Overview
Landela is an early-stage technology company building its operations in Kenya. We are looking for a Business & Operations Lead to take ownership of the practical work that keeps the company organised, responsive, and moving forward.
You will work closely with company leadership and the wider team, coordinating activities across people operations, customers, vendors, finance administration, recruitment, professional advisers, and other business priorities. This is a hands-on role with broad exposure across the company.
Why this role matters
At our stage, important work can easily sit between functions. Customer follow-ups, employee needs, supplier issues, invoices, recruitment, administrative tasks, and company priorities all need clear ownership.
This role provides that operational ownership. You will help turn decisions into completed actions, keep important work visible, and introduce simple processes where they make the company easier to run.
Responsibilities
- Own day-to-day business operations, track agreed actions, and make sure important commitments are followed through to completion.
- Coordinate people operations including onboarding, employee documentation, equipment, access, leave administration, recruitment logistics, and other practical employee needs.
- Manage operational relationships with vendors and service providers, including workspace, equipment, subscriptions, suppliers, banking, and other business services.
- Maintain organised finance administration including invoices, receipts, expense records, approved payments, and information required by accountants, tax advisers, or other professional providers.
- Support customer operations by coordinating meetings, proposals, onboarding activities, follow-ups, documentation, and operational requests.
- Coordinate information and follow-up with accountants, lawyers, company administration providers, and other external advisers without taking over work that requires professional advice.
- Maintain visibility across company priorities by tracking owners, deadlines, dependencies, outstanding decisions, and operational risks.
- Build and improve lightweight processes, documentation, and tools where they reduce confusion, delays, or repeated manual work.
Requirements
Experience & qualifications
- At least 3 years of relevant experience in business operations, startup operations, project coordination, administration, customer operations, or a similar role with meaningful responsibility for execution.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Commerce, Operations Management, Project Management, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience taking ownership of operational work from initial problem through coordination, execution, and follow-up, including managing multiple stakeholders and priorities with limited supervision.
- Strong written and verbal communication, organisation, judgement, and attention to detail, with the ability to handle confidential information and escalate issues appropriately.
- Comfortable working with spreadsheets, shared documents, productivity tools, and business software to track work and maintain accurate operational records.
Nice to have
- Experience working in an early-stage startup, technology company, or similarly fast-moving environment.
- Exposure to finance administration, bookkeeping coordination, payroll, recruitment, or people operations.
- Experience working with Kenyan vendors, banks, professional advisers, government processes, or other local business services.
What success looks like
- Important operational work has clear ownership, deadlines, and follow-through.
- Employees, customers, vendors, and external partners receive timely and reliable coordination.
- Company records, finance administration, and operational information are organised and easy to retrieve.
- Leadership has clear visibility into outstanding actions, risks, and decisions without needing to manage routine operational details.
- Simple processes are introduced where needed without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
What this role is
- A hands-on business operations role with broad responsibility
- A key local operational role in Nairobi
- Focused on execution, coordination, follow-through, and improving how the company operates
- An opportunity to help establish practical operating processes at an early stage
How this role works
- You will work closely with company leadership but are expected to independently own routine operational work.
- You will coordinate across several parts of the business rather than manage a large specialist department.
- Professional accounting, tax, legal, and company-secretarial work will remain with appropriately qualified advisers.
- The role is broad because of Landela's current stage, but responsibilities should become more specialised as dedicated functions develop.
How the role may evolve
As Landela grows, some responsibilities may move into dedicated functions such as People, Finance, Customer Success, or Administration. The Business & Operations Lead may then take greater ownership of company-wide operations, planning, internal processes, and cross-functional execution.
The aim is for the role to become more focused as the organisation matures, rather than continuously adding unrelated responsibilities.
Working style
Landela operates with a small team and minimal layers. We expect clear communication, reliable follow-through, practical decision-making, good documentation, and early escalation when something is blocked or at risk.
This is a hybrid role based in Nairobi and is not fully remote. Regular in-person availability is expected for team coordination, customer or partner meetings, employee matters, vendors, banking, government processes, and other operational activities where physical presence is required.
How to apply
Use the application form below and briefly describe the experience most relevant to this role. Tell us what you were responsible for, what you personally owned, and how you made sure important work was completed.
Go to application form