Chief Executive Officer

Banyan Software • Dublin, OH

5h

About The Position

Northwoods is seeking a CEO to lead its next chapter by growing its position as a trusted partner for county health and human services (HHS) agencies and expanding into new HHS markets. The CEO will have full P&L responsibility and accountability for financial performance, organizational health, and strategic execution. The role includes growing the county Traverse and Grove business; expanding into new HHS markets, including state agencies, with a scalable, productized approach; using AI to measurably improve caseworker capacity; entering adjacent markets where Northwoods has a clear right to win; and building the capabilities required for statewide work. The CEO will balance investment in growth with consistent, profitable performance.

Northwoods has served state and county HHS agencies for more than 20 years. Its Traverse platform supports approximately 45,000 caseworkers across child welfare, child support, economic assistance, and adult services. Grove pairs trained specialists with Traverse to reduce caseworkers’ administrative workload. The CEO will lead the company’s strategy, customer and government relationships, product roadmap, delivery organization, operating cadence, and leadership team while preserving its mission-driven, caseworker-first culture.

The position is based in Dublin, Ohio, or remote within the United States, with travel.

Requirements

• Have owned a P&L as CEO, President, GM, or equivalent at a software business serving state or local government.
• Have built or scaled a business in the state and local HHS market and earned the trust of its leaders, with knowledge of relevant programs, stakeholders, policy environment, and agency purchasing and implementation practices.
• Be able to provide references from state and county agency leaders with whom you have worked.
• Have run two growth motions simultaneously, investing in a long-cycle opportunity while continuing to grow and protect a faster-moving core business.
• Have launched and grown a product, with adoption, revenue, and margin results to share.

Nice To Haves

• Captured and delivered a statewide HHS system, such as child welfare, child support, eligibility, or adult services, or played a leading role in one, including federal funding and approval processes.
• Entered an adjacent market with an existing product or platform.
• Experience across multiple HHS programs and federal oversight agencies.
• Working experience with federal funding strategies, modular modernization efforts, and state HHS procurement.
• Leadership experience at a commercial HHS software vendor, rather than solely at a systems integrator.
• Built AI-enabled products for regulated data.
• Experience in private equity, permanent-capital, or investor-owned environments.

Responsibilities

• Set and execute a multi-year strategy to grow the county business and expand into new HHS markets.
• Prioritize opportunities based on market need, funding, and Northwoods’ ability to win.
• Keep products scalable and productized.
• Personally lead relationships with state HHS leaders, state CIOs, and county HHS directors.
• Lead statewide capture from pre-RFP shaping through award and contract negotiation.
• Build partnerships across the HHS ecosystem, including with systems integrators.
• Apply working knowledge of federal funding and approval processes to pricing and deal structure.
• Sustain land-and-expand momentum and reference networks in county markets.
• Own product strategy and roadmaps for all products and solutions.
• Launch products with clear adoption, revenue, and margin targets.
• Use AI to increase caseworker capacity and engineering productivity.
• Build a delivery organization prepared for larger, more complex implementations.
• Protect service quality for existing customers during expansion.
• Run a disciplined operating cadence with strong forecasting, cost visibility, and accountability.
• Lead and develop the existing leadership team, and add talent where needed.
• Preserve Northwoods’ mission-driven, caseworker-first culture and model accountability, transparency, and integrity.

Benefits

• Autonomy in a long-term ownership environment.
• Access to a trusted peer community of software CEOs.
• Optional operating resources without losing independence.
• Meaningful participation in value created through EBITDA growth and multiple expansion.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed