Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - Fintech

ARVO; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 5,000,000 - 10,000,000; Full time

Job summary

ARVO in the Western Cape seeks a visionary Chief Executive Officer to steer growth, shape strategy, and scale an established fintech platform into a year-round ecosystem delivering long-term value to customers.

The role blends commercial leadership with deep product understanding, customer focus, and strong governance, reporting to the Board and investors while building a high-performing leadership team across functions.

Qualifications

• Significant executive leadership experience in tech or fintech.
• Proven track record delivering digital products from vision to scale.
• Strong commercial and financial management, including P&L.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the long-term strategic vision.
• Own and drive the product roadmap with customer focus.
• Lead financial performance including P&L and capital allocation.
• Collaborate with Board and investors on strategy and growth.
• Build a high-performing leadership team and accountable culture.
• Oversee operations across product, engineering, marketing and ops.
• Drive customer acquisition, retention and revenue growth.
• Establish partnerships to expand distribution and market reach.
• Set planning rhythms, metrics and organizational accountability.

Skills

Executive leadership

Product strategy

P&L ownership

Stakeholder management

Regulated industry knowledge

Job description

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

• Location Cape Town / Stellenbosch, Western Cape
• Full-time permanent position
• Hybrid (mostly remote with meeting in Century City once a week out of tax season)

Job Overview

Our client is a well-established South African fintech business that has spent more than a decade building a trusted digital platform within the financial services sector. Backed by leading investors and recognised for its innovation, the business is entering an exciting new phase of growth.

They are seeking an exceptional Chief Executive Officer to lead the company's next chapter. This is a rare opportunity for a product-focused executive to shape strategy, drive innovation, and transform an already successful platform into a year-round ecosystem that delivers long-term value to customers.

The successful candidate will combine strong commercial acumen with a deep understanding of product development, customer needs, and organisational leadership. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building, executing and scaling rather than simply managing.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the company's long-term strategic vision.
• Own and drive the product roadmap, ensuring customer needs remain at the centre of product development.
• Lead the business's financial performance, including P&L ownership and capital allocation.
• Work closely with the Board and investors on strategy, growth initiatives and business performance.
• Build and develop a high-performing leadership team while creating an accountable, execution-focused culture.
• Oversee business operations and ensure alignment across product, engineering, marketing and operations.
• Drive customer acquisition, retention and long-term revenue growth.
• Develop strategic partnerships that strengthen distribution and market reach.
• Establish operational rhythms including planning cycles, performance metrics and organisational accountability.

Requirements

• Significant executive leadership experience within a technology or fintech environment.
• Proven experience owning and delivering successful digital products from concept through scale.
• Strong commercial and financial management experience, including P&L responsibility.
• Demonstrated ability to translate customer insights into product strategy and execution.
• Experience working closely with boards, investors or private equity stakeholders.
• Exceptional leadership skills with experience building high-performing teams.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with a hands-on execution mindset.
• Experience within regulated industries such as financial services, tax, banking or insurance would be highly advantageous.

Other Requirements

• Willingness to be based in the Western Cape (Stellenbosch or Cape Town central)
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for building businesses.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• A long-term ownership mentality with a desire to create lasting business value.

Compensation

• Market-related executive salary.
• Performance-based incentives.
• Long-term equity participation.