Job Title: Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Total Compensation: $250,000
We are partnering with a growing, private equity-backed manufacturing organization seeking an experienced Chief Financial Officer to lead financial operations, strengthen profitability analysis, and support the company's next phase of expansion. This is an opportunity to become the organization's first full-time CFO, working directly with executive leadership and investors to establish financial visibility, improve operational performance, and guide strategic growth initiatives.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on financial leader with strong manufacturing experience who can balance strategic decision-making with day-to-day financial execution. You'll oversee a lean accounting team while taking an active role in developing financial models, improving product costing, managing cash flow, and supporting a major facility expansion. We're looking for someone who understands the financial complexities of batch manufacturing and can translate operational data into actionable business decisions.
Your Role
Financial Leadership & Strategic Planning
- Serve as a strategic financial partner to the CEO and private equity ownership, providing insights that support operational and investment decisions
- Lead the organization's financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and risk management activities
- Develop financial strategies that support profitable growth, operational efficiency, and long-term business objectives
- Establish financial performance metrics and reporting processes that provide leadership with greater visibility into business performance
- Evaluate financial risks, investment opportunities, and resource allocation decisions
- Balance executive-level strategic planning with hands-on financial analysis and operational execution
Manufacturing Cost Accounting & Profitability
- Develop and maintain comprehensive product costing and profitability models across SKUs, customers, and production batches
- Analyze manufacturing costs, including raw materials, formulations, labor, production yields, scrap, overhead, and quality-related expenses
- Identify margin improvement opportunities through detailed cost analysis, pricing evaluations, and operational performance reviews
- Improve inventory valuation, reconciliation processes, and financial controls across manufacturing operations
- Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, and Quality teams to establish measurable performance indicators
- Evaluate production efficiency, material utilization, and manufacturing variances to identify opportunities for cost reduction
Financial Systems, Reporting & Analytics
- Optimize the integration and functionality of Fishbowl Inventory and QuickBooks Online to improve financial accuracy and operational visibility
- Strengthen data quality, system reconciliations, and financial reporting workflows using existing technology platforms
- Develop automated financial dashboards and reporting tools to support business performance monitoring
- Build financial models that connect production capacity, demand forecasts, labor efficiency, and material availability to revenue and cash flow
- Perform budget-to-actual analysis, identify performance variances, and recommend corrective actions
- Implement scalable reporting processes that support continued organizational growth
Capital Investment & Facility Expansion
- Lead financial planning and analysis for a major manufacturing facility expansion
- Develop capital investment models, cash flow projections, and return-on-investment analyses for expansion initiatives
- Monitor capital expenditures, committed spending, project budgets, and funding requirements
- Partner with Operations leadership to evaluate investment priorities, project timelines, and financial tradeoffs
- Track expansion costs against approved budgets and communicate financial performance to executive leadership
- Assess the financial impact of increased manufacturing capacity, operational changes, and future growth opportunities
Accounting Operations & Financial Controls
- Oversee accounting operations, including monthly close, financial statements, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger activities
- Lead and develop a lean accounting team, including controller-level and transactional accounting support
- Strengthen internal controls, inventory accounting practices, and financial reporting accuracy
- Manage working capital, liquidity planning, and short- and long-term cash flow forecasting
- Coordinate external audit, tax, banking, and financial advisory relationships
- Establish efficient financial processes that can scale alongside business growth
Private Equity Reporting & Corporate Development
- Prepare financial reporting packages, performance analyses, and strategic recommendations for private equity ownership
- Provide clear visibility into profitability, cash flow, capital expenditures, operational risks, and growth initiatives
- Collaborate with executive leadership and investors to evaluate strategic investments and business expansion opportunities
- Support potential acquisitions through financial due diligence, valuation modeling, and transaction analysis
- Participate in acquisition integration planning and financial process alignment
- Develop financial reporting and governance practices that meet investor expectations
What You've Got
- Significant financial leadership experience within manufacturing, with a strong preference for batch-processing environments
- Hands-on experience with manufacturing cost accounting, including product costing, yield analysis, inventory valuation, and margin optimization
- Proven ability to independently develop financial models, forecasts, dashboards, and management reporting
- Strong understanding of manufacturing operations, working capital management, and production-related financial drivers
- Experience overseeing accounting operations, financial reporting, budgeting, cash flow management, and internal controls
- Demonstrated success supporting capital investments, facility expansions, or significant operational growth initiatives
- Ability to translate complex financial and operational information into clear recommendations for executive leadership
- Experience leading and developing accounting and finance teams within a lean organizational structure
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify opportunities for improved profitability
- Excellent communication and relationship management skills with the ability to collaborate across executive, operational, and financial teams
- Entrepreneurial mindset with a willingness to take ownership of both strategic initiatives and detailed financial execution
- Previous CFO, VP of Finance, or senior divisional finance leadership experience with comparable responsibilities
Preferred
- Direct financial leadership experience in nutraceutical or pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Experience with batch manufacturing, formulation costing, lot-level inventory, and production variance analysis
- Familiarity with FDA-regulated manufacturing environments, including cGMP requirements, batch records, lot traceability, and quality controls
- Experience using Fishbowl Inventory and QuickBooks Online for manufacturing inventory management and financial reporting
- Previous experience working within a private equity-backed organization
- Experience preparing financial reporting and performance presentations for investors or private equity sponsors
- Background supporting mergers and acquisitions, including financial due diligence, transaction modeling, and integration planning
- Experience implementing automated financial reporting, business intelligence dashboards, and advanced financial analytics
- Familiarity with AI-assisted financial analysis and reporting tools
- Demonstrated success building or improving finance functions during periods of significant organizational growth
Why This Opportunity?
This position offers the opportunity to become the first full-time CFO of a growing manufacturing business with strong ownership support and meaningful expansion plans. You'll have direct influence over financial strategy, operational profitability, capital investments, and the organization's long-term direction.
Rather than stepping into a fully established finance department, you'll have the opportunity to build the financial infrastructure, reporting capabilities, and processes needed to support the company's next stage of growth.
