Chief Operating Officer
Everyone you know, someday, will die. We all go through it, and it’s one of the toughest parts of life.
So what pops into your head when you think of death? Tombstones? Top hats? Grey, drab Victoriana?… It’s probably not a cheery picture.
At Farewill we’re out to change the way the world deals with death.
We build the best products in the world for dealing with it - making death simpler, friendlier and more meaningful for everyone.
This is a fascinating, unique, undisrupted $100bn market with the opportunity to change the lives of millions of people every year.
We’ve gone from zero to one, now we’re looking for a Chief Operating Officer to lead on how we go from one to one hundred.
Which hopefully is where you come in.
The journey so far
Since starting with wills in December 2016 we’ve added probate & funerals, built a phenomenal team and culture we’re proud of, and helped tens of thousands of families to deal with death.
Have a read of the Little Book of Farewill for more on our culture.
In the last 18 months we’ve:
- Grown revenue 6x
- Grown the team from 70 to 140
- Raised our £20m Series B, led by Highland Europe
- Hit 9,000 reviews on Trustpilot at 4.9/5
- Hit £300m pledged for charity (through gifts in wills)
- Won some great national awards
- Best Employer - UK Fintech Awards
- 100 Best Companies to Work For - The Times
- Economic Innovator of the Year - Spectator
- Consumer Business of the Year - GBA
- Will Writer of the Year - BWPA.
And runner up CEO of the year but Dan doesn’t talk about that.
The role
Working with our CEO Dan, you’ll translate the company vision into the operating model and rhythm of the business.
As COO you’ll be the chief architect of how we work. You’ll own planning, org development, people (currently 8 people), customer ops and sales (currently 60 people) - empowering the whole company to move fast, be creative, and achieve more than we thought was possible.
Lot’s of this role will be on you to define. We’re looking for an experienced executive to come in with fresh eyes, look at how we’re structured as an org and how we work. Then make it better, and make it your own.
You’ll be a critical part of the exec team, instrumental in setting direction, and a huge part of the culture we’re building.
Over the next 12 months you’ll be instrumental in:
- Growing the team from 140 to 250+
- Internationalising the business
- Launching new products and channels
- Helping us raise a stellar Series C.
You’ll have specific responsibility for:
- Our operating model - designing and running a fantastic machine from strategy to execution
- Org design - how functions and teams are structured and work together
- Our core processes - how we plan and our company rituals
- Our customer ops and sales teams (currently 60 people) - ensuring the human bits of our operation work brilliantly and delight our customers
- Our People team - talent & people, responsible for raising the talent bar and enabling everyone to thrive and fulfil their potential at work.
In terms of where you sit in the org, you’ll report to our CEO Dan and be the sixth member of our exec team - alongside Tom (CPTO, co-founder), Angela (Chief of Staff), Sam (VP Commercial) and David (CFO).
You’ll manage Paul (Head of People), Mitch (Head of Sales & Operations) and others as you see fit.
You’ll also join our board as an observer, alongside our Chair Tracy Doree, Tim Levene (Augmentum Fintech) & Stan Laurent (Highland Europe).
Requirements
The must-haves - someone with experience of:
- Operationalizing strategy - from vision to teams to execution - as a C / VP level in a high-growth company (Series B +)
- Organisational design & planning
- Scaling a team through a minimum of 200 employees
- Operating internationally
- Strategic leadership at exec / board level
We’re looking for a confident leader, with the experience to know it’s all about creating the environment around you for others to achieve greatness.
+ the nice-to-haves:
- Experience at a well known consumer brand
- Experience managing People and/or Talent
- Experience launching products
If this sounds like what you’d love to be doing, we can’t wait to hear from you.
The process:
- Meet Paul, our Head of People for a first, confidential, chat
- Meet Dan, our CEO to talk about our story, and where we’re heading and hear about your story, and where you’re heading
- Meet the rest of our exec team
- Prepare a presentation to our exec team and chair
- Meet our other board members
- Join the team, change the way the world deals with death.
Benefits
- Competitive salary and generous stock options
- 28 days of annual leave plus the usual public holidays
- Flexible working including when you start & end your day, and how often you come into the office*
- Personal development budget of 3 days and £1000 per year
- Regular ‘passion talks’ and a range of team socials
- Santander cycles membership
* Currently our lovely office in Haggerston is available if people want (and only if they want) to use it. In the longer term, we're expecting most people to be in the office 2 to 3 days per week.