ISL Talent
City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Chief Executive Officer
Lead a High-Growth Subscription Business to a sale and beyond
What is the Opportunity?
Leading a profitable, fast growing subscription business through to sale, and scale it beyond.
This is a rare opportunity to take the helm of a tech-enabled, recurring-revenue business with multi £ mills ARR, a proven operating model to deliver its next phase of growth.
Working closely with the board to a planned PE or trade exit, as CEO you will take an already-defined value-creation plan and deliver it with pace, clarity, and precision.
If you are an execution-first leader with subscription / SaaS experience and a track record of driving ARR, margin, with a blend of financial, technical and commercial skills; this role could be for you!
What You’ll Be Doing
* Delivering automation, integrations, and AI features
* Reducing cost-to-serve and improving customer experience
* Building strategic partnerships and commercial alliances
* Enhancing data, governance, and reporting to PE-grade standards
* Preparing the full narrative, materials, and due diligence for exit
* Involved in buyer conversations as a key face of the business
And this role goes beyond exit.
You will be a leader who will relish the opportunity to take the business to the next level. This will likely be you being the driving force post-acquisition, and taking the business through its next phase of exponential growth, including international expansion.
What do you need to bring?
* Proven experience as CEO, MD, or CXO in a SaaS, subscription or recurring-revenue business.
* A track record of delivering against a defined plan; not just setting strategy
* Strong financial literacy with comfort owning P&L, forecasting, and modelling
* Demonstrable impact improving churn, NRR, pricing, and subscription economics
* High comfort with digital tools, automation, and AI-enabled process improvement
* Ability to lead a lean team while maintaining pace and commercial discipline
Highly Advantageous
* Experience acting as de facto CFO in an SME or scale-up
* Experience working in or preparing for a PE/exit environment, or similar Exposure to M&A, investor processes, or competitive sale processes
* Ability to build strategic partnerships and affiliate/referral channels
* Background in tech-enabled services, SaaS, or subscription platforms
Personal Style
* High ownership, low ego
* Calm, grounded decision-maker
* Pragmatic, commercially minded, and delivery-focused
* able to switch comfortably between strategic and hands-on work
* Brings clarity, accountability, and confidence to the organisation
Other things you might want to know
* Hybrid working model but regular time in Bristol is needed
* Supportive, commercially minded Board with clear governance
* A strong COO and senior team already in place
* The mandate, autonomy, and backing to deliver a high-stakes, career-defining transformation
If this sounds like you Please send an application to Henry at ISL Talent for review and initial confidential discussion. Interviews will be starting in January.
Seniority level
Executive
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Strategy/Planning and Other
Industries
Software Development and Business Consulting and Services
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