Director of Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Director of Operations

Timepiece Grading Specialists — Dayton, Ohio
Full-time | On-site
Reports to: Founder & President

• Timepiece Grading Specialists (TGS) is the first independent company dedicated to the authentication and condition grading of pre-owned watches. Our goal is to bring greater transparency to the secondary watch market — giving collectors, retailers, marketplaces, auction houses, and other industry participants access to independent expertise they can trust. TGS is already in the showrooms of some of the top jewelry stores in the country and our work has been featured in the New York Times , the Robb Report , Revolution Magazine , and Hodinkee .

• Our mission is simple: empower the collector and remove the guesswork from buying a pre-owned watch.

• TGS does not buy or sell watches. That independence allows us to provide objective evaluations of a watch’s authenticity, originality, and condition. Each watch we receive is examined by master watchmakers and expert authenticators, photographed in detail, researched, graded, and documented in a comprehensive report that gives the client a clear understanding of the watch they submitted.

• We are now looking for a Director of Operations to help take TGS through its next stage of growth.

The Opportunity

• TGS is an early-stage company. In our first year, we have proven the demand for our services and have supported the business with operational procedures that are currently labor intensive and are ripe for optimization. This is not an operations role inside a mature organization with long established working procedures; the person who joins us now will have an opportunity to guide, shape, and direct how TGS operates as the company grows.

• As TGS expands its relationships with jewelry stores, retailers, and larger enterprise clients, we need someone who can learn how the business works, assume responsibility for its daily operations, and help build the systems necessary for the company to scale.

• This person will work closely with the founder and our watchmaking partners in Dayton, with responsibility and oversight that will grow along with the business.

• The goal is not simply to maintain the way things are done today. It is to understand the current process, execute it at a high level, identify opportunities to improve it, and eventually help build the operating infrastructure of TGS.

What You’ll Do

• The of Operations will ultimately oversee the full journey of a watch through TGS.

• That process begins when a package arrives at our secure facility in Dayton, Ohio. Watches are opened under camera, inspected upon arrival, logged into inventory, and prepared for evaluation.

• From there, the watch moves through technical evaluation, photography, research, condition grading, report creation, annotation, quality control, grading-card production, packaging, and insured return shipping.

• The Director of Operations will learn and ultimately manage that workflow. They will coordinate incoming and outgoing shipments, maintain accurate inventory and chain-of-custody records, and oversee the production of photography, research, grading reports, and grading cards. Additionally, they will liaise with our team of master watchmakers and expert authenticators to compile relevant information on each watch. The goal is to oversee the current processes while helping to make it more efficient and streamlined as the company grows.

• Just as importantly, this person will be responsible for keeping watches moving efficiently through the process while maintaining the quality standards that define TGS. That means reviewing reports, cards, packaging, and customer materials for accuracy and presentation; communicating with collectors, jewelry stores, retailers, and other clients; and handling many of the day-to-day administrative needs of the business, including billing, supplies, and operational coordination.

• As TGS grows, the role will expand beyond managing the current workflow. The Director of Operations will help identify where additional staff is necessary and help source, evaluate, and hire those team members. They will help develop procedures, quality-control systems, and operational standards that allow us to handle greater volume without compromising quality. They will also play an important role in launching and supporting new B2B and enterprise relationships and, over time, help build and manage the team necessary to support that growth.

• At TGS, we believe a luxury product deserves a luxury level of service. Accuracy and presentation matter at every stage. A technically correct report that contains a typo, an incorrectly printed grading card, or carelessly prepared packaging does not meet our standard.

• In short, we are looking for someone who will not only learn how TGS operates, but continually ask how it can operate better.

Who We’re Looking For

• Watch-industry experience is not required. TGS works alongside experienced watchmakers and authenticators, and the technical knowledge necessary to understand watches can be learned. An interest in watches, collecting, luxury products, or craftsmanship is important, but we are primarily looking for an exceptional operator with proven experience building and managing operational experiences.

• The right person will be highly organized, extraordinarily detail-oriented, and comfortable taking significant responsibility. They should be self-motivated and capable of managing multiple priorities without needing constant direction. They should naturally look for solutions rather than simply identifying problems and should hold their own work to a very high standard. Finally, a strong aptitude for research and the ability to find what is often difficult information to source.

• Our systems currently run on a variety of platforms including Canva, Shopify, Orbitvu, Word, Excel, and Google Docs.

• Because TGS is an entrepreneurial company, responsibilities will evolve. The successful candidate should be comfortable with that evolution and excited by the opportunity to help shape how the business operates rather than simply follow an established playbook.

• A few qualities are particularly important to us:

1. An instinct for quality. This person should understand what white-glove service means and take genuine pride in the details, especially when handling high-value and sometimes irreplaceable objects.
2. Low ego and intellectual curiosity. We want someone who contributes ideas, challenges existing processes when appropriate, and is open to being challenged in return. At TGS, the best idea wins , regardless of where it comes from.
3. Judgment and humility. We value people who are confident enough to make decisions but equally comfortable saying, “I don’t know” when they don’t — and then finding the answer.
4. A builder’s mentality. We are not looking for someone who wants to inherit a perfectly established operation and simply maintain it. We want someone who sees an imperfect or inefficient process and gets excited about improving it.

What Success Looks Like

• During the first several months, the successful candidate will learn the TGS workflow directly from the founder and our partners and gradually assume increasing responsibility.

• Watches should move through the grading process smoothly. Customers should receive timely and thoughtful communication. Reports, cards, and packaging should consistently meet TGS standards. Operational problems should be solved without requiring the founder to oversee every decision.

• As TGS grows, this position will also help build and manage the team and systems necessary to support larger enterprise relationships and increasing watch volume.

• Over time, our goal is for the Director of Operations to be capable of running normal day-to-day operations in Dayton with minimal founder involvement.

• The position has the potential to grow significantly alongside the company.

This is an opportunity to join TGS at an early and important moment — and to play a significant role in helping build what we believe can become the independent standard for trust, transparency, and condition grading in the secondary watch market.

\nCompany Description

Timepiece Grading Specialists is the first independent authentication and condition grading service for watches on the secondary market.

Company Description

Timepiece Grading Specialists is the first independent authentication and condition grading service for watches on the secondary market.