Manuel Roman in

Manuel Roman

Go-getter · DISC type d
Chief Financial Officer at Emotion
📍 Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

As Group CFO at Emotion, Manuel Roman utilizes over 18 years of global finance experience to scale the PE-backed SaaS platform. He focuses on M&A execution, exit preparation, and strategy, drawing on his INSEAD MBA and his prior success in scaling OLX to a $9 billion valuation.

Driven by a search for purpose, Manuel pivoted from investment banking and, after a startup failure, moved his family to Singapore for his MBA. This transformative journey led him to a more meaningful career in technology, highlighting his resilience and commitment to personal growth.

He was the recipient of the INSEAD LOreal Scholarship for Creativity, Diversity and Entrepreneurship.

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Experience
7 Years
Current Role
Chief Financial Officer
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Personality Overview

How Manuel shows up

Challenger
Self-Confident
Decisive

They care equally about the product and its potential impact. They don’t always try to control the conversation but neither do they like yielding it fully. They can be nudged to make faster decisions by offering what they value.

Priorities

Topics Manuel cares about

SaaS Scaling
His current mandate at Emotion is to build the finance function and the company for its next growth phase in the enterprise SaaS mobility space.
M&A Execution
A key focus of his role is executing and integrating M&A, a skill he utilized to help scale his previous company, OLX.
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Career

Work history

1-2026
Chief Financial Officer
Emotion
4-2023 - 12-2025
VP of FP&A
OLX
10-2020 - 4-2024
Board Director
Carsmile
4-2020 - 3-2023
CFO - OLX Motors (business unit)
OLX
8-2019 - 4-2020
CFO, Board Director - OLX Portugal (olx.pt, Imovirtual.com, Standvirtual.com)
OLX
In the press

Media appearances

No media yetWe could not find public media appearances for this person.
Education
2016 - 2016
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
INSEAD
2002 - 2007
Bachelor of Business Administration - BBA
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

d

Dominance (D)

Dominance (D) reflects how goal and task oriented a person is, and their ability to accomplish results irrespective of how demanding the circumstances might be. Those scoring high tend to be motivated by winning, competition, and success.

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