Sona | £80,000 - £95,000
Steph's Notes:
We are all owners of Sona
Are you, though?
We choose speed - We embrace high intensity, accept increased risk for increased speed, and believe this pressure fuels quality delivery. That's how we achieve outsized results.
I'd love to know more about how they can recognize that increased speed comes with increased risk and yet think this also somehow begets quality.
It's a hugely exciting time to be joining the team as we're still small enough that you'll have a significant impact on the company's growth trajectory and culture, yet large enough to have a great structure, experienced leaders and world-class benefits in place. More on working at Sona here.
I do appreciate that they recognize the value that structure and experienced leadership bring to employees. Although it's funny that there's no link in that "More on..." bit. Not so much structure then. (Do we want to lay bets on whether they require attention to detail? I think maybe not, but we'll see!)
Sona's Customer team is one of the largest in the business - 40+ people across Implementation, Support, Success and Payroll
Mmm, honey, I don't think this is true, but go off.
but it has no dedicated operations function. This is a new hire, and the first of its kind at Sona.
That could be interesting!
You'll sit across all four customer-facing teams, building the operational backbone they need to scale: standardised processes, accurate reporting and data infrastructure, resource planning frameworks, and tooling ownership. You'll work directly with the VP Customer and team Directors to turn operational gaps into structured, repeatable ways of working.
Truly, this sounds like fun.
If you're energised by ambiguity, thrive on building structure where none exist, and want to have a measurable impact on how a high-growth team operates - this is the role.
This is a great way to describe both the positives and challenges of the role (notice no "fast-paced, dynamic" nonsense!). I approve!
Own and develop customer tooling, ensuring it's properly configured, adopted, and driving value
I assume they mean customer team tooling? I guess they could also mean customer-facing tooling, but that's an odd way to phrase either.
Drive change management across multiple teams, introducing new ways of working and building buy-in from senior stakeholders
This gives me a little pause, because ideally, the person doing this has a more senior title to facilitate that buy-in. It's very easy to dismiss a manager – even a brilliant one – at the Director and VP levels.
I think that's the only major qualm I have for this job; otherwise, it seems like a neat role, and the pay and benefits are appropriate (and no mention of attention to detail). Solid Eh, It's Probably Fine!
Original Job Description: Customer Operations Manager
3 billion people across the world work in frontline jobs. Yet, despite rising costs and staff shortages, frontline organisations are still left to choose between paper, Excel, and WhatsApp, or decade-old workforce management solutions to take care of the most important part of their businesses - their people.
Enter Sona: the next generation of AI-native, frontline workforce management. We've built an end-to-end platform covering Scheduling, HR, Payroll, and Communications that gives the largest frontline organisations everything they need to staff more intelligently and empower their teams.
In 4 years, we've already made a deep impact on the lives of over 100k frontline workers and the operation of their organisations, grown the team to 140+, and secured over $100M in funding from notable VC's, including Felicis, Northzone, Gradient Ventures (Google), SpeedInvest, Antler, and Notion Capital, plus notable angels like Tom Blomfield (Monzo).
It's a hugely exciting time to be joining the team as we're still small enough that you'll have a significant impact on the company's growth trajectory and culture, yet large enough to have a great structure, experienced leaders and world-class benefits in place. More on working at Sona here.
About the Role
Sona's Customer team is one of the largest in the business - 40+ people across Implementation, Support, Success and Payroll - but it has no dedicated operations function. This is a new hire, and the first of its kind at Sona.
You'll sit across all four customer-facing teams, building the operational backbone they need to scale: standardised processes, accurate reporting and data infrastructure, resource planning frameworks, and tooling ownership. You'll work directly with the VP Customer and team Directors to turn operational gaps into structured, repeatable ways of working.
This isn't an optimisation role. There's no predecessor, no established playbook, and no existing ops processes to inherit. You'll be building from scratch - defining what good looks like, earning trust across teams that haven't had a dedicated ops partner before, and driving cross-functional projects that customer-facing staff can't prioritise alongside their day-to-day.
You'll also collaborate closely with other teams across Sona including Sales, Product and Finance to ensure smooth information flows between functions. If you're energised by ambiguity, thrive on building structure where none exist, and want to have a measurable impact on how a high-growth team operates - this is the role.
Responsibilities
- Build and own the reporting and data layer for the Customer team, giving leaders accurate, actionable insight into team performance and customer health
- Design and implement standardised processes across teams
- Own and develop customer tooling, ensuring it's properly configured, adopted, and driving value
- Develop resource planning and capacity frameworks
- Own the Customer team revenue forecast by tracking customer launch timelines with Project Managers and converting them into accurate subscription invoicing schedules
- Work with Product Ops and other cross-functional partners to ensure clean handovers and information flow between teams
- Drive change management across multiple teams, introducing new ways of working and building buy-in from senior stakeholders
- Communicate updates and drive alignment across the wider Customer team
Requirements
- Strong operational and analytical background - you're comfortable building reporting frameworks, owning data quality, and using insight to drive decisions
- High AI proficiency - you actively use AI tools in your work and are curious about how they can improve operations and workflows
- Experience working cross-functionally across multiple teams, ideally in a customer, post-sales, or professional services environment
- Proven ability to introduce new processes or ways of working into teams that didn't have them before - you've done change management, not just process execution
- Complex problem-solving skills - you can take ambiguous, multi-stakeholder challenges and break them down into actionable plans
- Clear, confident communicator who can work with senior stakeholders and translate between strategic priorities and operational delivery
- Comfortable in a high-growth environment where you're building structure, not inheriting it
Bonus
- Background in strategy or management consulting (e.g. MBB or boutique firms) with structured thinking and the ability to context-switch across problem types
- Previous experience in a generalist or operations role at a high-growth SaaS scaleup
- Hands-on experience with customer platforms such as CRM, CS tools, or ticketing systems
- Exposure to implementation or professional services operations
Benefits
- Salary: £80,000 - £95,000 dependent on experience
- Hybrid working: 3+ days per week in the London office
- Share options
- 35 days annual leave (25 days standard plus 10 flexible public holiday days)
- Extra day of leave for every year of service
- Pension contributions matched up to 5%
- Comprehensive health insurance
- Enhanced parental leave & pay
- Bi-annual all expenses paid team retreats
- The latest Macbook and equipment budget for your home office
- Professional development budget
- Unlimited free books
Note: this represents a typical benefits package for a UK-based, full-time employee. Exact details may vary based on location and employment type but we try to be as fair as possible to all of our team members. Please ask your contact in the Talent team to clarify the available benefits for you.
