João Campoa Rodrigues
Chief Operating Officer | Strategy & Operations
Complex Delivery · Governance · Multi-Country Operations
Executive Summary
Senior executive with 20+ years of experience building, scaling and stabilising operations in complex, high-scrutiny environments. Proven track record growing organisations from early-stage funding to multi-million USD budgets, institutionalising governance, and delivering consistent operational performance across multi-country contexts. Strong in operating model design, execution discipline and leadership of multidisciplinary teams, bridging board-level expectations with frontline delivery under pressure.
Core Executive Value
- • Translate strategic ambition into operational reality
- • Lead delivery in complex, multi-stakeholder environments
- • Design and implement governance, operating models and execution rhythm
- • Build teams, accountability and leadership capacity
- • Navigate risk, funding volatility and institutional pressure without loss of delivery
Professional Experience
Chief Operating Officer
Mozambique Wildlife Alliance (MWA) | 2021 – Present
International, multi-country organisation operating under high regulatory, donor and stakeholder scrutiny.
Mandate: End-to-end responsibility for operations, governance, delivery, financial discipline and organisational scale.
Scale & Scope
- • Scaled annual budget from USD 200k (2021) to USD 3.0M (2026)
- • Led organisation of ~40 staff across operations, administration and technical functions
- • Operations based in Mozambique, with active interfaces across Southern Africa
- • Multi-donor environment including World Bank, US Government, UK Government and European institutions
Key Responsibilities
- • Designed and led the organisation's operating model, governance structure and execution cadence
- • Institutionalised advisory board governance, compliance and reporting discipline
- • Full oversight of operations, budgets, risk management and delivery performance
- • Leadership of multidisciplinary teams in high-risk and politically sensitive environments
- • Direct engagement with senior stakeholders, donors and authorities
Selected Executive Outcomes
- • Built and scaled an organisation, designing the operating model, delivery streams and governance frameworks to support sustained growth
- • Translated complex state and market needs into structured field operations and reporting systems under high scrutiny
- • Introduced commercial-grade execution and governance standards, enabling sustained growth and international recognition
- • Positioned the organisation as a trusted international reference, generating inbound institutional demand rather than outbound fundraising dependency
Governance & Compliance
- • Operates under multi-donor compliance frameworks, including World Bank and government funding standards
- • Subject to annual external audits by international auditors
- • Established and works with an external advisory board to ensure accountability, compliance and strategic oversight
- • Experienced in operating within regulated, high-scrutiny environments requiring disciplined reporting and risk management
International & Cross-Cultural Experience
- • Professional operations across Africa and Europe
- • Daily engagement with stakeholders across US, UK, EU and multilateral institutions
- • Comfortable operating across cultures, governance systems and regulatory environments
- • Proven ability to align diverse stakeholders around delivery objectives
Leadership Profile
- • COO-level executive with strong delivery bias
- • Calm under pressure; decisive in ambiguity
- • Creates environments where teams execute, not just plan
- • Trusted in contexts where failure carries financial, reputational or institutional risk
Additional Information
- • Extensive experience founding and scaling organisations to operational maturity
- • Experience establishing and operating compliant international legal and financial structures
- • Languages: Portuguese (native), English (fluent), French (elementary proficiency)