Operating Principal, CEO Office

London, England, United Kingdom General Management

At SumUp, we are motivated by the purpose of leveling the playing field for small businesses. We empower small business owners by creating simple and affordable tools to manage payments, finance and customer relationships. We are a passionate team that thrives on human connection, autonomy and the desire to constantly learn, guided by our values 'Founder's Mentality', 'Team First' and 'We Care'. We want to build an enduring organization that is people-positive, disciplined and that constantly innovates from within. Agility is the essence of an enduring organization and we strive to create an organization that fosters it.

As we continue to scale and execution becomes more complex, we're hiring an Operating Principal to join the CEO Office and strengthen how we translate strategy into execution through clear priorities, decision cadences, and decision-useful performance visibility. This role is not a project manager / PMO / delivery lead / sprint owner role. You will work across senior stakeholders without direct authority, building trust quickly and driving clarity and action in a complex, high-ambiguity environment.

What you'll do

Run and continuously improve core performance and execution rhythms (e.g., QBRs, priority check-ins, executive scorecards, weekly/monthly reviews), ensuring forums result in clear decisions, actions, owners, and follow-ups

Build simple, reliable performance visibility (KPIs, dashboards, leading/lagging indicators, OKR/initiative tracking) so leaders can spot risks early and manage the business with clarity

Strengthen execution mechanics across cross-functional work by surfacing ownership gaps, clarifying dependencies, and helping teams align ambition with capacity

Partner across functions (CEO Office, Product, Engineering, Design, Finance/FP&A/RevOps, People, GTM) to unblock progress and influence decisions through clear narratives, data, and accountable follow-through

Raise the bar for operating excellence by creating templates, rituals, and ways of working that scale-without adding bureaucracy

Ensure metrics are decision-useful: drive clarity on KPI definitions, ownership, review mechanisms, and "so what?" actions (not just reporting)

You'll be great for this role if

You're a senior individual contributor with more 5 years of experience in strategy, operations, product, engineering, finance, analytics, or similar roles

You have proven experience translating strategy into execution in complex, cross-functional environments

You can influence without authority-building trust across teams, challenging constructively, and driving action through clarity and follow-through

You're hands-on with data: you've built/owned KPIs, dashboards, analyses, and reports that leaders actually use

You're comfortable operating in a high-ambiguity, high-stakes environment and bringing structure to messy problems

You're aligned with the intent of the role: not PMO/project delivery ownership, but strengthening decision cadence, clarity, and execution system effectiveness

Why you should join SumUp

Innovative Environment: Work in a fast-growing, innovative, inclusive, and ethical business where your passion and creativity will inspire teams globally.

Global Reach: We are currently present in 37 markets and are a global and growing team of 3000+ people from 92+ nationalities with offices across 4 continents.

Competitive Compensation: We offer a competitive compensation package and paid leave. You will have access to the SumUp Sabbatical, our Employee Assistance Programme for mental health, as well as fitness and language learning offers.

Invest in Yourself: You'll receive a budget for your professional and personal development, eg. for attending conferences or external trainings.

Job Application Tip

We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don't tick every box, it's ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.