Sean Wilson

Leadership | Growth | Turnaround | Transformation | Value Creation

Sean Wilson is an experienced CEO, COO and commercial executive who helps businesses grow, improve performance, solve complex problems, and turn strategy into action by aligning people, operations and resources around results.

He brings more than 20 years of executive and commercial leadership experience, including over 10 years in Board-appointed CEO roles and Group Executive positions, including  Chief Operating Officer, Group COO, Commercial Director and National General Manager Sales & Marketing.

His experience country and national management, multi-business operations, commercial strategy, sales, marketing, technology, product development, financial management, HR, people leadership and organisational transformation.

He has led organisations through the full business lifecycle, from establishing and commercialising start-ups and new business ventures to scaling established organisations, managing large and complex operations, executing turnarounds and transformations, integrating acquisitions and delivering successful business sales and exits.

His executive experience includes P&L responsibility of up to $89 million, leading 300+ people across 50+ sites, managing commercial relationships and portfolios spanning 5,000+ accounts, overseeing SaaS platforms serving 60,000+ users, and managing membership operations serving 50,000+ members.

He combines executive leadership and strategic oversight with practical, hands-on operating and commercial experience. he don't just set direction or advise on what needs to happen. he gets involved in understanding business challenges, developing solutions, making commercial decisions, building strategic relationships, managing major client and partner accounts, negotiating agreements, leading implementation and holding people accountable for results. His approach combines strategic thinking with commercial acumen and the practical ability to get things done.

His governance experience includes serving as a Board Member, Company Director, Chair, Company Secretary and Public Officer, with experience in Board reporting, financial oversight, risk management, compliance and organisational accountability.

His proven track record includes:

• Business Turnarounds & Value Creation: Transforming declining and loss-making businesses into profitable, growing operations, including delivering a 150%+ share-value uplift at BetterHR, doubling revenue and gross profit, and increasing profitability through operational improvement and financial discipline.

• Business Growth & Commercialisation: Building businesses and new ventures from the ground up, including growing a SaaS division from zero to $2M+ in sales, banking $1M+ within 180 days, achieving profitability in year one, and founding and successfully exiting an IT services business.

• Executive & Enterprise Leadership: Managing P&Ls of up to $89M, leading 300+ people across 50+ sites, overseeing multi-business operations, and transforming national operating models to improve performance, accountability and service delivery.

• Sales, Marketing & Business Development: Achieving up to 366% of sales targets at Sensis, generating $20M+ in individual sales, establishing a national government sales operation serving 5,000+ accounts and generating $33M+ annually, and developing $1M+ strategic client relationships.

• Strategic Partnerships & Customer Growth: Building 300+ strategic distribution and referral partnerships at BetterHR, including Telstra, ADP, franchise groups and industry associations, and developing commercial relationships and go-to-market channels across multiple sectors.

• Operational Transformation & M&A: Integrating five acquisitions across four states at M7, restructuring national operations, improving financial controls, reducing costs, resolving complex operational and compliance issues, and transforming Zonda operations to achieve 34% gross profit within nine months.

• Technology, SaaS & Digital Transformation: Leading 70+ major technology initiatives, scaling SaaS platforms to 60,000+ users, overseeing product development and platform redevelopment, and delivering complex migrations involving 700,000+ legal clients, 1.5 million records and 10TB+ of sensitive documents while maintaining business continuity.

• Product Development & New Business Ventures: Developing and commercialising new products, services and business units, including launching online marketplaces, establishing retail and installation divisions, expanding digital channels and developing new go-to-market strategies.

• Organisational & Membership Growth: Transforming HIA's $89M+ commercial operations across 23 sites, growing membership by more than 10,000 to 50,000+, expanding training to 500+ courses and 8,000+ participants, and growing apprenticeships beyond 600.

• Governance, Risk & Accountability: Strengthening Board governance, financial reporting, audit, risk and compliance, delivering more than $1M in revenue growth at Kolling Foundation, and serving on 20+ boards and committees, including more than 10 years in office-bearer positions.

Alongside his executive career, Sean works with business owners, founders, Boards and Executive Teams through business coaching, mentoring, executive leadership and advisory services. He brings practical experience, commercial insight and an operator's perspective to help organisations overcome challenges, make better decisions, improve performance and achieve their goals.

Talk to Sean about your business, where the opportunity lies and what needs to happen next. 

Executive Experience. Commercial Capability. Hands-On Execution.