Clear roles for a fast-growing SaaS company
- Type
- In the seat
- Role
- Interim CPO
- Duration
- 18 months
- Sector
- European SaaS, 6 offices, 180 FTE
The company was growing fast across Europe and running into the usual friction: unclear roles, performance handled differently in every office, and pay that had little to do with impact. It needed a people system that could keep up with the growth.
What changed
Management layer
Fully replacedthe whole layer below C-level, with no rise in attrition
- Faster decisions across teams and markets
- Clear ownership through clear roles
- A C-level leader who had left came back later
- Transparent pay that people trusted
- A people system that supports international growth
What I did
Leadership roles across Europe
Every leader got a personal role canvas showing their impact and responsibilities across functions. Governance got clearer and decisions faster in every market.
Performance tied to strategy
OKRs linked to business priorities, continuous feedback instead of yearly reviews, a leadership development model and succession planning. We also set up faster hiring and clear paths for growing internally.
Pay based on impact
We moved from pay based on tenure or title to pay based on contribution, with European salary benchmarking so pay stayed fair and affordable, and people could see how it worked.
Shared accountability
Each leader shared their canvas with the others, and peer review made the leadership team more accountable to each other.
In a company growing this fast, clear roles only helped once people really owned them.
The messy version is fine. I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.