Director of Operations (m/f/d)

Your mission

The Director of Operations is a key executive role responsible for overseeing and optimizing the organisation's project support units, including Crew, Logistics, Procurement, QHSE, and Equipment. This role is instrumental in enhancing operational efficiency, driving digitalization initiatives, and ensuring cross-collaboration across business units to maintain productivity, profitability, and sustainability.

Additionally, the Director will be responsible for maximizing the utilization of our owned and sub-hired event technology inventory, making strategic decisions regarding investment, resale, and sub-hiring in coordination with the Technical Board based on current and forecasted asset utilization.

A key aspect of the role will also be to establish and nurture strategic partnerships across various areas in collaboration with relevant unit heads.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Operations Management:

• Oversee and coordinate project support units, ensuring seamless collaboration with business units and alignment with organisational goals.
• Establish and refine end-to-end processes that support the entire project life cycle, from client request to final on-site execution.
• Develop and implement performance standards to ensure optimal productivity, efficient resource allocation, and project support across all units.

Process Improvement & Efficiency:

• Identify and address operational bottlenecks, establishing streamlined, scalable processes across project support units.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity per headcount and optimize payroll spend.
• Establish KPIs to measure efficiency, productivity, output per time duration, and overall operational performance, with a focus on delivering large-scale projects faster and with minimal operational hurdles.

Warehouse Operations Optimization:

• Develop and implement strategies to increase the throughput of warehouse operations, focusing on the number of incoming and outgoing shipments (both items and weight) per time duration.
• Collaborate with logistics and warehouse teams to improve handling efficiency, capacity, and turnaround times.

Asset & Inventory Utilization:

• Oversee the utilization of owned event technology assets and sub-hired inventory, ensuring high levels of utilization to maintain financial viability.
• In coordination with the Technical Board, analyze equipment usage trends and make informed decisions on reselling, returning, or investing in assets based on current and future utilization forecasts.
• Maintain a thorough overview of inventory needs, ensuring sufficient stock of high-demand items and avoiding excess of low-utilization assets.

Cross-Collaboration & Alignment:

• Foster strong communication and collaboration across international teams in Germany, UAE, KSA, and other locations, ensuring consistent quality standards and unified project execution.
• Act as a bridge between support and business units, ensuring alignment on priorities, resource needs, and project goals.
• Provide guidance to business unit directors on operational requirements and establish shared processes to facilitate effective cross-unit coordination.

Digital Transformation & Systems Integration:

• Lead the digitalisation of key processes, identifying and implementing tools and systems that increase operational efficiency.
• Evaluate existing systems and propose upgrades or new technologies to digitize processes, with an emphasis on integration and ease of use.
• Champion digital solutions that support project management, logistics, procurement, and other operational areas, ensuring data-driven decision-making and reporting.

Future-Readiness & Scalability:

• Prepare the organisation for future growth by establishing robust operational frameworks that support scalability.
• Build and nurture partnerships, networks, and internal structures that support our goal to transition to a turnkey exhibition fit-out provider.
• Implement operational strategies that increase business resilience, drive sustainability, and position the organisation for long-term success.

Quality & Consistency Across Locations:

• Ensure projects are delivered with the highest quality standards within the specified timelines, maintaining consistency across all locations.
• Implement quality control measures and set standards that align with our commitment to delivering exceptional results globally.

Capacity Utilisation & Forecasting:

• Develop KPIs and dashboards in collaboration with the business intelligence and controlling team to monitor and forecast organisational capacity utilisation.
• Enable proactive planning and resource allocation through better understanding of current and future workload capacities, optimising forecasting capabilities for sustained growth.

Strategic Partnerships:

• Build and foster meaningful partnerships across various operational areas in collaboration with respective unit heads.
• Strengthen alliances that contribute to the organisation’s operational goals, scalability, and transition to a turnkey solutions partner.

Leadership & Team Development:

• Lead, mentor, and inspire the operations team, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Set and monitor individual and team objectives, providing regular feedback and professional development opportunities.
• Collaborate with People & Culture to ensure the operational team’s growth aligns with the organisation’s strategic vision, focusing on skills development and team productivity.

• Proven experience in a senior operations role, ideally as Chief Operating Officer or similar, in large-scale contracting, exhibition fit-out, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of matrix organisational structures and experience working across multiple business and support units.
• Demonstrated success in operational process improvement, digitalisation, cross-functional team coordination, and partnership building.
• Knowledge of project life cycles in the exhibition, events, or construction industries, with a strong focus on efficiency, productivity metrics, and output per time duration.
• Experience in overseeing digital transformation efforts, including systems selection, integration, and implementation.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and team-building skills with a strategic mindset.

• Team Socials – team BBQs, season opening and closing parties.
• Worker’s Compensation and Accident Insurance.
• Recruitment Referral Bonus Scheme for team members who refer successful applicants for our open positions.
• Project Referral Bonus Scheme for team members who refer successful project leads.
• Community & Diversity Programme, including an annual Be Wunder Culture Day celebrating our international and multicultural team.
• The opportunity to work in an international and multi-cultural team with collaboration across our offices in the Middle East and Germany.
• Collaborative and motivated working environment.
• Trusting and partnership-based cooperation across all units.
• An innovative and growth-oriented company with a matrix organizational structure and an open corporate culture.
• Further training opportunities and support in acquiring further qualifications as well as opportunities for further development in new technologies.

About us

Be Wunder is your turnkey partner specializing in Event Production and Spatial Experiences.

We design, deliver and service complex, challenging, and large-scale projects in the field of museums and exhibitions, EXPO and brand pavilions, visitor and experience centers, digital art spaces, live events - both corporate and sporting, as well as conferences and multimedia shows.

Our passion lies in producing multisensory and immersive experiences, a perfect blend of new technologies and content, staged lighting and interactive elements.

With our international track record in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, we are perfectly positioned to realize exceptional projects for our clients around the globe, from initial concept design through to final installation and beyond!