Overview
A privately held, multi-location specialty services company in Southeastern Wisconsin is seeking a hands-on, operationally focused Chief Financial Officer to support its next stage of growth.
The business has scaled rapidly, operates across both residential and commercial lines, and is entering a period where financial discipline, controls, and decision support must catch up to growth. This is not a controller clean-up role. The company needs a true CFO who can design financial architecture, impose structure, and translate data into actionable recommendations for ownership.
This role reports directly to ownership and will be highly visible across the organization.
What This Role Is Really About
- Bringing order, discipline, and financial architecture to a fast-growing operating business
- Strengthening controls, cost visibility, and forecasting across multiple locations
- Turning data into clear recommendations around pricing, margin, labor utilization, and growth decisions
- Acting as a confident thought partner to ownership during acquisitions and expansion
Key Responsibilities
- Lead all accounting, finance, treasury, and reporting functions
- Design and enforce financial controls, policies, and operating discipline
- Build and refine KPIs, dashboards, and management reporting
- Oversee inventory, labor, and cost accounting with a focus on margin visibility
- Improve forecasting, cash management, and working capital discipline
- Partner with ownership on acquisitions, capital structure, and growth strategy
- Evaluate and improve financial systems and data flow (ERP, reporting tools)
- Roll up sleeves when needed — this is a working CFO role
- Develop and mentor the finance team through an upcoming transition period
Ideal Background & Profile
This is the critical calibration point.
The ideal candidate:
- 3–6 years of public accounting experience (audit-heavy, mid-tier or Big 4)
- Then transitioned into industry roles with strong cost and operational exposure, such as:
- Manufacturing
- Industrial / technical services
- Cost-heavy operating environments
- Has served as a CFO or senior finance leader in a complex, multi-location business
- Comfortable operating in imperfect environments and building structure from the ground up
Construction or project-based exposure is a plus, but deep financial judgment, controls, and operating discipline matter more than pure construction pedigree.
Must-Have Capabilities
- Strong command of GAAP, audit readiness, and financial controls
- Deep understanding of:
- Cost accounting
- Inventory and labor economics
- Margin and pricing analysis
- Ability to identify where the business is “bleeding,” explain why, and recommend levers to pull
- Confident decision-maker with executive presence
- Comfortable challenging assumptions while respecting ownership culture
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and structured thinker
Education & Credentials
- Master’s in Accounting or Finance strongly preferred
- CPA preferred
- Public accounting foundation is non-negotiable
Compensation
- Total Cash Compensation: ~$300K
- Base salary + performance bonus
- Relocation assistance available (lump sum)
- Long-term upside tied to growth and performance
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $250,000.00 - $300,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount
- Family leave
- Flexible schedule
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Relocation assistance
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- How many years did you spend in public accounting, and in what capacity? (Audit vs tax, firm type, years completed)
- After public accounting, what types of operating businesses have you worked in? (Manufacturing, industrial, services, etc.)
- Describe your experience with cost accounting, inventory, labor utilization, and margin analysis.
- Give an example of a time you identified a financial issue (margin, cost, pricing, controls) and made a recommendation that changed business behavior.
- What is the largest organization (revenue and headcount) where you had full financial leadership responsibility?
- Have you led or significantly influenced improvements to financial controls, reporting, or systems in a growing organization?
- This role is on-site in Southeastern Wisconsin. Are you able to work on-site (with relocation support if needed)?
- This role targets total cash compensation around $300K. Does that align with your expectations?
Work Location: In person
