CEO, Vertical Market Software Business – Netherlands

The Role

We are hiring a CEO for a vertical market software business in the Netherlands. Full P&L, statutory appointment, and a team small enough that you will know every engineer and every major customer. For many people this will be a first CEO seat.

Your first task is the handover itself: taking a founder-built business through to full integration on group operating, financial and AI standards, without losing the people or the customer relationships that make it valuable.

From there the mandate is growth in both lines. Revenue comes from pricing, packaging, retention and cross-sell before it comes from anything else. Margin comes from replacing manual process with our central AI platform and running a disciplined cost base. You lead the development and sales teams directly and set product direction, working with our central AI team to move the product from a system of record towards a system of action. Finance runs alongside our central function, so you own the numbers and the forecasting while drawing on shared infrastructure.

This is a hands-on operating seat in an established, founder-built company, not a corporate business unit. The roadmap, the pipeline and the payroll all land on your desk in the same week. We are looking for the strategic rigour of a consulting background combined with the instincts of someone who has already run a team and carried a number, and we back that with the group’s operating, finance and AI functions.

About Circeus

Circeus is an AI-native holding that acquires and evolves mission-critical B2B software for the AI era. We serve 250,000+ businesses across diverse verticals, focusing on high-retention, deeply embedded software. We have raised $220m+ from leading global institutional investors. Through a centralised AI platform deployed across the portfolio, we expand software from systems of record into systems of action, driving both revenue expansion and operational efficiency. We operate as long-term owners, continuously improving products through applied AI.

What You'll Do

• Own the P&L and deliver measurable revenue and EBITDA uplift against an agreed plan
• Lead the company through integration onto group operating, financial and AI standards
• Rebuild pricing and packaging, and attack churn and cross-sell before chasing new logos
• Set product direction and ship the capabilities customers will pay more for
• Lead, develop and where necessary strengthen the development and sales teams
• Deploy the central AI platform across the product and internal operations, and measure the effect
• Manage finance in partnership with the central function, owning budgeting, forecasting and reporting quality
• Retain the people and customer relationships that hold the domain knowledge
• Report performance, risks and investment cases directly to the group

What We're Looking For

• Strategy consulting background at a leading firm, with the analytical rigour that comes with it
• Operating experience at managerial level or above, with direct accountability for a team and a number
• General management or senior operating experience inside a private-equity-backed company
• Demonstrated commercial impact, with clarity on the levers you pulled and what they delivered
• Strong command of pricing, unit economics, retention, forecasting and cash
• Comfort working across engineering and commercial teams rather than a single function
• Practical AI fluency, evidenced by changing how a product, a process or a team works
• Based in the Netherlands or able to work there regularly, with fluent English

Nice to Have

• Dutch language skills
• Prior CEO, GM or divisional P&L ownership
• B2B software or vertical market software experience
• Experience taking over from a founder or leading a business through ownership change
• Exposure to M&A, from diligence through to integration

Why Circeus

• Full ownership of a company, with decisions made close to the work
• Breadth of exposure across a portfolio of software businesses rather than a single product
• Direct collaboration with our central AI team on problems with measurable commercial impact
• A long-term ownership horizon that rewards durable growth over short-cycle targets
• Competitive compensation and scope that grows with the portfolio