Chief Commercial Officer

Overview

Our company is dedicated to unlocking Africa’s potential by transforming rigorous, Africa-grounded research into practical insights that drive client growth and continental progress. As we expand across the continent, we distinguish ourselves through a unique blend of deep pan-African presence and an agile, market-driven delivery model. This enables us to deliver insights that are fast, contextually accurate, and commercially relevant in complex and rapidly evolving markets. Our culture is shaped by core values: a belief in Africa’s power, science that drives prosperity, progressive dialogue, and transformative relationships, all influencing how we work and collaborate to create lasting value for clients and communities.

We are seeking a visionary Chief Commercial Officer to join our Commercial department in South Africa. This executive-level position is a high-velocity, high-accountability leadership role, combining critical P&L ownership, strategic product commercialisation, and impactful brand stewardship. It represents an extraordinary opportunity to significantly shape our future ambitions, leaving a measurable legacy on revenue growth, customer value, and market leadership across the continent. We look for individuals who are passionate about Africa, intellectually rigorous, and commercially astute, capable of translating complex data into clear insights while building transformative relationships.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Own and accelerate ASK AFRICA’s growth engine: delivering ambitious revenue growth, supporting strategic development of market-leading products through insights obtained in the industry, and enhancing the ASK ARICA premium brand through ongoing engagements in the industry and without clients.
• Design and execute bold go-to-market strategies, lead commercial activities, cultivate strategic client relationships and partnerships, and oversee events, PR and communications to amplify our reputation and drive market share.
• Own the commercial & go-to-market strategy for the Apex Product, to deliver 45% revenue growth — prioritise segments, channels and partnerships that accelerate adoption and maximise ROI.
• Deliver quarterly new-business revenue, margin and conversion targets across the full product portfolio and markets — set targets (for FY28), monitor performance and reallocate resources to the highest-impact opportunities.
• Lead sales performance and contract negotiations to convert high-value opportunities and protect commercial terms — coach the sales team, enforce conversion targets and approve key commercial agreements.
• Commercialise portfolio revenue opportunities (cross-sell, upsell and lifecycle value) to increase client lifetime value and reduce churn.
• Own strategic premium client contract negotiations and commercial terms to protect margins and convert high-value opportunities into sustainable, retained revenue.
• Ensure profitable commercial agreements, rigorous documentation governance and CRM-driven account management to protect margins, improve operational efficiency and drive retention and recurring revenue.
• Drive deeply strategic relationships (new clients, partners, and industry influencers) and account stewardship to secure high-value renewals, upsell opportunities and client advocacy — to increase retention, referrals and the businesses premium reputation in target markets across Africa.
• To have complete oversight of the Marketing & Brand Experience: ensure the Marketing Manager delivers brand, communications and demand programs that drive product adoption, retention and revenue to support the 45% growth target and enhance the premium market positioning Including: Driving all Digital Enablement projects according to business needs. Overseeing the use of the CI across the business to ensure consistency, accuracy and effectiveness in support of the strategic direction and brand positioning of ASK AFRICA.
• To continuously build the ASK AFRICA brand and accurately represent ASK AFRICA in various forums, boards, and events as and when needed.
• Lead and manage operational excellence for the commercial team to ensure consistent delivery of departmental objectives — securing predictable revenue growth, improved retention resulting in a premium client experience.
• To source, develop and retain high-performing commercial talent by providing clear direction, coaching, training and recognition to build the scalable capability needed to deliver premium client outcomes and ambitious revenue targets.
• Together with finance, compile an accurate budget to enable the department to achieve its strategic objectives.
• To manage the allocated budget by monitoring and evaluating expenditure to mitigate risk, minimize overspend and maximize the ROI for the business.