Eric C.

Operations Manager & Permit Project Lead

South Africa9+ years experienceAvailable now$8,000/mo

Compare at US rates $24,000/mo?

AI Experience

🧠 Claude - Turns follow-up communication around faster and builds project boards more quickly as part of day-to-day work. Treats the support as a productivity aid that backs up the role rather than replacing the judgement behind it.

✨ Perplexity - Summarizes meetings, speeds up follow-up communication and builds Notion boards more quickly as part of day-to-day work. Describes the approach as a productivity aid that supports more efficient working rather than replacing the role itself.

✨ Airtable - Used to build operational tracking systems, including remote project and permit tracking at SP.

🔄 Make AI - Used for workflow automation and integrations; specific individual workflows were not detailed.

🤖 ChatGPT - Uses ChatGPT as part of workflow automation and operational efficiency initiatives; at a previous company Gr

✨ Notion AI - Used as part of AI-powered automation and workflow improvements, alongside Notion-based operating systems and reporting infrastructure.

✨ AI Workflow & Automation - Has formal training/credentials covering Zapier, Make, Airtable, and Notion AI, alongside hands-on experience building automated operational systems.

Notable Highlight

Eric is a Chief of Staff and Operations Executive with 8+ years of experience partnering with CEOs and leadership teams to drive business execution, improve operational efficiency, and build scalable company infrastructure. He supported organizations across real estate, construction, property management, and professional services, serving as an operational extension of founders and executives by managing strategic initiatives, team performance, stakeholder communication, and process improvement. Works hands-on with Claude, Perplexity, Airtable, Make AI, ChatGPT, Notion AI and AI Workflow & Automation - the AI Experience section above has the examples.

Experience Summary

Eric is a Chief of Staff and Operations professional with 9+ years of experience across operations, project management, executive partnership, and business systems. His background spans B2B gaming, technology, construction, real estate, property management, and professional services, with a strong focus on building operational infrastructure, improving workflows, automating processes, and supporting CEOs with day-to-day execution. He is currently Head of Operations at FFG, a Toronto-based B2B gaming merchandise agency, where he works directly with the founder/CEO as an operational partner. He oversees day-to-day execution across a 35+ client project portfolio, including clients such as AMD and ASUS, and manages procurement, vendor relationships, client operations, reporting, and internal systems. At FanFit, he built the company's Notion-based operating system, Google Workspace, and Slack infrastructure from scratch, including API integrations and automations connecting these tools to improve workflow efficiency and visibility. He also established reporting infrastructure, developed company-wide SOPs, and created specific processes for vendor vetting and vendor relationship management. Previously, Eric worked as an Operations Systems Builder at a previous company, where he designed and implemented a project management infrastructure from the ground up, migrating the organization from Monday.com to Notion and configuring cross-tool integrations and automations to reduce manual work. He also worked as an Operations Manager & Permit Project Lead for SP, supporting Southern California-based clients across 80-150 active projects while managing a team of four permit coordinators and working on PST-aligned hours. From 2019 to 2025, Eric served as Chief of Staff & Operations Director at a previous company, partnering directly with the CEO and COO across a diversified portfolio spanning property, construction, and investments. He managed department heads and distributed teams across multiple countries, built company-wide SOPs and KPI systems, managed vendor and client relationships, supported financial operations, and translated executive strategy into operational execution. Earlier in his career, he managed 20+ concurrent construction and real estate projects valued at R400M+, with responsibility for budgets, procurement, vendor management, schedules, risk, quality, resources, and stakeholder reporting.

Key Achievements

Managed daily executive operations alongside the CEO and COO, supporting forecasting, strategic priorities, project tracking, and organizational alignment.
Led operational oversight for 15 internal employees and approximately 40 external contractors across multiple locations.
Built company-wide SOPs and operational documentation from the ground up to improve efficiency and scalability.
Designed and managed onboarding processes for approximately 35 hires using written SOPs and Loom training materials, improving knowledge transfer and reducing repetitive support requests.
Managed role-specific offboarding processes, including phased transitions, knowledge transfer, and progressive access removal.
Developed operational systems, dashboards, and reporting structures to improve visibility and accountability across teams.
Built and maintained Notion-based systems for meeting management, team collaboration, documentation, and daily business operations.
Implemented remote team operating frameworks to support distributed teams across multiple countries and time zones.
Improved productivity by integrating AI tools into daily workflows, including meeting summaries, communication drafting, research, documentation, and operational automation.
Supported business growth initiatives through financial reporting, operational forecasting, client relationship management, and process improvement.
Reduced CEO operational interruptions by 30% while serving as the CEO's primary operational decision-maker at a previous company
Grew profitability by R250M+ (25%) and reduced operating costs by R200M+ (20%) through procurement improvements, vendor consolidation, and automation.
Increased operational throughput by 40% through AI-powered automation and redesigned workflows.
Supported $100M+ in fundraising and M&A activity through financial models, due diligence packages, and performance dashboards.
Delivered 20+ construction and real estate projects valued at R400M+, achieving 12% cost savings through resource planning and vendor negotiations.
Achieved 100% on-time permit approvals across active Southern California projects while maintaining 95%+ client satisfaction.

Skills

Brings hands-on experience across Chief of Staff and Executive Partnership, Operations Management, Project and Program Management, Business Operations, Process Improvement and Workflow Automation. Also works across:

Systems Design and Implementation
Google Workspace Administration and Setup
Slack Administration and Setup
API Integrations and Workflow Automations
Vendor Management
Vendor Vetting and Relationship Management
Vendor Management SOP Development
SOP Development
Vendor Management and Procurement
Client and Stakeholder Management
International Team Leadership
People Management and Coaching
KPI Governance and Executive Reporting
Dashboard Development and Reporting
Financial and Business Operations
Budget Forecasting and Cost Management
Risk and Issue Management
CRM and Campaign Operations
Property and Lease Operations
Construction and Real Estate
B2B Technology and Gaming
Professional Services
Yardi Voyager
AppFolio
Buildium
Notion
Monday.com
Asana
Trello
ClickUp
Jira
MS Project
Salesforce
HubSpot
Zapier
Make
Airtable
Google Workspace
Slack
Power BI
Tableau
Google Analytics
Excel
Google Sheets
ChatGPT
Notion AI
Claude
AutoCAD
Figma
Google Ads
Meta Ads
LinkedIn Ads
Klaviyo
Postscript
Shopify
DocuSign
Loom
Zoom
Microsoft 365

Work Experience

Head of Operations

FFG · Remote from South Africa · Mar 2026 - Present

Serve as the founder's operational right hand, owning day-to-day execution across the full project portfolio and reducing the volume of decisions requiring direct founder involvement.
Own financial and KPI reporting infrastructure for the business - designed the Order Record finance database (linked to QuickBooks) and produced the company's first Profitability Report, replacing ad hoc, founder-compiled figures with a standing reporting system.
Design and build the company's Notion-based operating system from scratch - an Order Record finance database, a Team Tasks board, and a centralised Google Drive project library - replacing an informal, founder-dependent tracking process.
Institute a standardised FF_[Client]_[Project Number] naming convention across Notion, Slack, and Google Drive, and led a cross-system audit reconciling Slack, Notion, and email records to close project-status visibility gaps.
Build the company's SOP library from the ground up - including a Sales KPI & Pipeline SOP, an Invoice & PO Issuance SOP, and a vendor compliance structure - replacing tribal knowledge with documented, repeatable processes across sales, procurement, and finance.
Own end-to-end coordination across the client project lifecycle - briefing, design revisions, supplier and vendor logistics, certification, and production tracking - for concurrent engagements with international clients across the U.S. and Canada.
Hold the primary internal point of contact role for client and vendor relationships across the 35+ project portfolio, proactively flagging risks and coordinating between design, production, and finance before issues become client-facing.
Support weekly cash flow reporting to Finance by maintaining accurate, up-to-date quote and invoice data across every active project in the Order Record.

Operations Systems Builder

a previous company · Remote · Oct 2025 - Feb 2026

Map existing team workflows, task types, and reporting needs before designing the new system - translating ad hoc, tribal-knowledge processes into structured Notion databases, views, and templates.
Build the organisation's entire Notion workspace from scratch - project and task databases, views, and reporting structures - architected around how the team actually worked rather than a generic template.
Lead the full migration of active projects, tasks, and historical tracking data from Monday.com to Notion with no loss of continuity for the operating team.
Configure cross-tool integrations and automations connecting Notion to the team's existing systems, reducing manual data entry and duplicate tracking across platforms.
Train the team on the new system and support adoption through the transition, producing usage documentation so the workspace could be maintained and extended without direct involvement.

Operations Manager & Permit Project Lead

SP · United States (Southern California Market) · May 2025 - Oct 2025

Lead and manage a team of 4 remote permit coordinators - assigning workloads, setting delivery standards, running weekly performance check-ins, and building the tracking infrastructure that gave leadership real-time visibility across 80-150 active projects at any given time.
Serve as the primary client-facing operator for U.S.-based contractors and homeowners - conducting direct voice and video calls, managing expectations, handling escalations, and maintaining 95%+ client satisfaction across a high-volume, deadline-driven permit pipeline from a South Africa base.
Achieve 100% on-time permit approvals across all active projects, enabling contractors to break ground on schedule and avoiding costly regulatory delays across multiple Southern California jurisdictions.
Reduce agency feedback cycles by 40% by building a pre-review compliance system using AutoCAD and regulatory checklists - cutting average permit timelines by 2-3 weeks per project.
Improve permit documentation accuracy by 25% through standardised quality-check protocols before every submission, reducing rejection rates and eliminating costly rework for clients.
Build Agile-inspired remote tracking systems in Airtable and Google Sheets, providing real-time pipeline visibility, dependency tracking, and approval status across a fully distributed, cross-time zone team.

Chief of Staff & Operations Director

a previous company · South Africa · Sep 2019 - Feb 2025

Act as CEO's primary operational decision-maker and company-wide operator, owning escalation triage, cross-departmental alignment, and executive stakeholder communications - reducing CEO operational interruptions by 30% and shielding the execution team from back-and-forth so they stayed focused on high-value work.
Manage and develop a layer of 6+ functional department heads across operations, finance, property, and marketing - coaching them to lead their teams independently, make decisions within defined authority, and escalate only what required CEO-level input. Maintain zero voluntary leadership turnover over five years.
Build and lead a remote team of 15+ across Africa, the U.S., UK, and UAE spanning operations, finance, marketing, and project delivery - designing async accountability systems, weekly performance cadences, and cross-time zone reporting frameworks that keep output consistent regardless of geography.
Own end-to-end client and stakeholder relationship management across the portfolio - serving as primary point of contact for owners, investors, and key accounts; lead structured check-ins, proactively flag risks before they become client-facing issues, and maintain high retention through relationship health monitoring and early escalation protocols.
Translate CEO and board-level strategy into operational execution - aligning 40+ team members, governance frameworks, and delivery systems to strategic intent, reducing board decision latency by 20% and driving 16-20% annual NOI growth.
Grow profitability by R250M+ (25%) and cut operating costs by R200M+ (20%) by redesigning procurement systems, consolidating vendor contracts, and deploying AI-powered automation (Zapier, ChatGPT, Notion AI, Airtable) that accelerated operational throughput by 40%.
Directly manage the full commercial lease lifecycle across the portfolio - LOI drafting and negotiation, lease amendments, lease terms review, renewal coordination, and critical date management in Yardi Voyager and AppFolio - sustaining 95-98% occupancy vs. 86-88% market average and delivering 16-20% annual NOI growth.
Lead tenant renewal negotiations and LOI redlining on behalf of ownership, coordinating with legal counsel, Portfolio Managers, and tenants to reach commercially sound outcomes while maintaining high occupancy and improving lease terms.
Maintain accurate lease data, compliance records, and critical date tracking across the portfolio - building reporting systems that give ownership real-time visibility into lease status, expiries, and renewal pipelines, and ensuring full lease compliance and risk mitigation at all times.
Oversee full-cycle commercial property accounting across residential and commercial assets and multiple legal entities - CAM reconciliations, AP/AR, bank reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations, financial statements, month-end close, 1099 preparation, and owner financial reporting across Yardi Voyager and AppFolio.
Build and manage cold email and outbound campaign infrastructure across Klaviyo, Postscript, and HubSpot - designing drip sequences, lead generation workflows, list segmentation, email copy, inbox placement optimisation, and deliverability frameworks - increasing customer engagement by 25-30%.
Manage hands-on paid media campaigns across Google Ads, Meta, and LinkedIn - overseeing targeting strategy, budget allocation, creative performance, and optimisation cycles, integrating campaign data into executive reporting dashboards for real-time spend and lead quality visibility.
Replace tribal knowledge with documented, automated, repeatable systems - designing the organisation's end-to-end SOP infrastructure, delivery playbooks, and AI-augmented workflows across leasing, maintenance, procurement, and finance, reducing onboarding time by 30% and creating auditable processes that run without direct oversight.
Institute company-wide KPI governance and scorecard infrastructure using Power BI - replacing intuition-driven reporting with department-level accountability dashboards, improving financial reporting accuracy by 30% and cutting month-end close by 5 days.
Support $100M+ in fundraising and M&A activity by building investor-grade financial models, due diligence packages, and performance dashboards - securing capital from international partners across the U.S., UK, and UAE.

Project Manager - Portfolio Operations & Delivery

a previous company · South Africa · Jun 2017 - Aug 2019

Deliver 20+ large-scale construction and real estate projects valued at R400M+, completing 15% faster than historical baselines through rigorous schedule management, critical path analysis, and proactive dependency tracking across all active workstreams.
Own full project budget management and cost forecasting across the portfolio - tracking spend against baseline, conducting variance analysis, producing cost-to-complete forecasts, and reporting financial performance to executive leadership. Achieve 12% cost savings (R48M) through disciplined resource planning and vendor negotiations, increasing gross margin by 15%.
Manage scope definition, scope control, and formal change management across all projects - maintaining structured change logs, evaluating change requests for cost, time, and quality impact, and securing stakeholder sign-off to prevent scope creep.
Reduce risk-related delays by 40% by building proactive risk registers, conducting regular risk reviews, implementing mitigation and contingency plans, and establishing a formal issue escalation framework that resolve blockers before they impact delivery.
Design and manage structured stakeholder communication frameworks - RACI matrices, steering committee reporting, weekly status updates, and executive dashboards - ensuring all parties have accurate, timely information throughout the project lifecycle.
Own resource planning and workforce allocation across multiple concurrent projects - managing capacity planning for internal teams and 3rd-party contractors, resolving resource conflicts, and ensuring the right skills are deployed at the right delivery stages.
Manage end-to-end procurement and vendor management - RFP processes, contractor selection, SLA negotiation, performance monitoring, and contract administration, maintaining a supplier base that delivers on time and within agreed cost structures.
Implement quality assurance frameworks across all project sites - inspection protocols, milestone sign-off gates, defect tracking registers, and close-out verification processes, ensuring deliverables meet specification before handover.
Build the organisation's first PM system in MS Project, Jira, and Power BI - documentation templates, milestone dashboards, RAG status reporting, and retrospective frameworks that become the standard across all divisions.
Maintain full compliance across safety, environmental, and municipal regulations throughout R400M+ of active construction, achieving zero material compliance breaches across all project sites.

Operations & Property Accounting Associate

a previous company · South Africa · Dec 2016 - Jun 2017

Own full-cycle commercial property accounting across residential and commercial assets and multiple legal entities - CAM reconciliations, recoverable expense analysis, tenant billings and true-ups, AP and AR management, bank reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations, financial statements, month-end close, 1099 preparation, and cash flow forecasting in Yardi Voyager and AppFolio.
Handle onboarding of new properties into Yardi Voyager and AppFolio - chart of accounts setup, lease abstracts, tenant billing schedules, and CAM pool configuration - ensuring accurate system configuration from day one.
Support annual budgeting and cash flow forecasting for the property portfolio - compiling operating cost data, projecting income and expense variances, and contributing to owner-facing financial plans used for investment decisions.
Serve as primary point of contact for daily tenant and client communications - responding to inquiries on rent, lease terms, and maintenance; logging all interactions in property management systems; resolving issues within agreed SLAs; and maintaining the communication quality that protects owner relationships.
Draft, process, and maintain lease agreements and renewals via DocuSign - ensuring all tenant files, including applications, identification, agreements, and inspection reports, are complete, compliant, and audit-ready at all times.
Track rent collection, delinquencies, and late fees across the portfolio in Yardi Voyager and AppFolio - generating rent rolls, delinquency reports, and occupancy trackers; prepare monthly owner statements and cash flow reports.
Coordinate maintenance requests end-to-end - creating and assigning work orders to vendors, tracking open tickets through to completion, confirming tenant satisfaction, and verifying vendor invoices against work orders to ensure billing accuracy.
Ensure all leases, notices, and tenant files comply with landlord-tenant laws and Fair Housing requirements, maintaining audit-ready documentation and flagging compliance risks before they escalate.
Contribute to winning R50M+ in new tenders by supporting bid strategy, proposal writing, compliance documentation, and competitive analysis across R200M+ infrastructure projects.
Reduce documentation turnaround by 30% by redesigning communication workflows between finance, operations, and project teams - eliminating handoff bottlenecks.
Create the organisation's first SOP library from scratch and build the company's first financial reporting dashboards in Excel and Power BI - foundations that scale with the business for years.