Chief Financial Officer — Newly Formed Private Equity Buy-and-Build Platform
Location: Atlanta, GA Metro Area (on-site/hybrid, with regular presence at company headquarters) Reports to: Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors Type: Full-Time, Executive Leadership
The Opportunity
Our client, a private equity-backed platform company recently formed in the Atlanta metro area, is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to help lead an ambitious buy-and-build strategy. The sponsor has acquired an established anchor business as the foundation of the platform and has committed significant capital to a multi-year acquisition roadmap, with a robust pipeline of add-on targets already in motion.
This is a growth-oriented CFO mandate. The incoming CFO will build the financial engine that allows the platform to acquire, integrate, and scale rapidly — creating the repeatable M&A playbook, diligence discipline, and integration machinery that turn a series of acquisitions into one cohesive, high-performing company. The CFO will be a deal-facing executive from day one, partnering with the CEO and sponsor on target evaluation, valuation, structuring, and financing, while ensuring the core business continues to perform. For the right executive, this is an opportunity to be the financial architect of a platform from its earliest days and to participate meaningfully in the equity value created.
Key Responsibilities
M&A Execution & Deal Support
- Serve as the finance lead on all add-on acquisitions: pipeline evaluation, financial diligence, quality of earnings review, valuation modeling, and deal structuring
- Partner with the sponsor and CEO on letters of intent, purchase agreements, working capital targets, and earnout structures
- Manage acquisition financing, including delayed-draw facilities, incremental debt, and equity contributions
- Build relationships with lenders, diligence providers, and advisors to create a repeatable, efficient deal process
Integration Playbook & Scalable Infrastructure
- Design and own the platform's repeatable post-close integration playbook — the first 100 days for every acquired company across accounting, systems, payroll, banking, and reporting
- Select and implement a scalable ERP and financial technology stack that each new acquisition can be onboarded to quickly
- Standardize the chart of accounts, accounting policies, and close calendar so every add-on lands in a common framework
- Track synergy capture and integration milestones for each completed deal
Financial Leadership of the Platform
- Build and lead the platform's finance organization, scaling the team ahead of acquisition-driven growth
- Deliver a reliable consolidated monthly close, board reporting package, and KPI dashboards across an expanding set of entities
- Establish budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning for a business whose shape changes with each acquisition
- Implement cash flow forecasting, covenant reporting, and treasury operations appropriate for a leveraged, acquisitive company
Strategic & Sponsor Partnership
- Serve as the primary financial interface with the private equity sponsor, lenders, and the Board
- Maintain the platform-level model that tracks value creation, leverage, and returns across the combined business
- Bring financial rigor to organic growth decisions — pricing, capacity investment, and go-to-market expansion — alongside the M&A agenda
- Help shape the long-term equity story as the platform scales toward an eventual exit
The Ideal Candidate
Required Experience
- 12+ years of progressive finance leadership, including CFO, VP of Finance, or senior finance experience in a private equity-backed, acquisitive company
- Direct buy-side M&A experience across multiple completed transactions — diligence, valuation, structuring, and financing
- Demonstrated success integrating acquired companies onto common systems, processes, and reporting, ideally using a repeatable playbook
- Experience scaling a finance function through rapid, acquisition-driven growth
- Strong command of U.S. GAAP, purchase accounting, consolidated multi-entity reporting, and lender/covenant requirements
- Advanced financial modeling capability, including LBO, accretion/dilution, and synergy analysis
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field
Preferred
- CPA and/or MBA
- Prior experience in a roll-up or buy-and-build platform from its early stages
- Background in transaction advisory, investment banking, or private equity in addition to operating roles
- ERP implementation experience in a multi-entity environment (e.g., NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics)
Personal Attributes
- Deal-savvy operator who is equally credible in a diligence session and a monthly close review
- Thrives on pace — able to run multiple acquisitions in parallel without letting core financial operations slip
- Systems thinker who builds processes designed to be repeated, not reinvented
- Direct, confident communicator trusted by sponsors, lenders, sellers, and newly acquired teams
Compensation
- Competitive base salary of $325,000 – $425,000, commensurate with experience
- Annual performance bonus with a target of 40%–50% of base salary
- Meaningful equity participation in the platform, aligned with value created through the buy-and-build strategy and eventual exit
- Comprehensive benefits package, including health coverage and retirement plan with company match
