About me and the project
I have been developing websites and doing digital marketing for almost 20 years. In 2014, I had already built several successful eCommerce projects and a network of great people, which I managed to concentrate at GymBeam. Since then, the company has been growing extremely fast, despite the fact that it currently has a team of 200 members in 11 countries and serves 13 markets in Central and Eastern Europe. I believe that we have a friendly atmosphere, great relationships and a company culture. We are inspired by the technology companies from Sillicon Valley, and even though the team has a very low age average, it has achieved nice economic results. In recent years, I have focused intensively on operational tasks and direct management of a relatively large number of people, which affected the quality of other tasks and certain activities were abandoned, they were not forgotten but had a lower priority. That is why I would like to hire a COO. This position is understood differently in every company, but it has never been occupied in our company so far, so I would like to initially define it as the “2nd half of CEO”. In the first months, the COO would take over the management of the departments, mainly with day-to-day operations, such as HR, office manager and the entire logistics. Then, after six months, I would also like to hand over complete responsibility for the operational purchasing and strategic purchasing departments, and about the entire IT at the horizon of the year. I am very much looking forward to being able to focus on sales, marketing and finance.
What I offer:
- your work will have meaning and impact, because the new COO will have a significant impact on the success of the company that is internationally successful and unique in the region of eastern Slovakia;
- GymBeam is one of the most successful Slovak brands with three-digit growth, a 200-member team, annual sales of €40 mil. from 13 countries, all in less than 7 years;
- the company operates in the “sexy” industry, online fitness and a healthy lifestyle with the expectation of stable future growth;
- young company culture and high level of team commitment, friendly environment, direct feedback;
- new position – possibilities to adapt the character of the role and workload based on your experience and skills;
- be part of top management – the prospect of replacing the CEO in the long term;
- attractive financial evaluation, bonus and ESOP.
Risks:
- new position – may raise questions in defining the scope of competences;
- absence of senior management – increased demands with regards to people management; low age average of the team (28);
- fast working ecosystem – the position is not suitable for people from more static fields, a lot of changes and innovations in a short time, little bureaucracy;
- very complex work involving several fields;
- the personnel demands of the company run into the possibilities of the region, the absence of international companies headquartered in Košice;
- the region provides a very weak supply of demanded talent in the segment (digital marketing, IT top level management);
- a highly competitive segment, thousands of companies in the region with a similar business model;
- the need of relocation to Košice.
Who am I looking for?
I am looking primarily for an entrepreneur and an innovator, certainly not a bureaucrat. According to the theory of “pirates vs. navy”, we are still significantly closer to pirates. At the same time, in this position and at our size, the COO must already be a mature personality with a natural authority who will evoke a sense of respect and trust in the team. We need someone who maintains a high standard of quality work, who will continue to maintain / create great teams. An important factor is also “cultural fit”, which means that there should be someone very hardworking in this position, not only a manager, but also a “Doer” with a goal. Our company culture also includes very direct feedback, extra miles and problem solving with the latest technologies and innovations. Last but not least, I think that many team members are really devoted, they love their work and company, and they are also very proactive. We require managers to be ambassadors of company culture and to lead by example with their team. It is necessary to manage a high work pace. We have an ambition to achieve sales of up to €154 mil in the CEE region in the period of 3-5 years. We adapt our strategy and infrastructure to this goal. It will certainly not be an easy task, but rather a huge challenge. Another huge challenge will certainly be the high level of complexity of the work in this position and understanding of many areas such as logistics, operational excellence, human resources, procurement, product…it might sound like we’re looking for a superman, but the truth is that we have a different culture from the so-called “corporates”, where the main motivation is not to take risks. We often take risks, innovate and try new things. As a result, we sometimes fail. Productivity and the resulting fails are more valued in our company than not making mistakes, which is based on non-acceptance of a certain degree of risk and non-innovation.
If it appeals to you and you feel relevant for this position, feel free to email me directly at: dc@gymbeam.com or Dominika from HR, who will lead the selection procedure at jobs@gymbeam.com. You can find even more info about the position here.
If you know the relevant candidates, I will be happy if you shared them or forwarded them to me, thanks.