Operations Head, GHAPL

Job Description

As the Operations Head for GHAPL, you will own the P&L and the end-to-end running of the GHAPL bus fleet. You are, for all practical purposes, the owner of these buses — accountable for keeping every bus on the road, running profitably and meeting Cityflo’s service standards every single day. You will lead a ground team responsible for supervision and fuelling, manage a network of sub-vendor bus operators, and be the single point that resolves vendor issues and navigates them with Cityflo.This is a high-ownership, entrepreneurial leadership role best suited to a strong operator who is exceptional at managing vendors.

Role responsibilities - P&L Ownership:

• Own the GHAPL P&L end-to-end — revenue from Cityflo contracts against the full cost of running the fleet (vendorpayouts, fuel, manpower,maintenance, penalties and overheads).
• Drive the fleet towardshealthy unit economics: maximise bus utilisation and revenue per bus while controlling cost per kilometre.
• Track margins at a per-bus and per-route level,identify loss-making assetsearly, and take corrective commercial or operational action.
• Work with Finance to maintain cleanmonthly books for GHAPL and to forecastand protect the bottom line.

Daily Operations— Run the Buses Like an Owner:

• Take complete ownership of the smooth,on-time running of every GHAPL bus, every day — treat each bus as your own asset.
• Ensure maximum fleet availability and uptime: pre-empt breakdowns, plan maintenance, manage spare capacity and minimise cancellations.
• Own fuelling operations end-to-end — reliable supply, fuel cost control,and elimination of leakage/pilferage.
• Ensure every bus meets Cityflo’s standardson punctuality, vehiclecondition, driver behaviourand safety, day in and day out.

Vendor & Sub-Operator Management (core to the role):

• Build, manage and grow a reliablenetwork of sub-vendor bus operators supplyingvehicles under the GHAPLmodel.
• Bethe first and final pointof contact for all vendorissues — payments, deployment disputes, vehicle quality, driver supply, breakdowns and day-to-day friction — and resolve them decisively.
• Negotiate commercials, set clearSLAs, and hold vendors accountable through structured reviews, deductions and incentives.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships that keep vendorscommitted and reliableeven during scale-up and pressure periods.
• Onboard new vendors as the fleet grows and continuously upgradethe vendor mix on cost, reliability and quality.

Ground Team Leadership & Supervision:

• Lead and develop the GHAPL ground team responsible for on-ground supervision, fuelling and daily bus operations.
• Set clear roles, routines and accountability for supervisors and ground staff across hubs and routes.
• Forecast manpower needs in line with the fleet ramp-up and hire, train and retain the right ground team.
• Instil a cultureof discipline, ownershipand quick on-groundproblem-solving.

Navigating Vendor Issues with Cityflo:

• Act as the bridgebetween sub-vendors and Cityflo — translate ground/vendor problems into solutions and escalate the right issues at the right time.
• Coordinate with Cityflo’s operations, finance and contract teams to align on deployment, billing, penalties and service expectations.
• Protect both the vendor relationship and Cityflo’s servicecommitments, balancing the two without letting either side break.
• Represent GHAPL professionally in reviews with Cityflo and surface risks early.

Compliance, Documentation & Audits:

• Ensure all vehicles, drivers and vendors meet statutory, contractual and client compliance requirements (permits, fitness, insurance, driver documents).
• Maintain audit-readiness at all times and clear Cityflo-led and client-led audits without observations.
• Keep clean recordsof vendor agreements, deployment, fuelling, payoutsand incidents.

Cost & ProcessImprovement:

• Identify recurring operational and commercial pain points and fix them at the root.
• Drive continuous improvement in fuel efficiency, vendor cost, utilisation and manpower productivity.
• Build simple review rhythms and trackers that give clear visibility into fleet health, vendor performance and P&L.

What we’re looking for

• 5–10 years of operational experience in transportation, fleet operations, logistics, or large-scale field operations, with a strong track record of running operations on the ground.
• Exceptional vendor management skills— proven abilityto manage, negotiate with and hold accountable a network of vendors/operators, and to resolve vendor conflicts under pressure.
• Strong commercial and P&Lacumen — comfortable owninga bottom line,managing costs (fuel,vendor payouts, manpower) and thinking like a business owner.
• Demonstrated experience leadingand building ground teams (supervisors, field staff, drivers).
• High ownership and entrepreneurial mindset — treats the fleet as their own business and is relentless about uptime, service and cost.
• Comfortable being on-ground in hubs, depots and fuellingpoints as much as in front of a laptop.Fluent in Hindi and English; Marathi is a plus.

Location

Mumbai (field + office). Must be open to extensive on-ground presence across hubs and depots in MMR, and to flexible hours aligned with bus operations.