Role: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Finance Director (FD)
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Location: Hybrid (Sheffield)
I'm looking for a finance leader for a deep tech hardware start-up. You must be willing and able to spend some time in the Sheffield HQ (although this is a hybrid role).
Relevant Industry Experience:
- Cybersecurity
- Network Security
- Quantum Encryption
- PQC
- Semiconductors
- Deep-Tech Manufacturing
- Enterprise Grade Hardware (IT or Telco)
Must Have's:
- Start-up or scale up experience
- Ground up, first finance hire experience
- VC, PE investor relations, and fundraising (Series A-C)
- Willingness to come to Sheffield some of the time
The Role:
- The CFO or FD will be a key member of the senior leadership team, responsible for leading day-to-day financial operations while supporting the company’s strategic growth plans.
- This is a hands-on leadership role suited to someone who enjoys building structure and discipline in a scaling business.
- The CFO or FD will ensure strong financial control, robust reporting, and effective cash management, while supporting fundraising activities, international expansion, and operational decision-making.
- Working closely with the CEO and Board, the CFO or FD will provide high-quality financial insight, maintain financial stability in a hardware-led environment with complex cash cycles, and build scalable systems and processes as the business grows across the US, EMEA, and APAC.
Responsibilities:
Financial Leadership & Planning
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning.
- Providing financial insight to support strategic decisions and disciplined scaling.
- Delivering clear monthly management accounts, KPI reporting, and board packs.
- Developing and maintain robust financial models including hardware margins, manufacturing costs, and deployment economics.
- Supporting valuation analysis and financial modelling for growth planning.
Cash Flow & Financial Control
- Owning cash flow management, runway visibility, and burn rate control.
- Managing working capital, including inventory and manufacturing-related cash cycles.
- Implementing strong financial controls appropriate for a venture-backed scaling business.
- Ensuring accurate revenue recognition in an environment with long sales cycles and lumpy revenue.
- Driving capital efficiency in a hardware business with tight working-capital constraints.
Fundraising & Investor Support
- Supporting the CEO in fundraising preparation, including financial modelling, diligence materials, and investor data rooms.
- Maintaining investor-ready financial information and reporting.
- Supporting post-fundraise reporting and performance tracking.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Ensuring compliance across jurisdictions, including tax, statutory reporting, and regulatory requirements.
- Managing relationships with external accountants, auditors, banks, insurers, and advisors.
- Overseeing audits and statutory filings.
- Maintaining appropriate risk management frameworks as the business scales internationally.
Commercial & Operational Support
- Partnering with product, engineering, operations, and supply chain teams to improve margins and cost efficiency.
- Providing financial oversight of manufacturing partners and hardware sourcing decisions.
- Supporting pricing strategy, contract evaluation, and customer economics.
- Contributing financial input to international expansion decisions and entity structuring.
Systems & Team Development
- Building and evolve finance systems, processes, and reporting infrastructure.
- Leading and develop the finance function as scale demands.
- Ensuring finance processes scale effectively without creating operational friction.
Skills & Experience:
Essential
- Experience in a scaling or venture-backed business environment.
- Strong cash management and financial control experience.
- Demonstrated experience in budgeting, forecasting, and board-level reporting.
- Experience operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
- Strong understanding of unit economics and capital efficiency.
- Experience working with international operations (US and/or EMEA/APAC).
- Comfortable operating in a hardware, manufacturing, deep-tech, or complex product environment.
Desirable
- Experience supporting fundraising processes.
- Experience managing inventory and manufacturing cost structures.
- Exposure to cross-border tax and multi-currency environments.
- Experience implementing finance systems in scaling businesses.
Qualifications
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent) or equivalent experience.
- Relevant degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business.
Personal Attributes
- Structured and detail-oriented, with strong analytical capability.
- Commercially minded and pragmatic.
- Calm, credible, and solutions-focused.
- High integrity and accountability.
- Collaborative leader with strong communication skills.
To apply for this role, please email me on stephenr@alexanderrhodes.co.uk
Include a short synopsis c.200 words, explaining how your profile matches the brief.
If you need immediate feedback or deeper qualification before applying, please call me on 07834 585199.
Many thanks and good luck.
Stephen Rhodes, Director.
Alexander Rhodes Associates Ltd.
