Operations Associate | Remote | Contractor | US$1,500 per month

About us

About Us

Pickle is a business enablement service. We provide fractional, embedded, human-led support across the functions that quietly keep growing businesses moving. EA and executive support, admin, customer support, operations, bookkeeping and HR.

We work alongside founder and operator-led businesses at the moments when they need more capacity, more structure, or more support than they currently have. Our people embed into client businesses and take genuine ownership of the work. No task-ticking, no arm's-length delivery. Just real judgement and follow-through.

About our client and the role

Location: Remote (South African-based applicants only)
Contract: Full Time hours
Start: ASAP
Salary: $1500 pm. Contractor role

Operations Associate

About the Opportunity

Our client is a fast-growing international business operating across digital platforms. They are a small, ambitious team that moves quickly, solves problems pragmatically, and believes great operations are what enable businesses to scale.

They are looking for someone who enjoys bringing order to complexity, thrives on variety, and is excited to work closely with leadership to keep the business moving forward.

This isn't a traditional support role. One day you might be streamlining operational processes, coordinating cross-functional projects, improving workflows, managing supplier relationships, or ensuring key business initiatives stay on track. You'll help keep the business running efficiently by identifying bottlenecks, solving problems, and driving execution across a wide range of operational priorities.

If you enjoy being the person who makes everything run better, we'd love to hear from you.

The Role

You'll work directly with leadership, supporting operations across multiple areas of the business. You'll be trusted to take ownership, solve problems independently, and jump into whatever needs doing.

We're looking for someone who is organised, proactive, resourceful, and comfortable switching between different types of work throughout the day.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate day-to-day operational activities across the business.
• Manage administrative tasks and documentation.
• Help improve and document business processes.
• Track projects, deadlines, and follow up on action items.
• Coordinate with external suppliers and contractors.
• Assist with finance administration, invoices, and expense tracking.
• Support people operations, including onboarding and internal administration.
• Conduct online research and prepare summaries and reports.
• Help implement AI tools and automations to improve efficiency.
• Solve operational problems before they become bottlenecks.
• Take on ad hoc projects and special assignments as the business evolves.

Requirements

About You

We're looking for someone who:

• Has 3–6 years' experience in operations, administration, project coordination, or a similar role.
• Is highly organised and naturally proactive.
• Enjoys taking ownership rather than waiting for instructions.
• Can comfortably manage multiple priorities.
• Has excellent written and verbal English.
• Learns new systems quickly.
• Is confident using Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, and modern productivity tools.
• Is comfortable working independently in a remote environment.
• Has experience with AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude (advantageous).
• Enjoys startup environments where no two days are the same.

What Success Looks Like

After three months you'll:

• Be running day-to-day operational tasks with minimal supervision.
• Have improved several internal processes.
• Be proactively identifying issues before they're raised.
• Have become a trusted operational partner to leadership.

Benefits

What's on Offer

• Fully remote position.
• Work with an international team.
• Flexible working environment.
• Opportunity to grow with a fast-moving business.
• High levels of ownership and autonomy.
• Exposure to multiple areas of the business.

Contract Type: Independent Contractor

Location: Remote

Compensation: US$1,500 per month

Why This Role Is Different

We're looking for someone with a founder mentality, someone who enjoys figuring things out, improving systems, and helping a business run better every week. You don't need to have been a founder, but you should think like an owner and care deeply about outcomes.

• Recruitment Process
• Chat with Pickle
• Short take-home task or case study.
• Call with Founder
• Presentation interview
• Final Culture interview

Diversity & Inclusion

Pickle People recognises the benefits of a diverse workforce and strives to be an inclusive organisation. We are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect regardless of race, culture, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief and we promote diversity of thought. We would appreciate your help to enable us to measure the diversity within our recruitment process. Completing this form is voluntary and the information provided will remain anonymous. Please submit your information here.