Head of Operations [100%], Zürich /Hybrid

As Head of Operations, you will lead the systems, culture, and processes that keep Optiml running smoothly and scaling efficiently. You’ll ensure that every part of our fast-growing organization operates in sync toward shared goals.

Your mission is to build and scale Optiml’s operational backbone: establish the processes, information flows, and performance systems that enable clarity, accountability, and speed. You’ll drive company-wide alignment through OKRs and budget cycles, strengthen collaboration across departments, and ensure that culture, people, and administrative systems all work in concert to power our next phase of growth.

This role combines strategic oversight with hands-on execution. You will partner closely with the CEO, Co-Founders, and department heads to translate vision into operating rhythm, lead key company initiatives, and reinforce a culture of ownership and performance.

We are seeking a senior operator with proven experience owning company-wide operations—not an office manager or admin role. If you thrive at the intersection of strategy, systems, and people — and love building the structure that empowers others to do their best work — this is your opportunity to shape Optiml’s next growth chapter.

Optiml is revolutionizing real estate with our Real Estate Decision Intelligence (REDI) software—a new class of decision technology that embeds AI to help decarbonize buildings while optimizing asset financial performance.

We are an ETH Zurich spin-off that launched our first product in April 2024 and are now scaling across Europe and the US. We recently raised an oversubscribed €8M Seed round to accelerate our growth, supported by leading VCs such as KOMPAS, Planet A Ventures, Innovation Endeavors (the fund of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt), BitStone Capital, and The Bau Ventures, along with leading angels.

Built on more than a decade of research and proprietary IP, our platform enables institutional investors, owners, and asset managers to make underwritable, forward-looking decisions across the full asset lifecycle — from acquisition to exit — replacing static, backward-looking reports with actionable intelligence.

Trusted by leading organizations across Europe and beyond, Optiml supports capital allocation decisions that balance key financial, regulatory, and sustainable considerations under real-world constraints.

As of early 2026, we are expanding our team to scale our product capabilities and operational delivery as we work to make Real Estate Decision Intelligence the global standard for real estate investment decision-making.

• Build and scale a lean, high-performance company operations function covering HR, culture, administrative systems, and organizational processes.
• Drive company-wide alignment through OKRs, team budget cycles, and transparent reporting structures.
• Establish scalable systems for performance management, compensation, and internal governance.
• Strengthen cross-departmental collaboration and ensure smooth information and decision flows across the organization.
• Partner with Co-Founder and Leadership team to support fundraising, investor management, and board preparation.
• Maintain and evolve Optiml’s culture of ownership, trust, and high performance as the company scales.

• Drive company-wide operational strategy - from annual planning to daily execution - assuring cross-functional alignment between departments and teams.
• Lead annual and quarterly OKR cycles, company reviews, and reporting to ensure focus and accountability.
• Continuously improve key processes across HR, administrative systems, culture, and compliance.
• Build and maintain effective information flows that enable transparency and strong (data-driven) decision-making.
• Generally support urgent operational requirements in the company from Commercial, Delivery, Product, etc.

• Partner with Co-Founders and Leadership team to translate company vision into operational plans and measurable goals.
• Support fundraising activities, investor updates, and board meeting preparation.
• Lead or support cross-functional strategic initiatives that fall outside existing departments.
• Act as a thought partner to the CEO and Co-Founders, ensuring focus on top priorities and disciplined execution.

• Serve as the connective tissue between departments — a liaison ensuring collaboration, alignment, and coordination without bureaucracy.
• Support in overseeing recruiting & hiring operations, onboarding, and talent processes; ensure scalable HR systems and policies are in place (with external support if needed).
• Develop and implement operational policies and procedures, manage budgets and resources, and ensure efficient day-to-day operations.
• Implement compensation frameworks, role leveling, and performance review processes.
• Support the evolution of Optiml’s organizational structure and cross-functional processes as the company scales (hybrid-friendly operating model)
• Anticipate operational bottlenecks and collaborate with departments to outline scalable solutions.
• Lead change initiatives that improve collaboration and efficiency.

• Support in overseeing team-level budgeting, forecasting, and cost tracking, ensuring financial visibility and discipline (with Fractional Head of Finance owning the system).
• Manage relationships with external providers in accounting, payroll, and legal to assure company administration is sound across our 3+ entities (CH, DE, UK).
• Ensure compliance across jurisdictions (contracts, HR, data, etc.).
• Support in implementing dashboards and tooling for performance reporting, in collaboration with all departments.

• 5–10 years of experience in Tech startup operations and scaling startups from Seed to Series A/B (ideally B2B SaaS) - you’ve done it before, with a track record of building operational systems that scale.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a rigorous analytical discipline (e.g., Industrial Engineering, Information Systems, Operations Research, Management Science, Economics, or Finance).
• Proven ability to design and lead cross-functional operations in fast-growing, international environments.
• You lead through structure, clarity, and collaboration — creating systems that empower teams rather than constrain them.
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking — able to turn complex challenges into actionable, data-driven plans & processes.
• A “builder mindset”: hands-on, pragmatic, and focused on data-driven outcomes over theory.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; adept with tools (Google & Microsoft Office suite, Notion, Slack, Xero, Hubspot, etc.), and structured information flows.
• Experience in high tech sectors and fast-paced environments.
• Fluent in English; German proficiency nice to have.
• Swiss or EU citizenship (required at current company size.