Head of Growth and Operations

About Stranger Soccer

The #1 way adults play football in the UAE. We operate across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman — 200+ games every month, 30,000+ downloads, a real community of players who show up, play, meet people, and come back. Two years in, we're at the inflection point where disciplined execution on growth, retention and operational excellence is everything.

About the Role

You will run the business day-to-day on everything that doesn't require physical presence. On-ground Field Growth Operators (one per emirate) handle games, hosts, venues and players in person. You own strategy, data, growth, systems, and the operating rhythm. You report directly to the CEO and are the second-most senior person in the business.

This is not a role for someone who waits to be told what to do. If you need to be managed closely, this isn't the role.

What You'll Own

Strategic + Commercial

• P&L visibility and margin management

Growth strategy — acquisition, retention, pricing, membership economics

Weekly and monthly KPI reviews; health of the business

Competitive analysis and product positioning

Membership + Unlimited Pass performance management

Marketing + Growth

Paid acquisition and marketing spend allocation

Retention campaigns across all channels

• SEO, GBP, and partnership channels

Customer journey mapping and intervention design

Operational Systems

Design, document and enforce SOPs across the team

• Reporting and dashboards
• Monthly review framework with the CEO

Coordination with HQ product team on roadmap and prioritization

Weekly Friday delegation handoff — document weekend priorities and ensure Sat-Sun operations run smoothly without you

Team

Direct reports

three Field Growth Operators (one per emirate)

Direct management of the remote Customer Service / Ops team (2 people). Build SOPs, set and track KPIs, coach, raise the ceiling of what they can handle

Coordination with external partners — SEO, legal, accounting, product

Input into all hiring and firing decisions

What You WON'T Do

• Attend games physically — FGOs do that

Live in Dubai — this role is deliberately remote

Handle in-person customer disputes — escalated to FGOs first

Do venue on-site walkthroughs — FGOs scout, you review and approve

Requirements

Who You Are

5–8 years of experience, at least 3 in a growth-stage startup

Background in marketplace, consumer tech, food delivery, ride-hailing, fitness, or similar two-sided

businesses strongly preferred

You've actually grown and scaled a business — not advised it, not strategized it, but moved real numbers. You

can walk me through specific growth you drove and what you learned

P&L exposure, real growth metrics, real customer behavior — not just slides

Strongly analytical — you can procure our data, analyze it, and act on it. Specific tools don't matter; knowing

what questions to ask and what to do with the answers does

Proactive, independent operator — you spot problems, propose solutions, and execute without being chased

Experience managing distributed teams, or as a senior IC across multiple workstreams

English fluency essential; Arabic a bonus

Writes clearly and concisely — this role runs on async communication

Comfort with ambiguity and startup grit

Culture fit

Honesty over politics. Tell me when I'm wrong.

Ownership over blame. Fix it before escalating.

• Data over opinions. Bring the numbers.

Speed over perfection. Launch, measure, adjust.

• Self-direction over supervision.

Working Hours

Set the team up for success every day — but Saturday and Sunday are when you're offline. By Friday evening the team must now exactly what to do over the weekend without you.

Working days

Monday to Friday

Daily core hours

11:00–19:00 UAE time (GST), fully online

Daily extended coverage

19:00–21:00 UAE time, reachable within 30 minutes for time-sensitive issues on game nights (Thu-Fri especially)

Weekends off

Saturday + Sunday fully off, reachable only for genuine emergencies

Friday delegation handoff

Document weekend priorities and empower the team before you log off Friday evening

Total effort

40-50 hours per week during working days

Timezone requirement

South Asia, Middle East, Africa, or Eastern Europe ideal

How to Apply

Send the following to

A short note on why this role interests you (≤200 words). No cover letter templates — write like a human

• Your CV or LinkedIn profile

One growth or operations project you ran: the problem, what you did, the result, and what you learned

A 30-60 second video (filmed on your phone) answering: who you are, why this role, one career achievement that proves you can do this

Originally posted on Himalayas