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Sean Wilson is a growth-focused CEO/COO and Commercial Executive with 20+ years’ experience leading multi-million-dollar organisations through scale-up, turnaround, and transformation. He also has deep experience in governance, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and risk management, including serving on many boards and committees.
He's managed P&Ls of $85m+, delivered double- and triple-digit revenue growth, lifted EBITDA, increased valuations by up to 250%, and consistently reached and or exceeded targets in highly competitive markets across industries as diverse as technology, healthcare, human resources, advertising, retail, building, professional services, and PE-backed environments.
He's an an expert in building organisations that grow stronger and operate smarter. With a highly adaptable leadership style, and hands on approach, that drives operational excellence, organisational design, multi-site leadership, and high-performance cultures. He's also experienced in modernising systems, driving digital transformation, and embedding data-driven decision-making to maximise results and minimise risks.
Notably he's served as a board-appointed CEO at BetterHR, Zonda Global, Zonda Care and Kolling Foundation. He's also served as Group COO at Venturely, National General Manager Sales & Marketing at The Housing Industry Association, and National Sales Director at Sensis > Career Timeline.
His qualifications span Business Management, Marketing, Legal Services, Human Resources, Information Technology and Company Director certification – backed by credentials from professional bodies including the AICD, ICDA, GIA, AHRI, ITPA and CEO Institute.
He's also served on many boards and committees across commercial, community & government. Including over 10 years in office bearer roles (Chairperson, Company Secretary, Public Officer). He also has a long-standing commitment to community initiatives (men's health, social justice, suicide prevention, sports, etc).
He does his best work in organisations that want clarity, accountability, and a leader who can cut through noise, solve the hard problems, and get people aligned. If you need someone who can steady the operation, modernise how the business runs, strengthen governance, and scale without chaos - that’s what he can bring. He runs organisations end-to-end, make decisions that move the numbers, and leave the business in better shape than he found it.
Executive Achievements
As CEO & Managing Director at BetterHR for over 7 years, he led a national HR SaaS and employment law advisory firm supporting over 60,000 users. Reported to the Board. Delivered full commercial, operational, and product leadership. His contributions were recognised with equity.
Doubled revenue & gross profit; increased share value 250%+ using internal cashflow only.
Expanded customer base to 60,000+ users and increased ACV & retention.
Secured long-term strategic alliances: Telstra, Telstra Health, ADP Payroll, franchise networks & industry bodies.
Delivered 25+ digital transformation projects including complete SaaS rebuild and mobile platform.
Led service delivery across 300+ partners and all internal functions: HR, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Tech.
Served as Board Director, Company Secretary & Public Officer for 7 years.
Won multiple awards for leadership, and HR software and advisory services innovation and product excellence.
Achieved major shareholding because of his contributions. Successful exit in 2024.
As CEO at Zonda and Group COO Venturely, he led a multi-entity portfolio across healthcare staffing, NDIS services, and luxury/recreational marine retail. Reported to PE Board.
Transformed Zonda Global from losses to 34% gross profit in 6 months, stabilising operations and improving revenue ($6m+).
Resolved major compliance risks, increased revenue ($1m+) and positioned Zonda Care for successful sale.
Integrated 5 acquisitions for Marine Seven, lifted operational efficiency across national marine group (NSW, QLD, VIC, SA) and grew forecast annual revenue ($10m+).
Directed shared services (HR, IT, Marketing, Sales) across the portfolio.
As CEO & Managing Director at Kolling Foundation, he led a medical research foundation established by Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, etc.
Achieved double-digit growth; launched $100M Kolling Building; led governance, finance & compliance.
As National General Manager Sales & Marketing at The Housing Industry Association (HIA) for over 2 years, he led company-wide commercial operations for one of Australia's largest industry associations. Supporting builders, renovators, trade contractors, developers, and suppliers with a wide range of services such as advocacy, business advice, legal support, training and development, apprentices, national events and awards, publications, Home Ideas Centres and HIA Shops.
Transformed declining revenue and membership into double-digit revenue growth. Resulting in increased revenue ($85M+) and expansion of membership to 50,000+ and apprentices to 600+.
Delivered a successful national restructure (23 offices, 200+ staff).
Setup new business partner program and increased to 10,000+ members.
As National Sales Director for Sensis for over 4 years, he led commercial operations for several divisions in Sensis, Telstra’s marketing/advertising arm. Helping Sensis reach $2b+ turnover.
Delivered over 200% (multi-million-dollar) sales growth and record results. Promoted 4 times.
Setup a national sales team responsible for over 5,000 accounts and led it to achieve top sales awards and record sales results for over 2 years.
Cultivated relationships with high-value business and government accounts, including Sony, Visa, Mastercard. Hyundai, Mirvac, Sonic Healthcare, Ford, Centrelink, Defence, AFP, ATO, Parliamentarians, ASIO, and embassies such as USA & China, ensuring 99.9% uptime and adherence to strict SLAs.
Represented Sensis as ‘Corporate Sponsor of the National Press Club’ for 2+ years.
Won numerous awards & honours: Top Sales Award (3x), CEO Club Award (3x), Top Sales Manager Award (2x), National Salesperson of the Month/Year Awards, etc.
More: Executive Management | Career Timeline
Board & Advisory Board Achievements
As Company Director for BetterHR (Workforce Guardian Pty Ltd), as well as Company Director and Public Officer for over 7 years, he helped improve governance, control, direction, and management of the organisation. In his time on the board, the company doubled revenue & gross profit; and increased share value 250%+ using internal cashflow only.
As an Advisory Board Member for Close to Home Media (Media Networks Pty Ltd) he helped grow a national media company. Providing community marketing via 100+ local radio stations and 8000+ local sporting clubs (jersey sponsorship, ground signage, supporter mobile app advertising, etc). His contributions were recognised with equity.
As an Advisory Board Member for Gemtracks he helped grow a global music marketplace. Founded in Australia. Now based in the USA. His contributions were recognised with equity.
As Board Member for Kolling Foundation at Royal North Shore Hopsital he helped resolve difficult legal and regulatory issues. During his time on the board, the company achieved significant growth after years of sluggish performance, secured high value new business partners (eg. Westfield) and launched $100m Kolling Building as part of the RNSH rebuild. He also served on numerous sub-committees (finance, investment and audit committees, Andrew Olle Memorial Trust for brain cancer research, etc).
More: Board Profile| Career Timeline
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