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Head Of People Success at Jacaranda Finance
"The CEO calls the vision and aims for the podium, the COO’s the team principal — making sure the crew, car, and strategy are all working together to make it happen."
Affordable credit is essential for financial well-being, and we’re dedicated to making it available when our customers need it or want it.
Jacaranda's technology brings together more than a decade of data, machine learning, and alternative risk variables to create a proprietary decisioning platform that looks at each customer through a more holistic lens than just their Beuerau credit score. This approach allows us to provide accessible, responsible, and affordable financial products.
We’re looking to add a COO to our entrepreneurial executive team — the person in this role will work directly with our CEO to supercharge our execution and help scale the company into our next chapter.
We’re moving beyond using AI for point solutions, and we’re embarking on embedding it as the infrastructure layer across the business. We’re working on being an AI-native lender, where machine intelligence is deeply integrated into decision-making, customer experience, and operational efficiency—creating a competitive moat that compounds over time.
This is a rare role for someone who thrives on pace, has strong attention to detail, and gets things done.
As the COO, your core responsibility is to ensure that Jacaranda Finance runs like a high-performance engine — reliable, scalable, and always moving forward. You’ll partner closely with the CEO, translate strategy into action, and make sure the entire business is executing with pace and precision.
You will have responsibility for:
1. CEO enablement & strategic execution
* Act as a trusted advisor and execution partner to the CEO.
* Bring clarity to complex problems and help prioritise what matters most.
* Drive high-impact initiatives forward — especially those that sit across multiple departments or require fast decision-making.
* Be comfortable switching gears and picking up whatever’s most critical at the time.
2. Operational performance & execution
* Own operational performance across all departments, ensuring we meet our strategic and commercial goals.
* Manage clear rhythms, optimise reporting structures and KPIs to track progress and remove roadblocks early.
* Ensure daily operations run smoothly and teams are focused on the right outcomes.
* Maintain a sense of urgency and discipline across the organisation.
3. Process design & scalability
* Identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or duplication — and fix them.
* Design and implement processes that scale as we grow, across customer onboarding, credit assessment, servicing, and collections.
* Collaborate closely with Tech to drive automation, remove manual work, and improve the customer experience.
4. Cross-functional alignment
* Act as the connective tissue between Growth, Credit, Risk, Technology, Customer Experience, and Finance.
* Ensure all departments are working in sync, aligned to company priorities, and delivering against their functional responsibilities.
* Step in early to resolve misalignment, friction, or operational gaps
5. People, tools & infrastructure
* Design and optimise team structures to support growth.
* Ensure people have the tools, systems, and processes they need to perform at their best.
* Own the operational workforce plan in collaboration with People & Culture.
* Foster a high-performance culture where teams are accountable and outcomes-focused.
6. Issue escalation & risk management
* Be the calm in the storm. Respond quickly and effectively to operational issues.
* Collaborate with Risk & Compliance to ensure we’re operating within our regulatory framework and meeting all obligations.
* Build safeguards and contingency plans into operations to support sustainable growth.
7. Operational reporting & insights
* Own the cadence and quality of internal reporting, from weekly team reviews through to board updates.
* Surface operational insights and trends to inform company decisions.
* Track and improve efficiency metrics such as the Labour Efficiency Ratio (LER), customer resolution times, cost-to-serve and time to cash.
8. Strategic projects & change initiatives
* Lead and deliver cross-functional strategic projects that improve growth, efficiency or reduce risk.
* Take ownership of mission-critical work that falls between departments or outside traditional BAU.
* You’ll be trusted to drive results and be measured by what gets done — not what gets talked about.
9. Company rhythm & executive alignment
* Ensure our executive team operates with rhythm and rigour — from weekly check-ins to quarterly OKRs.
* Help maintain alignment between strategy, execution, and internal communication.
* Make sure everyone is clear on the priorities and rowing in the same direction.
About you:
* You’ve held a similar role in a fast-paced, high-growth business and have a strong track record of delivery.
* You think strategically but aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves, you move seamlessly between big-picture thinking and detailed execution.
* You move fast, execute hard, and don’t wait for perfection — progress matters more than perfection.
* You’ve worked closely with founders or executive teams and thrive in environments where the pace is fast and expectations are high.
* You’ve led teams through growth and change — coaching, inspiring, and holding people to account along the way.
* You know your numbers, you’re commercially sharp, and make decisions backed by data.
* You communicate early, clearly, and often — there’s no second-guessing where you stand or what needs to happen next.
* You stay calm and focused under pressure, helping others stay grounded when things get hectic.
* You handle conflict constructively — with directness, empathy, and a focus on outcomes.
* You’re an entrepreneur at heart — you take ownership, seek out opportunities, and bring a solutions-first mindset.
* You’re bold, curious, and not afraid to challenge the status quo — you “shake the trees” to drive better results.
* You’re a strong cultural fit — grounded, collaborative, low-ego, and deeply invested in building something great with others.
Educational Background:
You’ll likely have a degree in Business, Commerce, Finance, or a related field — though we care more about capability than credentials. Postgraduate qualifications are a bonus, especially if paired with hands-on experience scaling a high-growth business or leading complex operational functions.
We’re looking for someone with commercial acumen, operational depth, and the ability to make decisions with confidence, regardless of how you got there.
Why join Jacaranda Finance?
* We’ve helped over ~100,000 Australians and counting — and we’re just getting started.
* We’re building world-class technology to deliver smarter, faster lending powered by real-time behavioural data.
* We’ve been recognised with awards from Finder, the AFR, WeMoney, and others, but we stay focused on real outcomes.
* You’ll work with a sharp, values-driven leadership team that moves fast, cares deeply, and loves to win.
* We’re not corporate — we’re entrepreneurial. We make decisions quickly, cut the red tape, and let great people run.
If you want to accelerate your career, be exposed to the inner workings of a high-growth fintech, and work side-by-side with a founder who moves fast and thinks big — this is the role for you.
This recruitment process is being run by Daniel Wessels, CEO and Julia Paino, Head of People Success, be prepared to hear from either of them during the recruitment process.
Seniority level
* Seniority level
Not Applicable
Employment type
* Employment type
Full-time
Job function
* Job function
Management
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