General manager

Take on operational leadership at Geroba and help build an organisation with more structure, focus and ownership.

About Geroba

Geroba develops and supplies high-quality outdoor products in Corten steel, aluminium and hardwood: planters, letterboxes, benches and custom projects. Our customers are landscapers, architects, distributors and private individuals throughout Europe.

We make outdoor spaces stronger and more attractive with quality materials, smart solutions and reliable cooperation.

Today we have strong products, a healthy margin and a clear growth ambition: we want to further grow our turnover in the coming years and put Geroba more firmly on the map in the Benelux and beyond.

Your mission

Geroba has grown the way many entrepreneurial companies grow: fast, agile and strongly carried by the people who work here. That has taken us far. To take the next step, we need more structure, focus and ownership.

Your mission is to help Geroba run as an organisation that no longer depends on the CEO for every daily decision. You bring about that change through:

• clear roles and responsibilities
• agreements that are fixed and followed up
• a working rhythm in which priorities stay sharp
• an organisation that spots problems early and adjusts faster

The CEO keeps the direction, the commercial course and product development. You take on operational leadership and develop the role into full general management with a real mandate.

The role

You steer day-to-day operations and are responsible for:

• warehouse and logistics
• customer service
• purchasing
• product management

The employees report to you. You are also a strong sparring partner for the CEO: you think along about the course, bring your own proposals and help translate the strategy into a feasible organisation with clear priorities.

What you do in practice

Strategic thinking

• You are the CEO's sounding board on growth, market choices, investments and organisational development.
• You bring your own proposals and back them up with figures.
• You translate the multi-year ambition into a limited number of priorities per year and quarter.
• You guard what we do and do not invest in.
• You speak up before the decision is made when you think a choice is wrong.

Building the team

• You hold regular one-to-ones with every employee: priorities, progress and bottlenecks.
• You make clear what is expected and how it is followed up.
• You address it when agreements are not kept.
• You develop people in their role and build a team that can run independently.

Structure and rhythm

• You set up a workable meeting rhythm.
• You keep the priority list short and make sure it is actually carried out.
• You monitor the key operational figures and step in when an indicator deviates.
• You translate annual goals into concrete priorities with a name and a date.
• You report to the CEO on figures, deviations and measures taken.

Processes and quality

• You define core processes, from order to delivery, including custom work, complaints and purchasing.
• You simplify the custom-work flow: less complexity, shorter lead times, fewer errors.
• You see where AI and automation can speed up processes or reduce errors.
• You monitor planning, dispatch, delivery reliability and complaint handling.

Results

• You guard the margin and see where it leaks away: transport, errors, returns, costing.
• You monitor operational efficiency and the cost structure.
• You share responsibility for the company result.

Who we are looking for

Required

• At least 5 years of experience in a management role within an SME.
• Experience in leading, developing and holding people accountable.
• Strong at clearly defining, recording and following up processes.
• Experience in both B2B and B2C.
• Good financial knowledge: margin, cost structure, stock valuation, working capital and cash flow do not scare you.
• Enough technical insight to assess production drawings, costings and feasibility questions.
• You complement the CEO: where he decides quickly and entrepreneurially, you bring structure and follow-up.
• You see structure not as administration, but as an engine for growth.
• Dutch as your native language and professional English for contact with international suppliers.
• You are familiar with AI tools and use them purposefully to improve processes and support decisions.

Strong assets

• You have previously helped a company of similar size grow and professionalise.
• Experience in metalworking, construction or a related technical sector is a plus.
• An affinity with the garden and outdoor world.
• Experience with stock, order and reporting systems.

Key to success

• You take the initiative and do not wait. Being a self-starter is key!
• You think ahead and finish what you start.
• You keep an overview and stay calm, even when things get busy.
• You guard focus and dare to say no when needed.
• You build a team, not a machine.
• You improve continuously and teach others to do the same.
• You think in systems, not in ad hoc solutions.
• You communicate directly, briefly and in a businesslike way.

Our values

These values determine how we work together. In this selection they weigh as heavily as experience.

• Positivity: constructive, focusing on what is possible. You bring bad news together with a proposal.
• Open to progress: looking critically and continuing to improve.
• Solution-oriented: you come with a decision, not just a problem.
• Team player: you think beyond departmental boundaries and look for what makes the chain stronger.
• Honesty and respect: you say what you think, also upwards, and keep your agreements.

What you get

• A key role with real decision-making power and direct influence on the course of the company.
• A mandate and decision-making space that we clearly define together in advance.
• The opportunity to hire within budget, help assess investments and help shape your own team.
• A company with strong products, a healthy margin and a clear growth path.
• Direct cooperation with the CEO and an advisory board.
• Short lines, fast decisions and little bureaucracy.
• Positive colleagues who are happy to contribute to the company's growth.

Salary and participation

An attractive salary package including a company car, with a variable part linked to the results you achieve together with the team. We determine the full package together, based on your experience and the responsibility you take on.

We are also open to a stake in the company in the longer term. We are looking for someone who wants to help build Geroba as if it were their own business and who wants to reap the rewards of that in time. We will discuss the concrete details together, based on your contribution.

Interested?

Send your CV and a short motivation to gert.gillis@geroba.be.

Please mention one concrete figure that you structurally improved in a previous position, and how you approached it.