CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
- Pretoria, Gauteng
- Permanent
- Full-time
Lead the company into its next chapter of growth, operational excellence, and digital transformation. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving strategy, profitability, team leadership, and operational modernisation while reporting to the board and investors.
This is a hands-on leadership role for a commercially savvy, systems-minded operator who thrives in high-growth, high-impact environments.Requirements:
- 10+ years of executive experience in a high-growth business (highly advantageous B2B2C, fintech, telco)
- Proven experience in leading small / medium size businesses.
- Entrepreneurial minded
- Strong commercial background with P&L responsibility
- Proven success leading operational scale-up, preferably in technology-enabled environments
- Strong leadership and cultural transformation capability
- Experience managing cashflow and cost disciplines in resource-constrained businesses
- Experience working with founders, boards, or PE/VC investors
- Experience with field or distributed sales teams
- Familiarity with payroll-integrated business models or financial inclusion
- Exposure to low-income or mid-market customer segments
- Background in scaling digital platforms (even without being a technologist)
- Strong EQ, stakeholder engagement, and grit
- Presentable
- Must be comfortable with leading digital transformation
- Strategic Leadership
- Set and communicate a clear 3–5 year vision to transition the company into a digital-first, scalable fintech platform.
- Drive prioritisation of strategic initiatives including onboarding digitisation, margin expansion, and new product rollout.
- Report regularly to the board on strategic progress, risk management, and performance metrics.
- Operational Execution & Cost Discipline
- Oversee all core operations including sales, payroll integration, customer experience, field force, partnerships, and support services.
- Identify and drive operational improvements to reduce cash burn and improve customer acquisition efficiency.
- Own unit economics — including cost-of-sale, gross margin, customer lifetime value, and CAC.
- Technology & Systems Modernisation
- Spearhead rollout of scalable digital infrastructure: employer onboarding portals, self-service apps, CRM, contract automation, and data warehousing.
- Build internal tech capability or manage external development partners as appropriate.
- People & Culture
- Build a results-oriented, high-performance culture across all teams.
- Strengthen the executive team through recruitment, upskilling, and clarity of accountability.
- Lead by example with transparency, energy, and integrity.
- Growth & Product Expansion
- Expand product suite to include opt-in digital services (insurance, savings, airtime top-ups, credit).
- Establish and grow partnerships with telcos, insurers, savings providers, and payroll platforms.
- Explore regional expansion opportunities aligned to the company’s employer-led model.
ExecutivePlacements.com