# Head of Operations Excellence - London/West Africa - Rainforest Builder

> Semata · London, United Kingdom (Hybrid) · Full-time · Posted 2026-04-23

**Workplace:** hybrid

## Description

**About the Organisation:**

[Rainforest Builder](https://www.rainforestbuilder.com/) is a large-scale tropical forest restoration company operating in West Africa, focused on restoring degraded, biodiverse ecosystems through long-term, community-centred projects. 

With operations across multiple countries, a workforce of 2,000+ employees, and thousands of hectares already restored, the organisation is scaling towards 100,000+ hectares under management in the next three years.

Projects are long-term and aligned with leading international standards (e.g. VERRA VCS, CCB), delivering measurable climate, biodiversity, and socioeconomic outcomes in partnership with global organisations and local communities.

**The Role:**

Sitting in the co-CEO Office, you will be the co-CEO's right hand on operational execution — diagnosing gaps, designing systems, and embedding them across projects and functions. The role is not tied to a single function. You will move across priority areas (forest protection, restoration, livelihoods, ESG), going deep on one problem at a time and leaving behind scalable systems.

This is a hands-on transformation role: diagnose → design → implement → embed. Your mandate is to take us from project-based execution to repeatable systems, bringing structure, accountability, and leadership visibility to fast-scaling operations across geographies.

This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports — your influence comes from structured thinking, rigour, and trust, not headcount.

## Requirements

-   Diagnostics: Rapidly assess operational performance, identify bottlenecks, and prioritise high-impact interventions.

-   System design: Build SOPs, workflows, and decision-making processes that are practical, field-ready, and scalable.
-   Performance & accountability: Define KPIs, build reporting frameworks and dashboards, and establish clear ownership across teams.
-   Implementation: Work directly with field teams to roll out systems and ensure adoption through training and iteration.
-   Tooling: Evaluate and introduce tools that improve data collection, operational tracking, and decision-making.
-   co-CEO support & stakeholder representation: Act as a proxy for the CEO on operational priorities and cross-functional execution. Over time, the role is expected to involve managing high-level meetings with senior stakeholders in West Africa — including government representatives, ministers, and strategic partners — alongside or on behalf of the co-CEO. Final decisions remain with the co-CEO.

**What Success Looks Like (12–18 Months):**

-   Consistent operating systems embedded across all major functions
-   Reliable KPIs and reporting across projects and geographies
-   Measurable improvements in operational efficiency and execution quality
-   A strong accountability culture, with less firefighting and ad hoc decision-making
-   Real-time performance visibility for leadership
-   Growing presence in senior external engagements, building toward independent representation of the CEO with government and strategic partners

**Who you are:**

-   4–7 years total, of which at least 2 in top-tier operational consulting (Newton, Partners in Performance, AlixPartners, Alvarez & Marsal, Kearney, or equivalent) or high-performance operational roles in complex, field-based environments
-   Strong track record solving operational problems and implementing durable systems, KPIs, and performance frameworks
-   Exceptional structured thinking; able to move between strategy and execution seamlessly
-   Credible and composed in senior stakeholder environments — able to hold your own with executives, partners, and government counterparts
-   Equally effective with field teams and in the boardroom
-   Low ego, high ownership, strong bias for action, and resilient in ambiguous, fast-changing settings
-   Willing to travel frequently and spend real time in the field
-   Motivated by long-term environmental and social impact
-   Experience in emerging markets preferred

**Location:**

-   West Africa (Ghana / Sierra Leone) preferred; London considered. Frequent site travel required (strict minimum requirement of 15 weeks travel per year if London-based).

## Benefits

-   Competitive salary plus benefits

Know someone suitable for the role? Please email tashana@kupaglobal.com to learn about our referral fee for this role.

## Apply

[Apply at Semata](https://apply.workable.com/semata/j/8FADA2DF03/apply)

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