Portfolio & Operations Manager

We are X, bigly labs, Dis-Chem’s high-performance innovation hub; a place where bold ideas meet data, design, and radical customer focus to reimagine what healthcare can be.

Our mission is to power the future of healthcare by lowering costs, unlocking new possibilities, and improving access to healthcare for all South Africans. We do this through cutting-edge digital solutions that deliver smarter, more human, and truly patient-focused experiences. Here, your work is not limited to a whiteboard; it becomes real. It drives decisions, shapes experiences, and moves healthcare forward. We are driven by one big question: How do we use data and today’s technology to build breakthroughs to better health?

There’s only one question left: are you ready to make healthcare smarter, and actually mean it?

The Portfolio and Operations Manager aims to build and evolve the operational backbone of Launch Studios so that innovation initiatives are delivered with consistency, discipline, and rigour. This role will also architect and maintain the systems, processes, and governance frameworks that enable the Studio to qualify the right problems, run structured stage-gate delivery, manage capacity across concurrent missions, and report portfolio performance clearly to leadership and sponsors. 

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR?

• Minimum qualification: Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Project Management, or a related systems or delivery discipline. Postgraduate qualifications in Agile, Programme Management, or Organisational Design are advantageous. 
• 8–10 years' experience in operations, programme delivery, or portfolio governance roles within digital, design, technology, or innovation environments. 
• 3–5 years' leadership experience establishing and maturing operational practices, including oversight of workflow systems, delivery governance, capacity planning, and cross-functional orchestration. 
• Proven experience partnering with senior stakeholders to align operational strategy with organisational priorities and remove delivery friction. 
• Systems and tools: expertise in workflow and delivery tools (Jira, Asana, Monday.com, Confluence or equivalent); proficiency in data and reporting tools (Excel, Sheets, Power BI, Tableau) for portfolio dashboards, forecasting, and performance tracking 

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING?

• Build and maintain the operational model, processes, and systems that enable Launch Studios to deliver innovation missions efficiently and consistently. 
• Own and operate the demand intake process end-to-end: intake form, three-gate filter (Signal, Qualify, Prioritise), scoring rubric, and routing decisions. 
• Maintain a real-time view of Studio capacity: who is on which mission, what bandwidth remains, and when flex pool contributors are needed. 
• Design and maintain Launch Studio's portfolio dashboard.
• Own and evolve Launch Studio's operational toolstack: intake systems, gate tracking, capacity planning models, and knowledge management platforms.

WHO YOU ARE? 

• Ability to shape operational strategy, standards, and governance across a delivery practice to enable high-quality work at scale.
• Strong ability to define and maintain an operational roadmap that aligns systems, capacity planning, and delivery governance with Studio priorities.
• Able to lead, develop, and inspire an operational function while fostering a culture of clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to independently resolve moderately complex operational challenges.

Our values show up in how we think, build, and make choices that make an impact. We are building a culture that drives progress; one that fixes friction, chases what changes, and owns the outcome. We design with tomorrow in mind, ask sharper questions, and answer them with care, urgency, and systems that scale.

Think you’ve got energy, curiosity, and guts? Come hold the space, make it matter, and own a breakthrough.