Online firm OLX Philippines, the most visited website in the country, has installed a new top country executive in its first massive leadership change since a South African investment firm bought Sulit.com.ph and adopted its current name.
In a press statement, the Internet company said it recently promoted Giancarlo Bonsel from head of marketplace development to general manager and country head. Bonsel takes over from Sulit.com.ph founder and managing director RJ David who will remain on the board of directors.
David, together with wife Arianne, created and built Sulit.com.ph to become the biggest website in the Philippines. In 2009, they sold their stake to South African media firm Naspers for an undisclosed amount. Aside from a board seat, RJ was also given the role of managing director while Arianne served as head of operations.
However, Naspers decided four years later to rebrand Sulit.com.ph to OLX PH in an attempt to build up itself as a ?global? brand.
As general manager, Bonsel will focus on expanding the OLX PH business ?by improving user engagement and creating greater value and opportunities for casual and professional sellers.?
“Over the last 10 years, OLX has evolved into much more than just a buy-and-sell platform for Filipinos. We have created a global and efficient used goods economy. Through OLX?s platform, individuals are gaining access to additional income, goods, and services. Our new senior leadership team will push this transformation to greater scale,” said Bonsel.
Also joining the senior leadership team is Raffy Montemayor as chief operating officer, who is tasked with customer support, business intelligence, sales, and category management to enable further growth and development.
Montemayor brings to the role his experience as former country manager of hotel booking site Agoda.com where he streamlined operations to achieve substantial growth.
Promoted to the position of chief marketing officer is former OLX head of marketing and acquisition Cris Concepcion. A former top executive of Yahoo Philippine and Samsung Philippines, he will lead strategic marketing and content initiatives that will grow the OLX user base and increase engagement across platforms.
Concepcion, a physician by training, brings to the role his expertise in new media and consumer technology to create unique digital experiences for OLX customers.
Also appointed is chief product officer Peter Koning who will focus on ensuring the delivery of world-class products and better user experiences.
Koning has worked with OLX since 2012, helping set up the team at Sao Paulo as consultant and eventually moving to Buenos Aires as head of product for ten Latin America markets. He will be joining the team in Manila in the next quarter.
OLX also took in Bit Santos as chief technology officer. He was the company?s former head of product engineering where he led the transformation of the OLX platform to achieve the company?s long-term vision. Santos, who has been with OLX since 2011, will continue to bring technical expertise to the growing brand.
Rounding out the senior executive team is Property 24 Philippines country manager Steve Santos. Over the last three years, Santos has increased engagement for the Property 24 business and has launched and contributed to the growth of the Naspers Property vertical business in the Philippines.
