Business Operations Manager

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

The Role

Mariana Minerals is looking for a Business Operations Manager to lead operational strategy and business performance management for its Lithium business, based out of Mariana's Houston or San Francisco office. This role sits at the intersection of Finance, Business Development and Operations — translating operational performance into financial insight and helping leadership make faster, better-informed decisions.

What You’ll Do

• Financial and Operational performance management: Own the business performance framework for the Lithium business — integrating operational KPIs with financial metrics to give leadership a clear view of cost, production, and margin performance against plan.

• FP&A partnership: Work closely with the Finance team to support budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis. Build the operational context behind the numbers and help translate field data into finance-ready reporting.

• Greenfield project development operations: Partner with the Business Development team to build the processes, playbooks, and tracking systems that govern how projects advance from origination through definitive feasibility study (DFS) and into construction.

• Business process improvement: Identify and drive improvements across operational and corporate functions, including finance, supply chain, and HSE. Design scalable processes that support growth without adding unnecessary overhead. Lead the company's ISO 9001 certification effort.

• Digitization and reporting infrastructure: Partner with Mariana's software and data teams to build and improve the reporting systems and digital tools that support operations. Ensure data flows cleanly from the field to the boardroom.

• Executive reporting and communications: Own the cadence of leadership reporting, ensuring leadership always has the information they need, when they need it.

Qualifications

• 5-10+ years in business operations or program management; experience in energy, chemicals, manufacturing, or another industrial sector is a plus

• Demonstrated ability to build and own operational reporting systems (define KPIs, design dashboards, implement data collection workflows)

• Experience implementing or maintaining a quality management system; familiarity with ISO 9001 or similar frameworks preferred.

• Able to build operational structure around the technical and commercial work of others

• Strong communicator with experience distilling complex operational issues into clear updates for leadership and keeping distributed teams aligned

• Proven track record leading cross-functional projects in fast-moving environments with minimal oversight

• Experience working directly with frontline operations and executive leadership; comfortable influencing without authority across all levels

• Comfortable on-site in an industrial environment; this is a full-time, in-person role in Houston, TX

Our culture is built on four principles:

Everyone Gets Home Safe. We never put speed or cost ahead of people.

Extreme Ownership. We take full responsibility for outcomes, relentlessly driving toward solutions.

Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate. We simplify, optimize, and then automate for scale.

Share Your Legos. We collaborate openly, share knowledge, and empower each other to build bigger, better solutions.

Join us as we build the future of responsible mineral sourcing and supply!