Role Purpose
The Country Manager is accountable for translating sa.global’s global strategy into in-market execution across their geography. The role owns the local P&L in partnership with Vertical and functional leaders, ensures delivery excellence and client outcomes, and acts as the senior leadership presence in-country - bridging global direction with local commercial, operational, and regulatory realities.
Key Accountabilities
- Own in-market commercial performance: Drive revenue growth and profitability across the local entity by holding Vertical and functional leaders to account for sales ambition, pipeline quality, and conversion within the geography. Ensure the country revenue plan reflects the full potential of the market, including AI transformation offerings.
- Lead local strategy execution: Translate sa.global’s global strategy, operating model, and transformation agenda into a locally relevant execution plan. Ensure strategic priorities land with discipline and are adapted to local market dynamics without diluting global intent.
- Ensure delivery excellence and client outcomes: Oversee the quality, margin, and timeliness of all project and service delivery within the country. Act as the escalation point for significant client matters and ensure delivery teams are resourced, capable, and aligned to evolving service offerings.
- Drive local adoption of AI-enabled ways of working: Champion the adoption of AI-powered tools, offerings, and delivery methods across the local team. Ensure the country organisation is building the capability and confidence to sell, deliver, and operate in an AI-augmented model.
- Own the legal entity and regulatory compliance: Ensure full compliance with local employment legislation, tax, health and safety, and corporate governance requirements. Own works council and union relations where applicable and ensure sa.global meets all in-market legal obligations.
- Lead the local people agenda: Drive workforce planning, organisational design, talent development, and cultural alignment for the local entity. Ensure the country has the right capabilities and capacity to support current and future business requirements, in partnership with the CPO function.
- Ensure cross-functional alignment in-market: Act as the integrating leader across Sales, Delivery, Marketing, and Support within the geography. Connect local execution with global functions to prevent duplication, resolve conflicts, and ensure a coherent client experience.
- Represent sa.global externally: Serve as the senior face of sa.global in the local market, building relationships with key clients, Microsoft field teams, partners, and industry bodies. Represent the company’s brand, values, and strategic direction with credibility.
Key outcomes - what success looks like in this role:
- The country consistently meets or exceeds its revenue and margin targets, with Vertical sales leaders challenged and held to account for ambition and pipeline quality in the geography.
- Global strategy and transformation priorities are visibly landing in the local market — teams understand the direction, are executing against it, and are adapting it to local context without drift.
- AI-enabled offerings are actively being sold and delivered in the country, with measurable adoption of AI tools and methods across local teams.
- The local entity operates with clean governance: regulatory compliance is airtight, works council relations are constructive, and the entity runs without surprises.
- Client satisfaction and retention are strong, delivery quality is consistent, and the country is building a reputation as a trusted transformation partner in its market.
Profile - who thrives in this role:
You are a general manager first - someone who sees the whole picture and instinctively connects commercial performance, delivery quality, people capability, and client relationships into a coherent local business. You are comfortable operating in a matrix where you do not own everything but are accountable for ensuring it all works in your market.
You challenge constructively. When a vertical plan looks unambitious or an AI offering is not being adopted, you name it and drive the conversation forward rather than waiting for someone else to act. You bring energy and commercial discipline without needing to control every decision.
You navigate complexity with calm: regulatory requirements, cultural nuance, works council dynamics, global processes landing locally, none of this fazes you. You know when to adapt and when to hold the line.
You are genuinely curious about AI and what it means for the business, your clients, and your team - not because you need to be the expert, but because you understand that leading a sa.global country through this transformation requires conviction, not just compliance.
If you thrive at the intersection of strategy and execution, where your job is to make a global vision real in a local market, this role will reward you.
Context:
- sa.global operates across 25 countries with a “one strategy, many local journeys” model. The Country Manager is the primary bridge between global direction and local execution, balancing global consistency with local agility.
- The role carries a shared P&L with Vertical and functional leaders. The Country Manager does not own vertical strategy but holds a dotted-line accountability for ensuring verticals are delivering ambitiously in their geography, including the adoption and sale of AI transformation offerings.
- Key collaborators include the CEO (revenue strategy and commercial oversight), the CPO (people strategy, talent, compliance), the CFO (entity financials, intercompany, contractual reviews), the CMO (demand generation, brand, marketing alignment), Vertical GMs (industry strategy and sales execution), and the Chief of Staff / AI Transformation Programme Lead (GTM readiness and transformation adoption).
