Backend / Operations Manager

About us
We run a portfolio of fast-growing e-commerce brands across Australia, the UK, US and Canada. Our flagship is a designer lighting brand; the portfolio also spans fashion and home. We're profitable and scaling hard — which means the operational side now needs a dedicated owner instead of being run off the founder's desk.

The role in one line
Own the day-to-day backend of every store so the operation runs cleanly without the founder in the loop — and turn the money we currently lose to refunds, chargebacks and fulfilment issues into margin we keep.
This is not a ticket-closing job. You'll run the operation and improve the systems behind it. Right now roughly 15% of profit leaks to refunds and related issues. Your core mandate is to bring that down meaningfully (target: under 5%) through better process, not just faster firefighting.

What you'll own
Fulfilment & orders — Make sure every paid order ships within 48 hours, supplier transit times are met, and no order ever sits open. D ---------- on substitutions and out-of-stock situations using our playbook.
Refunds — Apply our refund decision matrix (replacement-first where appropriate, store credit before cash, cause-based logic). Approve within your limit; escalate above it. Tag every refund by cause and whether it was preventable.
Customer support quality — You don't do the CS yourself; you run quality control over a distributed support team. Monitor first response time, enforce correct template usage, make sure refund/issue tickets get prioritised and resolved fast.
Chargebacks — Respond within processor deadlines with proper evidence, and — more importantly — find the root causes and seal the leaks. Keeping our chargeback rate healthy is a priority.
Data & optimisation — Own data integrity across our sheets and dashboards. Surface where the leakage concentrates (which supplier, SKU, market) and propose the one or two fixes that move the number each month. This is the part of the job that actually compounds.

KPIs you'll be measured on
- Refund cost as % of profit (by cause) — trending down
- Customer first response time within target
- % of issue tickets resolved within 3 exchanges
- Chargeback count and % preventable
- Orders processed within 48h / supplier SLA hit rate
- Data completeness across all tracking

You're a fit if you:
- Have run operations or backend for a Shopify / dropshipping business before (multi-store and multi-market is a strong plus)
Are comfortable with the stack: Shopify, Google Merchant Center, a CS platform (we use Re:amaze), email/Klaviyo, spreadsheets/dashboards, Notion
- Think in systems — you instinctively turn a recurring problem into a rule or a process, not a repeated manual fix
- Are fully fluent in written English and excellent at concise, no-fluff async communication
- Are reliable, self-directed, and able to make decisions inside clear guardrails without checking in constantly
- Are numbers-literate — margins, COG, refund rates, chargeback rates mean something to you

Nice to have: experience disputing chargebacks, supplier/SLA management and comfort with custom dashboards.

How we work:
- Fully remote, full-time.
- Async-first. You'll run a short daily written standup, a weekly KPI report, and a monthly optimisation note. Real-time messages are reserved for genuine escalations.
- You get a clear SOP (decision matrix) from day one and a structured onboarding where you take over tasks in phases over your first 8 weeks.
- We measure you on outcomes, not hours online.