Business Operations & Growth Manager

Business Operations & Growth Manager

The Role

We are looking for a high-energy, highly dependable Business Operations & Growth Manager who enjoys being at the centre of a fast-moving technology company. This is not a conventional administrative role.

You will work across People Operations, Procurement, Finance Operations, Logistics and Commercial Support, helping make sure that the company has the people, equipment, suppliers and operational support needed to execute quickly.

You will be someone the leadership team can trust to take ownership of important operational matters and make sure they actually get completed.

At the same time, because we are a growing startup, you will have opportunities to participate in

marketing activities, customer engagements, trade shows, and business development initiatives, giving you direct exposure to how the company grows commercially.

What You Will Own

1. People & HR Operations — approximately 30%

You will help create a professional and enjoyable employee experience from the moment someone joins the company.

Employee Administration

Own and maintain essential employee documentation, including:

• Preparing employment contracts and coordinating signatures.
• Maintaining organised employee records and documentation.
• Preparing onboarding and offboarding documentation.

• Tracking company equipment and assets issued to employees.
• Maintaining acknowledgement forms, policies and relevant manpower records.
• Coordinating probation confirmations, employment changes and other employee documentation.

• Supporting leave, benefits and other routine HR administration.
• Ensuring employee information and documentation remain accurate and up to date.
• Accountable for payroll and payslips administration.

● Be the brainpower behind potential grants we can apply for.

Recruitment & Hiring Support

● Coordinating candidate interviews.

● Communicating with candidates and recruiters.

● Maintaining recruitment trackers.

● Arranging interviews and assessments.

● Preparing offer documentation.

● Coordinating reference checks and pre-employment requirements.

● Supporting onboarding once candidates are hired.

● Gradually taking ownership of selected recruitment activities as experience grows.

Culture & Employee Experience

An important part of this role is helping make Groundup.ai a company people enjoy being part of.

You will help:

• Organise company town halls.
• Coordinate team lunches, celebrations and bonding activities
• Welcome new employees and help them integrate into the company.
• Celebrate employee milestones and achievements.
• Support internal communications.
• Gather employee feedback and surface issues that leadership should know about.
• Help create an energetic, connected, and positive working environment.

Think of yourself as one of the culture champions of the company — someone who brings people together and helps maintain the energy and connectedness of the organisation as we grow.

2. Finance Operations, Procurement &Logistics — approximately 50%

This is a major responsibility of the role.

Finance Operations

You will support the COO and Finance function with day-to-day financial operations, including:

• Preparing supplier and vendor payments through the company's banking platform for management approval.
• Processing employee reimbursements and business expenses.
• Checking invoices and supporting documents before payments are submitted.
• Matching invoices, purchase orders, and delivery documentation.
• Maintaining an organised record of payments and supporting documents.
• Tracking outstanding supplier invoices and payment deadlines.
• Supporting monthly finance reconciliation and documentation.
• Maintaining visibility over recurring operational expenses and subscriptions.
• Helping ensure employees and suppliers are paid accurately and on time.

You're not expected to approve payments independently. Your responsibility is to ensure each transaction is accurately prepared, properly documented, and ready for approval.

Procurement

Procurement is one of the most important parts of this role. You will become the accountable owner for ensuring the company can obtain the equipment, components, and services it needs — at the right quality, price, and time.

Supplier Sourcing

● Continually identify and qualify alternative suppliers for key components and equipment.

● Avoid unnecessary dependency on a single supplier.

● Request and compare quotations.

● Maintain an organised supplier database.

● Evaluate suppliers based on price, quality, reliability, lead time, and service.

● Develop backup suppliers for business-critical items.

Commercial Negotiation

● Negotiate pricing and commercial terms with suppliers.

● Negotiate volume discounts where appropriate.

● Review shipping costs and payment terms.

● Identify opportunities for cost savings.

● Benchmark suppliers regularly instead of automatically purchasing from incumbent vendors.

● Build strong supplier relationships while protecting the company's commercial interests.

Purchasing & Planning

● Raise and track purchase requirements.

● Ensure required components are ordered sufficiently early.

• Monitor inventory requirements with the relevant technical teams.
• Maintain visibility over upcoming project requirements.

• Actively follow up on supplier commitments and delivery dates.
• Escalate potential shortages or delays before they affect customer projects.
• Maintain clear visibility of open purchase orders, lead times, and expected delivery dates.

The objective is simple: Our teams should never discover at the last minute that an important component was not ordered, is unavailable, or will arrive too late.

Logistics & Delivery Coordination

Your responsibility does not end when something is ordered. You will also coordinate the journey from supplier to our team or customer, including:

● Tracking shipments and delivery schedules.

● Coordinating couriers, freight forwarders, and local deliveries.

● Ensuring shipping documentation is complete.

● Monitoring delayed or missing shipments.

● Coordinating customs or import documentation where required.

● Verifying that equipment arrives safely and in good condition.

● Coordinating replacement or warranty claims with suppliers when necessary.

● Maintaining delivery and receiving records.

● Working with engineering teams to ensure equipment reaches the correct project or deployment location.

● Coordinating international shipments supporting overseas customer projects when required.

3. Sales, Marketing & Growth Support —approximately 20%

While your primary responsibilities are in Business Operations, we want this role to provide meaningful exposure to the commercial side of the company. You will have opportunities to participate directly in activities that help Groundup.ai grow.

Events & Marketing

• Supporting trade shows, conferences and industry events.
• Representing Groundup.ai at selected events.

● Helping organise customer workshops and demonstrations.

• Supporting marketing campaigns and company activities.
• Supporting company branding and event execution where required.

Sales & Business Development Support

● Supporting the sales team with customer meetings and events.

• Helping prepare materials and logistics for important customer engagements.
• Coordinating customer demonstrations and site visits.

● Supporting follow-up activities after events.

● Supporting selected business development initiatives.

● Assisting with partner or customer outreach projects where appropriate.

As you grow in the role, there will be opportunities to take on larger marketing, partnerships, and business development projects based on your interests, strengths, and demonstrated capabilities.

We will consider you successful when:

1. Our employees are taken care of.
2. Contracts, onboarding, equipment, documentation, and employee activities happen smoothly without leadership constantly chasing them.
3. Our purchasing is proactive rather than reactive.
4. We have strong suppliers, competitive pricing, and backup options for important components.
5. Our projects have what they need, when they need it.
6. Equipment and components arrive safely and on schedule.
7. Our operational payments are organised.
8. Invoices, expenses and payment requests are accurate, documented and ready for approval.
9. Our workplace feels connected.
10. Town halls, employee activities and internal initiatives are organised well, and employees feel that someone is actively helping build a strong company culture.
11. Our commercial teams are well supported.
12. Trade shows, customer engagements and growth initiatives are professionally coordinated and executed.

You become someone the company trusts to get things done.

You do not need to be an expert in HR, procurement, finance, logistics, marketing and sales on Day 1.

You do need to be someone who is excited about Groundup.ai, our impact on the world, and the problems we’re solving for customers. This will be an environment for you to learn quickly, take ownership, and become a core member of the team.

Why This Role Is Different

In a larger organisation, each part of this job might belong to a different department.

At Groundup.ai, you will have visibility across the company.

You could be negotiating with a supplier in the morning, helping onboard a new colleague before lunch, coordinating equipment for an overseas customer project in the afternoon, and supporting the team at an industry event the following day.

That breadth gives you an unusual opportunity to understand how a technology company actually operates and grows.

You will work closely with company leadership and gain exposure to decisions across people, operations, procurement, customers, and growth.

Over time, the role can develop in several directions depending on your strengths — including

Business Operations, People Operations, Procurement & Supply Chain, Commercial Operations, Marketing, or Business Development.

We are looking for someone who wants more than a narrow job description.

We are looking for someone who wants to become one of the people the company can rely on as we grow.