Fashion Business - Operations & Finance Manager

A hands-on Operations & Finance Manager to make a growing fashion group more profitable, better run and less dependent on its founder. $3,500-4,500/month | Full-time | Eastern Europe/South Africa We're a growing fashion group with two businesses across the US and Peru. Our clothing brand sells direct to consumers online, on Shopify with a big paid ads engine behind it, and to retailers through wholesale. Our manufacturing operation in Peru makes our own products and private-label products for other brands, and a general manager runs it day to day. Across three entities we have about 80 people: full-time employees, contractors and fractional specialists. Revenue keeps growing, but so do costs, headcount and risk, and too much of it still runs through the founder. We now need someone to own the profit and execution side of the business. The founder, CEO and growth: vision, product direction, brand, strategic relationships, new sales channels and major capital decisions. You, profit and execution: profitability analysis, cost control, cash flow, resource allocation, reporting, team accountability, operating systems, AI and automation, and leading execution across departments. Your mission: make the business a more profitable machine that doesn't depend on the founder to keep it running. We're looking for an Operations & Finance Manager who has already demonstrated ownership of operations, financial performance and cross-department execution in a physical-product business. You'll act as the founder's delegated operational authority: establishing accountability, challenging performance, resolving issues and making decisions within agreed financial and operational limits. You'll understand where the business makes money, where resources are underperforming and what needs to change, then lead those changes and measure the results. 📈 Understand and improve profitability. Analyze gross and contribution margins, inventory efficiency, labor productivity and profitability by channel, product and customer. Understand how purchasing, production, staffing, pricing and sales decisions affect profit, cash flow and working capital. Identify where money, time and capacity generate the best returns, recommend how to allocate resources and lead improvements with measurable financial results. 💰 Cut costs and protect margins. Review every expense across the group: software and subscriptions, payroll, logistics, vendors and financial services. Cut what isn't needed, renegotiate or restructure contracts and retainers, and get more from business card rewards, payment methods and transaction fees. Then set up regular expense reviews so costs stay under control. 📊 Own cash flow and financial operations. Work closely with our bookkeeper, our treasury and invoicing lead and our general manager in Peru. Make sure P&Ls, receivables and payables, reconciliations and cash-flow forecasts are accurate and on time, that payments get collected, and that cash shortfalls are spotted weeks ahead. The reports already exist. You'll understand the numbers well enough to challenge them, catch what doesn't add up and turn them into clear recommendations. 🎯 Set KPIs and hold people to them. Build clear KPIs for each department and key role, starting with the design team, our biggest cost. Agree owners, deadlines and reporting rhythms, follow up on missed commitments yourself, and keep the founder informed of the exceptions that matter. 🤖 Replace manual work with AI and automation. Audit the repetitive work across the group, then build AI agents, automated workflows and integrations that cut contractor hours and admin. Measure the time and money each one saves. 📚 Build reliable operating systems and documentation. Create clear SOPs, repeatable processes and an accessible source of truth for how the business runs. Make ownership, handovers and key information easy to find so teams can work reliably without depending on individual people. We use Notion, and you'll be expected to become productive with it quickly. 🔗 Lead operations across departments. Act as the founder's delegated operational authority across US finance, e-commerce and Peru manufacturing, working closely with the general manager. Establish clear ownership, challenge missed commitments and underperformance, resolve cross-team issues and make decisions within agreed limits. Lead improvements across vendors, supply chain and internal operations, escalating matters that require the founder's authority with a clear recommendation. 📥 Own operational matters currently handled by the founder. Take responsibility for operational correspondence, decisions and follow-ups that currently land on the founder's plate. Resolve issues directly within agreed limits, drive actions through to completion and bring the founder clear recommendations when escalation is needed. Working hours are roughly 6am-2pm New York time (midday-8pm in Eastern Europe/South Africa). Requirements To be successful in this role, you need: ✅ Proven operational leadership: you have owned cross-department execution, held teams accountable, challenged performance and made decisions, ideally in a multi-entity, founder-led or 50+ person business. You don't need a COO title, but you do need evidence of this level of ownership. ✅ Experience in a physical-product business, such as e-commerce, consumer goods, retail, wholesale or manufacturing, with a strong understanding of inventory, supply chains, margins and working capital. ✅ Strong financial analysis skills: you can interpret P&Ls, cash-flow forecasts and receivables, assess margins, inventory efficiency, labor productivity and profitability by channel, product or customer, and turn the findings into operational decisions. ✅ A proven track record with SOPs, KPIs and process improvement ✅ Hands-on AI and automation skills: you have built workflows and integrations yourself (Zapier, Make, n8n or similar), ideally AI agents too, and can show what they saved ✅ The ability to build reliable operating systems, documentation and repeatable processes, and become productive with new platforms quickly. ✅ High proactivity and sound judgment: you spot problems and propose fixes without step-by-step instructions ✅ Remote work experience, with the organization and follow-through to deliver without check-ins Brownie points for: ⭐ Fashion or apparel brand experience ⭐ Wholesale (for example Faire) or private-label experience ⭐ Notion experience ⭐ Experience acting as a founder's operational second-in-command, and the ambition to grow towards a COO role You'll enjoy this role if you like understanding how a business makes money, making decisions and leading people through operational change. You measure your work through stronger profitability, better use of resources and reliable execution. You're direct, calm under pressure and comfortable challenging performance across departments. Success looks like improving financial results, clear accountability and a business that runs without the founder handling everyday operational decisions. This role isn't the right fit if your experience is mainly calendar, inbox and travel support, or if you prefer detailed instructions and regular check-ins. Benefits What’s in it for you? 💰 $3,500-$4,500 USD per month* 💼 Full-time 🌍 Fully remote 📍 Eastern Europe or South Africa 🕐 6am-2pm New York time (midday-8pm Eastern Europe/South Africa) 📅 Minimum 20 days PTO including public holidays *Please note that this is a gross salary and that you are responsible for any tax-related procedures in your country of residence. We kindly ask you to apply only if you are happy to work remotely as an independent contractor. This is our typical hiring process - occasionally, it may include extra steps. For this role, JobRack is partnering with the company to find their next hire. We’ll handle all the screening and testing, so they see only the best-fit candidates - like you! 🔍 How to shine • Read the role details carefully. • Submit a thoughtful, high-quality application. • Stay responsive - we’ll keep you updated at every stage. ✨ Important notes • Apply only through JobRack; please don’t contact the company directly. • We expect a respectful hiring experience - any disrespect means instant disqualification. • This is a full-time, primary role (no freelancing or second jobs). ❓ New to remote work? Check out our handy FAQ: jobrack.eu/jobseeker-faq