross-department execution were your responsibility.

Which best describes your most recent role?

Pick the closest match, not the most flattering one.

Where did you do this work? List each relevant company with your job title, dates, company headcount and business model.

One line per company, most recent first. Example: "Nova DTC — Head of Operations — Mar 2021 to Oct 2024 — 45 people — ecommerce supplements, 3PL fulfillment in EU and US". Include annual revenue if you are able to share it.

Which markets or regions have you run operations in?

Select every region where you personally handled fulfillment, suppliers, partners or teams.

Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe UK and Ireland North America LATAM Middle East Africa Asia-Pacific China manufacturing and sourcing Other

Which business models have you run operations for?

Select all that apply based on hands-on ownership.

DTC ecommerce, physical products Retail or wholesale distribution Subscription products Marketplace or platform Services or agency SaaS or software Manufacturing Other

Which tools and systems have you personally set up or administered, not just used?

Select all that apply. You can name others in the final question if something important is missing.

Notion or Confluence ClickUp, Asana or Monday Slack workflows Shopify admin 3PL or WMS systems ERP or inventory planning tools Zapier, Make or n8n automation Looker Studio, Metabase or similar dashboards Google Sheets modelling HRIS or recruiting tools AI tooling in operational workflows None of these

Have you personally built and run a company-wide operational system (KPI tracking, accountability cadence, SOP library) that kept working without the CEO stepping in?

Answer yes only if you designed and operated it yourself, rather than inheriting or supporting someone else's system.

What was the largest monthly revenue of the operation you personally owned?

Choose the band for the business whose operations you were accountable for, at its peak month under your ownership.

What is the largest team that reported to you, directly or indirectly?

Include contractors, agencies and partner teams you were accountable for.

What is the highest spend approval authority you have held without needing sign-off?

This role carries independent approval up to $1,000 plus hiring authority for team-layer roles, so we want to see where you have operated before.

Which of these areas have you personally owned, meaning the outcome was yours?

Select only areas where you were accountable for the result, not areas where you assisted.

Day-to-day cross-department execution KPI and scorecard systems SOPs and documentation Order fulfillment and logistics Inventory and supply chain planning 3PL, courier and supplier management Hiring and contractor management Manager oversight and performance Process automation Cost reduction or margin improvement Tooling and systems selection None of these

Link to proof of a result you personally owned

A dashboard screenshot, scorecard, before-and-after metrics export, or a short document with the numbers. Redact anything confidential and use a link anyone can open (Google Drive, Notion, Loom).

Link to a finished piece of operational work you built

For example an SOP library, an ops dashboard, a fulfillment or inventory planning system, an onboarding structure, or an automation. Anonymize client and company data. Make sure the link is publicly viewable.

Take the result and the work you just linked, and explain why it worked.

Cover the situation you inherited, the root cause you identified, what you changed in the system, the numbers before and after, how long it took, and what you would design differently now. Aim for 200–400 words in your own words.

Scenario: it is your third week. Two products are out of stock while $180K of inventory sits unsold, the 3PL is two days behind on dispatch, customer support is drowning in "where is my order" tickets, and marketing and supply are blaming each other. The CEO is being pulled into the arguments daily and wants it fixed. Write how you would handle this.

In one to three paragraphs, cover what you stabilize first and in what sequence, how you diagnose root cause versus symptom, what you would put in place so it does not recur, what you decide yourself versus escalate, and what a decision-ready escalation to the CEO would contain.

Are you willing to complete a short paid trial task (roughly 2–3 hours, such as auditing a workflow and proposing a fix)?

Paid at a fair rate and agreed in advance. Shortlisted candidates only.

Link to a 1–2 minute intro video

Record on your phone or Loom, unedited, and share an open link. Cover: the operation you ran and its size, the single biggest system you fixed and its measurable effect, and how you keep visibility across departments. Speak to camera in English, no slides.

How did you hear about this role? — optionalIs there anything we should know to make the process work well for you, or any context about your situation you would like to share? — optional

Optional. For example adjustments you need for interviews or the trial task, notice period constraints, or anything else relevant. Leave blank if not applicable.

What type of company culture do you thrive in, and why? — optional

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