Chief Operating Officer

Location:

Manila (preferred) / hybrid; regular travel to UAE/UK/EU/US/Israel

Reports to:

Group CEO Office

Function:

Company operations across Sales → Delivery → People → Finance; M&A integration; revenue governance

Compensation:

Market-competitive executive package

About PopAI

PopAI is a GenAI-first products and solutions company. We build AI agents that make operations radically more efficient and partner with leading technology companies to deliver additional value. Our go-to-market spans intra-group use cases, select direct sales to BPOs and enterprises, and sell-through via BPO partners, consultancies, and systems integrators.

The Role

We are hiring a hands-on, entrepreneurial COO to act as the CEO's deputy and run the operating system of PopAI (GenAI platform) and NMS (BPO). You will turn strategy into delivery across the company: own the weekly operating cadence; stand up a disciplined Integration Office for acquisitions; drive revenue and margin governance with the commercial team; ensure people, finance, legal, and product/AI move in lock-step; and keep customers and lenders confident as we scale. You will manage a large, cross-functional organisation (including CHRO, CMO, CFO, Head of Integration and CCO; and have a tight partnership with CPO, CTO, Head of AI, GC and CEO Office. 

What You'll Do

Operate the business end-to-end

• Own the weekly operating rhythm (one-deck ELT, actions/owners/dates); run decision and risk logs; ensure Friday delivery against Monday intent.
• Establish a Deal Desk with Finance/Legal (pricing, discount, SLA/credits) and enforce no orphaned deals without delivery sign-off.

M&A integration and synergy capture

• Build and lead the Integration Management Office: Day-0/Day-1/30/100 plans, cutovers, retention packages, customer comms; quantify and deliver synergies.
• Oversee acquired units via the acquired general managers; guarantee SLA continuity, payroll/access readiness, and top-client reassurance.

Revenue, margin & NRR governance

• With the CCO, run pipeline/forecast reviews (real commit methodology), attach/cross-sell plays and NRR targets in acquired BPOs, and protect gross margin.
• Sequence hiring of Sales Executives/AMs/Sales Ops to convert partner and referral demand while scaling quality.

People & organisation

• Direct the CHRO to build a white-glove Professional Services/Integration bench; drive upskilling programmes in PH; upgrade leadership where needed with crisp PIPs.
• Set compensation and KPIs aligned to delivery, margin, and NRR.

Finance & lender readiness

• Partner with the CFO on lender meetings and DDTL/acquisition debt draws; carry the five numbers (revenue, EBITDA, cash, DSCR, WC) and three narratives (growth, integration, risk).
• Re-sequence spend and programmes when covenant headroom tightens; avoid surprises for lenders/investors.

What You've Done:

• 15+ years total; 7+ years in senior operating roles (COO/GM/Head of Ops) in tech-enabled services/BPO/enterprise tech with multi-site responsibility (200+ people).
• Led post-acquisition integrations (Day-1/30/100), delivered measured synergies, and held P&L accountability.
• Proven revenue governance with commercial teams (forecast cadence, attach/cross-sell, margin protection, deal desk).
• Strong financial literacy (EBITDA drivers, DSCR, DDTL/unitranche basics); comfortable in lender/board rooms with clean narratives and numbers.
• Experience coordinating Product/Engineering launches at scale with quality, security, and privacy controls.
• Philippines operating knowledge (talent, agencies, BOI/PEZA cadence) and cross-border collaboration.
• Crisp executive communication; calm under pressure; track record of upgrading teams and closing loops.

Nice to Have

• Built a Professional Services/Integration practice and AI/automation deployment at a BPO or tech services firm.
• Prior work with private credit/banks on acquisition financing.
• Hands-on exposure to privacy, data residency, and security frameworks in live customer environments.

KPIs You'll Own

• Integration milestones achieved vs plan; measured synergy realisation.
• Revenue vs plan, NRR/attach-rate, gross margin, and forecast accuracy.
• Delivery SLO/SLA adherence; top-client retention; incident MTTR.
• Talent upgrades and retention in critical roles; PS/Integration capacity.
• Board/lender pack timeliness and quality.

Behaviours We Value

• Ownership and urgency
• Signal over noise
• Decisive but data-grounded
• Calm under pressure
• High bar for quality and governance
• Respect for customers, people, and partners.