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Salary: GBP 98,000 - 112,000 / annual
Focal Systems is an AI-driven retail technology company headquartered in San Francisco, with operations in Canada, the UK, and a tech hub in Poland. The company specializes in deep learning computer vision solutions for brick-and-mortar retail, with 100,000+ shelf cameras deployed at leading retailers worldwide.
As Director of Operations for the UK, you will build and lead the field operations team responsible for installing and maintaining Focal Systems shelf cameras across major UK retail partners. You will own end-to-end UK operations—people, processes, metrics, and customer outcomes—working closely with senior leadership, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success to make every deployment faster, more reliable, and cost-effective.
A core challenge of this role is managing the operational rhythm of retailer rollouts: periods of rapid scale-up followed by quieter maintenance phases. You will plan ahead for these transitions, keep the team steady and supported, and build processes that allow smooth scaling without compromising quality or momentum.
Key responsibilities include:
- Building, leading, and developing a high-performing UK field operations team
- Owning field-service performance and SLA delivery, prioritizing maintenance work and driving issues to resolution
- Developing the operational plan for UK deployments: scheduling, logistics, installation, quality checks, and ongoing maintenance
- Defining, tracking, and reporting key metrics for field performance and SLA adherence
- Partnering with executive leadership on performance goals, budgets, and long-term UK operational strategy
- Analyzing end-to-end operational processes, identifying bottlenecks, and leading improvements for speed, quality, and efficiency
- Collaborating across Product, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Customer Success to feed field insights into hardware, software, and deployment playbooks
- Serving as the senior escalation point for operational and customer issues, removing blockers and owning outcomes
- Building strong relationships with retail partners, understanding their store operations, and delivering against agreed success criteria
- Managing third-party installers and service partners on performance, quality, and cost
- Establishing safe working practices and ensuring field activity meets health and safety requirements at every retailer site
You will thrive in a fast-moving, remote-first environment, working independently while traveling regularly within the UK. This is a hands-on senior leadership role where you will develop the existing team, support during scale-up and scale-down periods, and be the person customers and colleagues rely on to get things done.
**Requirements:**
- 5+ years in an operations leadership role with a track record of managing people, processes, and budgets
- Experience leading field operations, installation, or service teams across multiple sites, ideally deploying hardware at scale
- Strong working knowledge of core operational functions: finance and budgeting, customer service, logistics, and people management
- Proven ability to plan and run operations for efficiency and productivity, using data and KPIs to drive decisions
- Experience designing and implementing new structures, roles, and processes that support rapid growth and shifting business needs
- Solid understanding of account management and customer success, with comfort working directly with senior customer stakeholders
- Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to present clearly to executives, customers, and field teams
- Ability to work independently in a remote environment and travel regularly within the UK
**Nice to Have:**
- Knowledge of retail or grocery operations
- Familiarity with retail technology (shopper-facing apps, back-room inventory management, POS systems)
- Experience managing third-party installers, contractors, or service partners
- Lean Six Sigma or similar process improvement certification
- Experience in a high-growth startup or scale-up environment
