Operations Manager

About us Houri Hearing has been in hearing care for over 45 years. From our head office in Dubai we run the UAE business and support our operations across the region, serving patients through clinical and retail networks in several markets. The UAE is our most established operation — structured departments, defined systems and an experienced team. Our ambition now is consistency and quality: every department working to a written standard, every hand-off between them clean, and every patient receiving the same experience regardless of who serves them or where. That is a different discipline from building a business, and it is the discipline this role brings. Role DescriptionAs Operations Manager you are the owner of how the UAE business runs. You build and maintain our SOPs and quality assurance framework, you make the hand-offs between departments work, and you hold the whole operation to the standard we set. Administration and HR report directly to you. Client Services and Technical & After-Sales keep their own leads — you own the standards, the quality assurance and the cross-department workflow they operate to. Alongside this you own office budgets and vendor management, people operations for a small and senior team, and the government compliance calendar that keeps the business licensed and in good standing. You report directly to the Managing Director.  What the first year looks like Months 1–3: You learn the business from the inside — every department, every process, our products and our patients — and deliver a baseline assessment: what is documented, what is not, and where the workflow between departments costs us time or quality. Months 4–6: The SOP framework is live for the priority processes, the quality assurance cadence is running, and the monthly operations pack is in management's hands. Months 7–12: SOPs cover the full operation and are being followed, audit results and service KPIs are visibly improving, the compliance calendar runs without prompting, and you are leading improvement projects of your own initiative.  Who we are looking for We are deliberately not looking for someone from the hearing care industry. We will teach you the product and the clinical basics — what we cannot teach is operational discipline, and we would rather bring in fresh operating thinking from a sector that has already solved these problems at scale. What we need instead: At least 4 years in operations, quality or process management in a structured, multi-site business — retail chains, clinic or dental or medical centre networks, pharmacy chains, diagnostic labs, optical chains, hospitality or F&B groups, or professional services. What matters is that you have worked inside a real operating framework and know what "good" looks like. A strong academic foundation — a degree in business, engineering, industrial engineering, supply chain, healthcare management or a related field. A postgraduate qualification or a quality certification (ISO 9001 lead auditor, Six Sigma, or similar) is a genuine plus. Demonstrated SOP and quality assurance work — you have written procedures that people follow, built an audit or review mechanism around them, and can show what improved as a result. Technical fluency in how a business works — you read a budget and a KPI report and immediately see where the opportunity is. Advanced Excel, and confidence with ERP, CRM or clinic management systems. UAE experience preferred, particularly familiarity with UAE labour law, MOHRE and immigration processes, and the compliance calendar of a licensed business. Excellent written and spoken English. Arabic is a strong advantage. UAE-based candidates preferred.  The kind of person who succeeds here You are a systems thinker with a bias for detail. You see a process, you see how it should work, and you care about the last 10% that most people skip. You influence across departments. Two teams here will report to you and the rest will not — and the standard has to hold across all of them. The people who do well in this role earn cooperation through clarity, fairness and being genuinely useful to the departments they audit. You are service-obsessed. Behind every process here is a patient who cannot hear properly. That should matter to you. You are discreet. You will handle salary data, employee files and confidential company information. Absolute integrity and discretion are non-negotiable. You want to build a career, not fill a seat. This is the operational leadership seat at our head office, with visibility of how the whole group runs and real scope to grow with it.  What we offer A competitive total monthly package with medical insurance, UAE employment visa and annual leave in line with UAE labour law A direct reporting line to the Managing Director and real ownership of how the business operates A head-office seat with visibility across the group's markets, and the exposure that comes with it Professional development, including product, industry and quality-management training A small, senior, capable team where your work is visible and your improvements are felt immediately