Chief Financial Officer / Finance Director (CFO / DAF)
Client: Luxury Craftsmanship Group
Location: France with European Travel
Contract: Advisory / transformation consulting mandate → permanent executive role
Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer & Strategic Planner Director.
Governance: Executive Committee / Board exposure
Team: 2–3 people (Finance, Accounting, Admin/HR)
Context:
A European luxury fashion house with strong heritage and international ambitions is entering a critical transformation phase. The group is restructuring its legal and operational footprint, strengthening governance, and accelerating growth toward an ambitious mid-term objective.
To support this phase, the CEO wishes to appoint a highly operative CFO / DAF, initially through a confidential advisory and transformation mandate, with a clear objective to transition into a permanent executive role once the transformation is stabilised.
The appointment is urgent and requires the highest level of discretion.
Role Purpose:
The CFO / DAF is a key member of the leadership team, responsible for finance, accounting, treasury, compliance, and HR oversight, with a strong operational bias.
This role combines:
- Immediate execution in a sensitive environment
- Support of a complex organisational and legal transformation
- Progressive structuring of the finance & admin function to support international growth
This is not a purely supervisory CFO role. The successful candidate will be hands-on, pragmatic, and deeply involved in day-to-day operations.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Financial Planning, Analysis & Business Support
- Build and manage short- and mid-term cash-flow forecasts
- Deliver clear financial analyses and recommendations to the CEO
- Partner with business planning / controlling functions on budgets and scenarios
- Support strategic decision-making during transformation
2. Treasury & Banking Relations
- Manage relationships with banking partners and financial institutions
- Oversee treasury, liquidity, and working capital
- Optimise capital structure and funding sources
3. Accounting, Reporting & Compliance
- Ensure accuracy, timeliness, and compliance of financial statements
- Supervise monthly, quarterly, and annual closings
- Ensure full tax, social, and regulatory compliance
- Coordinate with auditors, legal advisors, and external consultants
4. Organisation, Governance & Transformation
- Support legal and organisational restructuring across entities
- Contribute to governance processes, including interaction with employee representative bodies
- Redesign finance and admin processes to support scale and internationalisation
5. Team Leadership
- Lead and develop a small finance / accounting / admin team (2–3 people)
- Bring structure and best practices while remaining pragmatic and operational
6. HR Oversight
- Supervise HR administration in coordination with existing resources
- Ensure compliance with employment law and internal HR processes
- Act as a trusted partner to the CEO on people-related topics during the transition
Profile & Experience
Background
- Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, or related field
- 10+ years of experience in finance leadership roles
- 5+ years as CFO / DAF or equivalent senior role
- Strong experience in SMEs or entrepreneurial environments
- Experience in luxury, fashion, retail, or craftsmanship-driven businesses is a strong plus
Languages
- French: mandatory
- English: mandatory
- Italian: strong plus
Technical & Personal Attributes
- Very hands-on and execution-oriented
- Strong accounting, tax, and treasury expertise
- Comfortable working directly in ERP and reporting tools
- High level of integrity, discretion, and confidentiality
- Calm, structured, and reliable in sensitive contexts
- Able to combine operational delivery with strategic perspective
Practical Information
- Immediate availability strongly preferred
- Initial confidential advisory / transformation mandate
- Clear intention to evolve into a permanent CFO / DAF role
- Regular travel within France and occasional international travel
