General Manager

Company: African Naturalistas

Location: Ikota Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

Work Mode: Full Time, Onsite

Reports to: Founder/CEO

Leads: Production Team, Sales Team, Administrative Team (plus dotted line to Supply Chain/Procurement, Quality/Regulatory, Customer Experience, HR, IT/ERP, E‑commerce)

Role Overview

African Naturalistas is into the manufacture and sales of Hair Products. We are looking for an GM Operations to take full ownership of day‑to‑day running of African Naturalistas. The GM Operations turns strategy into clear plans, keeps the business profitable and compliant, and ensures all departments work together smoothly.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY IF YOU DO NOT RESIDE WITHIN THE LEKKI-AJAH-SANGOTEDO AXIS OF LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA.

What You Will Own

• Run the company day‑to‑day across production, sales, finance, logistics, customer service. Keep work flowing and issues unblocked fast.
• Operations reliability: Make sure production planning is accurate, capacity is balanced, inventory is right‑sized, and orders ship on time with minimal stockouts.
• Planning & approvals: Build simple quarterly/monthly operating plans and budgets. Lead weekly leadership meetings. Get CEO sign‑off on the few big items; own the rest.
• Profit & cash: Hit revenue and margin goals. Control COGS and overhead. Enforce daily invoicing and daily bank reconciliation. Close the books by Day +5 each month.
• Cross‑functional alignment: Ensure Operations, Sales, and Finance move in lockstep for campaigns, launches, and seasonality.
• Compliance & quality: Maintain NAFDAC registrations, GMP/ISO‑aligned practices, safe factory, and correct labelling.
• Growth & product launches: Co‑create growth and launch plans with the CEO, turn them into timelines, budgets, and KPIs, and deliver on time.
• Brand & reputation: Keep service levels high, handle escalations, reduce complaints/returns, and protect the brand in the market.
• People & culture: Set clear goals for managers, coach them, hold them accountable, and upgrade talent when needed.
• Policies, SOPs & systems: Keep simple SOPs current. Ensure an ERP/MRP and basic dashboards exist so everyone runs on facts, not guesswork.
• Lead and manage production planning, ensuring timely, cost-effective, and high-quality output to meet market and customer demands.
• S&OP / Demand–Supply Integration: “Chairs monthly S&OP aligning sales plans, production, and procurement; accountable for forecast accuracy %, OTIF %, and stockout rate %.”
• Financial Controls & Cash Discipline: Enforces daily invoicing and daily bank reconciliation; month-end close by Day +5; capex stage-gates; 3-quote procurement for spends > ₦__; discounting within guardrails; owner of Cash Conversion Cycle improvements.
• Monitor, supervise, and drive the sales team, ensuring targets are consistently met, and implementing strategies to boost sales performance.
• HSE & Security: Responsible for facility safety, incident reduction, and periodic safety audits; oversees physical security and loss-prevention controls.
• Vendor Strategy & SLAs: Sets sourcing strategy, dual-sourcing for critical inputs, supplier scorecards, and SLAs; negotiates terms; conducts quarterly supplier reviews.
• Customer Experience & Brand Protection: Accountable for complaint rate, returns %, response/resolution times, and NPS/CSAT; implements corrective action loops; manages marketplace policy compliance.
• Ethics & Compliance: Enforces code of conduct, anti-bribery/anti-corruption, gifts & entertainment policy, conflict-of-interest disclosures, whistleblowing channel; annual attestations.
• Governance & Stakeholder Management: Primary interface with auditors, regulators, insurers, major customers, and strategic partners.

Candidate Profile

• Must live within the Lekki-Ajah-Sangotedo axis of Lagos State
• 5+ years in FMCG/beauty/personal care/pharma‑adjacent or other process manufacturing; 5+ years leading multi‑department teams.
• Has improved margins or run a P&L; strong grasp of unit economics and cash.
• Hands‑on with ERP/MRP and demand planning; comfortable building SOPs.
• Knows GMP/ISO 22716, NAFDAC standards.
• Clear communicator, decisive people leader, comfortable in a fast‑moving, entrepreneurial environment.
• Resides within the Lekki-Ajah-Sangotedo axis
• Excellent communication skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Word
• Good people skills and friendly disposition
• Proficiency in Enterprise Resource Planning software
• Excellent leadership skills
• Extensive experience in an operations management position, or similar.
• In-depth knowledge of project management and strategic planning.
• Ability to promote efficiency toward achieving business objectives and profitability.
• Advanced knowledge of best business practices.
• Experience with budgets and financial reports, and monitoring expenses.
• Developing human resources policies, and monitoring compliance and performance.

 This Role Is For You If…

• You thrive in manufacturing or FMCG environments and understand how production, sales, finance, and supply chain all tie together.
• You love building systems and processes (SOPs, dashboards, reports) that make a company run smoothly without daily firefighting.
• You’re data-driven: you look at KPIs, margins, and forecasts before making decisions.
• You’re comfortable leading managers (Ops, Sales, Finance) and holding them accountable to clear KPIs.
• You want to take full ownership of running the business day-to-day, freeing the CEO to focus on strategy.
• You balance execution with leadership: you can roll up your sleeves when needed, but your default is to build systems and empower others.
• You’re motivated by growth and enjoy scaling brands while keeping operations healthy and compliant.
• You have a genuine love for small businesses — you understand their scrappiness, creativity, and constraints, and you get excited about helping them grow into something bigger.

This Role Is Not For You If…

• You’ve only worked in support roles and haven’t directly managed multiple departments.
• You prefer to be a specialist (e.g., just finance, just operations, or just sales) rather than managing the whole business engine.
• You struggle with numbers, budgets, and margins, or you don’t enjoy financial accountability.
• You avoid difficult conversations — this role requires holding managers accountable and making tough calls.
• You’re more comfortable in a highly corporate, slow-moving environment where resources are unlimited and bureaucracy shields you from hands-on work.
• You’re looking for a role where the CEO micromanages — in this position, you’ll be expected to make independent decisions and own results.
• You see yourself more as a consultant/advisor than an operator/driver.
• You don’t enjoy the energy of small business life — if you’d rather sit inside a big company machine with endless support staff and predefined systems, this role isn’t for you.
• You live on the mainland in Lagos, Nigeria

What We Offer

• Competitive salary with pension and health insurance.
• Opportunities for career growth and professional development.
• A collaborative and innovative work environment.
• The chance to be part of a fast-growing company making an impact in the beauty industry.

REMUNERATION

N400,000 - N500,000

To Apply,

Send your CV (in PDF format only) to jobs@africanaturalistas.com, with the subject “General Manager”

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