CEO / Co-founder - Remote (Europe preferred)

Emerald Zebra Recruitment & Executive Search; España; Remote; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible compensation and tailored pay

Remote work with travel for meetings

Equity/bonus discussions

Job summary

Emerald Zebra Recruitment & Executive Search represents a client seeking an entrepreneurial CEO/Co-founder to launch and scale a new international B2B real-money game provider. The candidate will shape market strategy, product portfolio, and distribution, with complete business ownership and accountability.

The role combines hands-on leadership with strategic oversight, requiring a proven ability to build teams, secure operator partnerships, and drive revenue across GEOs.

Qualifications

• Direct senior leadership experience inside a B2B real-money game provider.
• Track record of building or scaling a provider, game portfolio or distribution.
• Active personal network of operators, aggregators and platforms with launches and revenue.
• P&L ownership or comparable responsibility for business economics.

Responsibilities

• Develop an evidence-based market thesis, defining priority GEOs, segments, competitors, portfolio positioning and distribution channels.
• Build the operating model, leadership structure and game-production system required to launch and scale the provider.
• Agree and manage a game release roadmap with quality controls and annual cadence.
• Take the first games through production, certification, integration, operator launch and monetisation.
• Develop a qualified commercial pipeline of operators, aggregators and platform partners.
• Drive the full commercial journey from qualified lead to contract, integration, live launch, visibility and revenue.
• Own the P&L, cash plan, forecasting and unit economics by game, operator, GEO and distribution channel.
• Propose changes to organisational structure and leadership to the Board and implement decisions.
• Create a unified management dashboard with delivery, distribution, player, revenue and reliability metrics.
• Use AI to reduce production cycle time or cost without compromising quality or compliance.

Skills

P&L ownership

Leadership

Market strategy

Product-market judgement

Business development

Networking

Team building

Job description

Salary: Negotiable / Flexible, based on experience and profile

About the Opportunity

Our client is a private investment group led by accomplished technology entrepreneurs with experience building and scaling international businesses.

The group is backing the launch of a new B2B real-money game provider, with the objective of building a fully operational, revenue-generating business serving casino operators, aggregators and platforms. The business will develop and distribute a commercially relevant portfolio of real-money games.

We are seeking an entrepreneurial CEO / Co-founder with direct leadership experience inside the B2B games-provider industry. The role is to turn a market opportunity into a commercially successful provider, with responsibility for market strategy, P&L, the leadership team, game production, distribution, operator launches and portfolio economics.

The Role

You will determine which operators, game types and competing providers perform in the priority markets, why specific game mechanics and mathematics can produce commercial results, and where the new provider can win market share. You do not need to design games personally or act as the Product Manager, but you must bring sound product-market judgement and make informed portfolio and investment decisions.

This is a hands-on business leadership mandate: build the operating model, establish commercial distribution, guide the first releases into the market and create a business capable of generating and growing revenue.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop an evidence-based market thesis, defining priority GEOs, customer segments, competitors, portfolio positioning and distribution channels.
• Build the operating model, leadership structure and game-production system required to launch and scale the provider.
• Agree and manage a game release roadmap with clear quality controls and the capacity to achieve the agreed annual release cadence.
• Take the first games through production, certification, integration, operator launch and monetisation.
• Develop a qualified commercial pipeline of operators, aggregators and platform partners.
• Drive the full commercial journey from qualified lead to contract, integration, live launch, game visibility, promotional support and revenue.
• Secure meaningful lobby placements and promotional commitments with operators, rather than focusing solely on making games technically available.
• Own the P&L, cash plan, financial forecasting and unit economics by game, operator, GEO and distribution channel.
• Propose changes to organisational structure and leadership to the Board, then implement agreed decisions.
• Create a unified management dashboard with consistent, clearly defined delivery, distribution, player, revenue and reliability metrics.
• Use AI where it measurably reduces production cycle time or cost, or increases throughput, without compromising quality, compliance or originality.

What We're Looking For

• Direct senior leadership experience inside a B2B real-money game provider, specifically slots, instant or crash games. Experience solely with a casino operator, platform, affiliate, payments business or general B2C product is not a substitute for provider experience.
• A demonstrable track record of building a provider from the ground up or materially scaling a provider, a game portfolio or its commercial distribution.
• An active personal network of operators, aggregators and platforms that can be put to work, supported by evidence of completed launches, live integrations and revenue-producing relationships.
• P&L ownership or comparable responsibility for the economics and performance of the business as a whole.
• A genuinely hands-on management style, with examples of personally diagnosing and resolving delivery, commercial or organisational bottlenecks.
• Strong product-market judgement: the ability to explain which games and providers perform in specific GEOs, how game mechanics and mathematics influence commercial outcomes, and how to translate that insight into a portfolio investment thesis.
• Experience hiring, developing and leading an effective core team, and establishing practical management routines.
• A career track record consistent with taking on a multi-year business-building assignment.
• The ideal background is a current or former CEO or Co-founder of a game provider. We will also consider a CCO or COO from a provider with genuine P&L ownership, cross-functional leadership and experience building the business and its distribution. Leadership of a successful 20–30-person provider team may be relevant where that team delivered and monetised a strong portfolio; bringing a proven core team can also be considered.

What's on Offer

• Build a new business: Lead the launch and commercial development of an international B2B real-money game provider.
• Experienced investment backing: Work with established technology entrepreneurs supporting a new gaming business.
• Business-wide responsibility: Shape the market approach, operating model, portfolio and team while working closely with the Board.
• Flexible and competitive compensation: Our client is open to discussing attractive, individually tailored terms with exceptional candidates and a proven track record.
• Participation in outcomes: Performance-based incentives, profit participation or equity arrangements will be discussed as part of an individually tailored compensation package.
• International working arrangements: Remote working, with Europe preferred and travel for partner and investor meetings as required.