Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer
Bristol (Hybrid)
£120,000–£150,000 DOE + Bonus + Long Term Incentive Plan
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
You will lead a subscription business at a pivotal moment, moving from founder-led to institutionally ready and beyond.
This isn't a "rewrite the strategy" role. It's a high-ownership, high-impact delivery role built around:
• Strengthening subscription KPIs: MRR growth, churn, NRR, LTV
• 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
If you want to transform a solid multimillion ARR platform into a scalable, investor-ready business, this is the opportunity to do it.
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?
Essential
• 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
• No visa sponsorship available
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.