General Manager - E-commerce & Operations (Owner-Led SME)

General Manager E-commerce & Operations (Owner-Led SME)

Salary: £60,000 £70,000 DOE + performance bonus
Location: Leeds (On-site, full-time)
Reports to: Founder

You must have led an owner-led SME through a growth phase hiring, improving structure, and maintaining performance while scaling.

About Funky Chalk

Funky Chalk is a leading UK supplier in the snooker & pool industry, with our own portfolio of brands including Baize Master, Jonny 8 Ball, PRO147 and Kudos. We sell across our own webstores and major marketplaces, serving both retail and B2B trade customers.

We re an operationally driven, owner-led business with a strong product range, loyal customers, and big ambitions for the next phase of growth. We re investing in better systems, stronger stock control, tighter service delivery, and a more scalable operating rhythm.

The Opportunity

We re hiring a hands-on, high-calibre General Manager to take day-to-day ownership of the business bringing structure, pace and accountability across operations, stock, service delivery, people performance and supplier outcomes.

This is not a corporate reporting-only GM role. You ll be close to the detail, lead from the front, and build a high-performing team that delivers consistently day in, day out. You ll work directly with the Founder as a trusted second-in-command, translating vision into clear priorities, measurable KPIs, and consistent execution.

As the business scales, this role is expected to evolve into a broader leadership position with increased commercial ownership with genuine opportunity for the right candidate to progress toward Managing Director level.

Key Responsibilities

If you ve been the operational heartbeat of an owner-led SME at roughly our scale (circa people and £3 4m turnover), you ll already know what needs doing and you ll be confident bringing structure, pace, hiring discipline and accountability to help scale the business, working closely with the Founder.
This is for someone who thrives on ownership and results. We re hands-on, fast-moving, and action-focused.

• Own the day-to-day running of the business: pace, priorities, standards, delivery
• Build and embed scalable processes, SOPs and operating rhythms
• Recruit, lead and develop the team through growth
• Drive stock accuracy and warehouse discipline through strong WMS adoption
• Improve fulfilment speed and accuracy across all channels (retail + trade)
• Own supplier performance and purchasing discipline to improve availability and margin
• Maintain strong commercial and financial grip (KPIs, cost control, cashflow awareness)
• Drive sales, marketing and margin by aligning activity with stock and capacity

About You

Essential

• Scaled an owner-led SME through growth (hiring, structure, performance)
• Senior GM / Ops Lead / Site Lead in e-commerce, distribution or multi-channel retail
• Strong commercial/financial grip (budgets, costs, margin, cashflow awareness)
• Understands Shopify/Amazon/eBay ops drivers (non-technical)
• Builds process, standards and accountability without bureaucracy

Personal

• Hands-on, systems-minded, commercially sharp, calm under pressure
• Trusted who can run the operational heartbeat day-to-day

Desirable

• Snooker/pool/cue sports interest (bonus, not essential)

What You ll Get

• A true leadership role with real autonomy to improve performance and build structure
• Direct access to the Founder and the ability to shape how the business runs day-to-day
• Clear progression potential as the company grows increased commercial ownership over time, with the opportunity to progress toward Managing Director level

How to Apply

Apply via CV Library with your CV and a short note covering:

1. Why you re a strong fit for a hands-on GM role in an SME e-commerce/distribution business, and
2. One example of how you improved performance in a growing business (people, process, systems or commercial), and the measurable result.