Banyan Software is the best permanent home for software businesses that serve specialized industries, their employees, and their customers. We are on a mission to acquire, build, and grow great companies worldwide, helping them modernize through shared AI expertise and operational discipline. The Banyan Software Foundation, endowed with $100 million in Banyan stock, leverages technology to build a greener and more equitable world. Banyan is Great Place to Work Certified, a five-time Inc. 5000 honoree, and a top 10 company on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Atlanta, Banyan operates more than 100 portfolio companies across North America, the UK, EU, and APAC.
About Zap Solutions
Founded in 1997 and acquired by Banyan Software in July 2025, Zap Solutions is a Pittsburgh-based SaaS company with over 25 years of continuous operation in higher education admissions. Its flagship platform, AMP (Admissions Management Platform), manages the full student lifecycle from prospect through enrollment for medical schools and other graduate programs across the United States. AMP is used by 64% of U.S. medical schools, has processed over 6 million applications, and carries a 95%+ customer satisfaction rating and 99%+ infrastructure uptime.
The Opportunity
The CEO is responsible for providing operational and strategic leadership for Zap Solutions with a focus on accelerating AI-driven product differentiation, evolving the company’s GTM function by expanding Zap’s geographic and vertical reach, and building the commercial and operational infrastructure that enables sustained growth. With the support of Banyan Software's Education Portfolio Leader, the CEO will establish strategies, plans, and practices to meet the company's growth and profitability goals. The successful profile will have demonstrated success in executive roles at growing vertical SaaS businesses and be prepared to deliver ongoing product innovation and scale Zap’s go-to-market function.
This is a compounding opportunity, not a turnaround. Zap enters Banyan's portfolio as a category leader with exceptional customer loyalty and a platform that has earned its position over 25 years. The right CEO is energized by building durable institutional value over the long term and finds Banyan's permanent ownership model, with no exit clock and operational autonomy.
Specific Responsibilities
The priorities of the CEO are to:
- Define and communicate a compelling vision and growth strategy for Zap Solutions and lead overall execution against it
- Maintain healthy and predictable growth by establishing and consistently meeting the execution milestones of the company's financial and operating plans
- Expand Zap's geographic and vertical reach beyond its current U.S. medical school base into graduate science programs, hospital systems, and the Canadian and Australian markets
- Own and strengthen relationships with key customers and institutional partners, including executive-level engagement and joint planning with major medical and graduate school accounts
- Design and execute a direct and expansion GTM strategy that drives new logo acquisition, deepens penetration in existing accounts, and maintains Zap's industry-leading customer satisfaction and retention
- Develop and execute operational initiatives to continually improve profitability and margin quality
- Drive product development discipline, including structured roadmap planning, AI capability delivery, and technical debt prioritization
- Ensure functional teams are productively working toward company priorities and operating with a customer-first mindset
- Bring outstanding leadership to the organization; build, retain, and develop a world-class team that can execute at scale without founder-level dependency
- Preserve and extend a winning culture where the team is engaged, challenged to succeed, and rewarded appropriately
- Operate as the primary interface to Banyan Software's Portfolio Leaders on business performance, financial results, and strategic direction
Qualifications & Experience
- Experience as a CEO or senior executive of a SaaS business (enterprise or vertical SaaS preferred) or General Manager/EVP/VP of a $10M–$50M SaaS business unit
- Verifiable track record of value creation in vertical SaaS businesses serving regulated or compliance-sensitive markets; higher education, healthcare, or government verticals are advantageous
- P&L experience with strong financial literacy, SaaS unit economics fluency, and demonstrated ability to improve net revenue retention, pricing power, or margin durability
- Structured, process-oriented operator who can bring discipline and accountability without bureaucracy; specific experience building operating cadence and decision rights in founder-led businesses is a plus
- Experience inheriting and developing a founder-built team, with specific examples of raising the talent bar while preserving cultural cohesion
- Comfort operating within a PE-backed portfolio company structure, including working closely with Operating Partners, managing to KPIs, and communicating business performance with transparency and precision
Leadership & Management Behavioral Competencies
- Ability to establish a roadmap for future growth, steering the business toward the highest-potential market segments where Zap can sustain an advantage and ensure continued profitable expansion
- AI-first leadership orientation; pushes the organization faster on AI adoption than it would move on its own and can distinguish operational reality from vendor hype based on doing the work
- Interest and ability to lead by example in revenue-generating commercial activity, including direct engagement with medical school and graduate program decision-makers
- Executive presence appropriate for managing relationships with institutional buyers in higher education and healthcare, as well as Operating Partners and Portfolio Leaders at Banyan
- Ability to bring discipline, focus, and accountability around key performance indicators across the team without creating bureaucratic drag
- Tireless curiosity and advice-seeking; treats feedback as useful data rather than a threat and systematizes learning across the organization
- Frugal mindset with a focus on building organizational capabilities through strong team development
- Talent magnet with a successful record of attracting and retaining talented, engaged teams; makes hard calls on underperformers directly and quickly
- Long-term orientation; explicitly motivated by building institutional value over a long horizon rather than optimizing for a transaction window
- Must be collaborative yet decisive and action-oriented; impeccable integrity and high ethical standards
Education
- An undergraduate degree from a well-regarded university is required
Banyan Software encourages applications from all qualified individuals. Applicants with disabilities may notify us of any accommodations needed to support your participation in the recruitment process. We wish to thank all applicants for their interest and effort in applying. Please be aware that only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted for this position. Banyan Software is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, gender, disability or protected veterans status.
The expected base salary for this position is: USD $200,000 excluding annual bonus and equity (when applicable). Salary is based on a number of factors including market conditions, location and may vary depending on job-related skills and experience.
This position is for an existing vacancy.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Equal Employment Opportunity at Banyan: Banyan affirms that inequality is detrimental to our Global Teams, associates, our Operating Companies, and the communities we serve. As a collective, our goal is to impact lasting change through our actions. Together, we unite for equality and equity. Banyan is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of any protected characteristic, including race, color, genetic information, creed, national origin, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lawful alien status, ancestry, age, marital status, or protected veteran status and will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of a disability. We support an inclusive workplace where associates excel based on personal merit, qualifications, experience, ability, and job performance.
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Protect yourself by following these steps:
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Your safety and security are important to us. Thank you for staying vigilant.
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Banyan Software is a buy and hold for life acquirer of vertical market software businesses. Founded in 2016 by David Berkal, Banyan was created to offer software owners a third option beyond selling to a competitor focused on cutting costs or a traditional investment firm that would resell the business a few years later. As a private company with no fund timeline and no exit pressure, Banyan holds and grows its businesses for life. Unlike private equity firms, Banyan preserves the culture, brand, and autonomy of each business rather than consolidating or cutting costs to maximize short-term returns. Every acquired company keeps its management team, brand identity, and customer relationships intact. Banyan works closely with each owner to find the right path forward, whether they want to stay at the helm, transition to an advisory role, or make a graceful exit. Many owners choose to retire or move on, either at closing or within a year or two. In those cases, Banyan partners with the outgoing owner to recruit a new CEO who is the right fit for the team and culture. Every Banyan company is paired with a dedicated Operating Leader who provides strategic guidance and support. Companies also gain access to the Banyan Business Community, which includes CEO Summits, functional Guilds, an online portal, and peer networks. Growth Enablement resources are available across finance, technology, sales and marketing, HR, legal, and talent. Banyan also invests in AI capabilities across its portfolio to help modernize products and accelerate growth. Banyan acquires profitable, market-leading enterprise software businesses with annual revenues generally greater than $2M, a high proportion of recurring revenue, strong customer retention, and engaged employees. The portfolio spans vertical markets including education, government, financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, and transportation, with businesses across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand
Key team members
Adam Cole
Michael Giske
Lisa Cowan
Alex Jarzebowicz
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