Projects Coordinator

About the role

The Design Gallery, East Africa's destination for luxury interior design representing premium European brands, is looking for a Projects Coordinator to build and lead its own Operations function. The role takes full ownership of project execution from sale close through to final handover, separating delivery from sales and owning supplier coordination, logistics, installation, client communication and issue resolution.

Key responsibilities

• Define and document the handover process between Sales and Operations, and the operating procedures, quality controls and SOPs governing project delivery.
• Own all client communication on project progress, flagging delays early with a recommended solution.
• Allocate resources, set milestones and track performance across active projects to keep delivery on schedule.
• Oversee installation delivery through the Head of Installations, resolve on-site issues and hold handover standards.
• Coordinate suppliers end to end, from ordering and verifying documentation to negotiating cost, service and reliability terms.
• Manage logistics, freight, customs clearance and inventory availability across the project cycle.
• Manage project variations, ensuring changes are correctly specified, costed, documented and approved before action.
• Track supplier spend against approved budgets, flag variances and identify cost savings.
• Review and authorise supplier documentation and payment requests before submission to Finance.
• Direct the Head of Installations on facility maintenance and scope CAPEX recommendations for approval.
• Oversee OHS compliance, ensure inspections are carried out and statutory obligations are met.
• Build risk, business continuity and incident response frameworks.
• Define the team structure and resource plan, identifying priority hires and their business cases.

Required profile

• 5 to 7 years in project management, operations management or supply chain and logistics.
• Experience in interiors, construction, FMCG or a comparable project-based or import-heavy sector is an advantage.
• Proven track record of building or scaling an operational team and function, including process design.
• Demonstrated experience managing supplier relationships, import and freight processes, FCL and LCL shipments, documentation and customs clearance.
• Experience as the primary client-facing contact through a delivery or execution cycle.
• Experience managing multiple field-based operations.
• Financial literacy to manage supplier documentation, payments, variation costings and budget tracking.
• Relevant professional qualifications such as PMP, PRINCE2 or CIPS are an advantage.

Required skills

• Project management and collaboration tools such as ClickUp or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of occupational health and safety requirements in a workplace setting.