IMMEDIATE INTERIM OPPORTUNITY
Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer
Duration: 6-12 Months
Location: Ottawa
Our client, a large, complex hospital organization headquartered in Ottawa, is seeking an experienced Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead the organization through a critical period of financial recovery, transformation, and modernization.
The hospital is currently undergoing a budget recovery process, placing a premium on financial visibility, transparency, and credibility with the Board, Executive Leadership Team (ELT), funders, and system partners. The Interim CFO will play a central role in stabilizing the hospital’s financial position while repositioning Finance as a strategic, value‑adding partner to clinical, operational, and academic leadership.
This engagement combines hands‑on operational leadership, enterprise‑level finance transformation, and senior‑level advisory work. The successful interim leader will be expected to deliver immediate confidence and discipline while laying the foundation for a more sophisticated, insight‑driven finance organization aligned to the hospital’s long‑term sustainability.
Mandate Overview
Reporting into the senior leadership team, the Interim CFO will provide leadership across Finance, Payroll, Procurement and Facilities, while acting as a trusted advisor to the ELT and the Board during a period of transition and recovery.
The mandate includes:
- Modernizing the finance function and elevating its sophistication and strategic value
- Supporting the hospital through a budget recovery and financial stabilization process
- Leading the implementation of Workday as the hospital’s core financial system
- Reorganizing the finance team and structure to align with future‑state needs
- Rebuilding trust, transparency, and confidence with the Board and ELT
- Identifying opportunities to optimize funding, cost structures, and revenue streams within a hospital funding environment
- Providing senior financial leadership on a major P3 project
- Leading the Facilities portfolio through restructuring, including onboarding and supporting a new Director
- Supporting and partnering with the hospital’s Foundation and Research Institute
Key Priorities and Responsibilities
Budget Recovery, Transparency & Hospital Financial Stewardship
- Lead the hospital through a period of budget recovery, ensuring clear financial controls, discipline, and transparency
- Strengthen hospital‑level financial reporting to support decision‑making by the ELT, Board, and Board committees
- Improve forecasting, scenario planning, and cash‑flow management in a constrained funding environment
- Establish credibility and confidence with hospital leadership through clear, plain‑language financial insight
Finance Transformation & Modernization
- Assess the current finance operating model, structure, capabilities, and hospital‑specific workflows
- Transform Finance from a transactional and compliance‑driven function to a strategic partner supporting clinical and operational decision‑making
- Redesign roles, accountabilities, and governance to better support service lines, programs, and hospital leadership
- Elevate financial planning, performance management, and analytics across the organization
Workday Implementation
- Provide executive leadership for the Workday implementation, ensuring alignment with hospital operations and transformation goals
- Partner with clinical, operational, HR, and IT leaders to ensure integration and adoption
- Ensure disciplined delivery, effective change management, and early stabilization post‑go‑live
- Translate the system implementation into measurable improvements in reporting, planning, and insight
Board, ELT & Governance Partnership
- Rebuild and strengthen trust between Finance, the Board, and the ELT
- Improve Board‑level financial materials, focusing on transparency, relevance, and decision readiness
- Support Audit & Finance Committee work with credible, timely, and decision‑oriented reporting
- Act as a trusted advisor on financial strategy, capital planning, risk, and resource allocation
Revenue, Funding & Cost Optimization
- Identify opportunities to strengthen and diversify hospital revenue streams, within the public funding framework
- Review and optimize funding models, ministry funding, grants, and reimbursement mechanisms
- Assess cost structures and identify sustainable efficiencies without compromising patient care or clinical outcomes
- Support long‑term hospital financial sustainability planning
Foundation & Research Institute Partnership
- Partner closely with the Hospital Foundation to support fundraising strategy, financial integration, and reporting
- Provide financial leadership and oversight to the Research Institute, including grant funding, compliance, and reporting
- Ensure alignment between hospital operations, research priorities, and philanthropic funding
P3 Project Leadership
- Provide senior financial leadership on a major P3 initiative, including financial modelling, governance, and risk management
- Partner with internal leaders, advisors, infrastructure partners, and government stakeholders
- Ensure financial and contractual risks are clearly articulated, governed, and actively managed
Facilities Leadership & Restructuring
- Lead the Facilities portfolio through a period of restructuring and transition
- Oversee the onboarding and integration of a new permanent Director of Facilities
- Clarify governance, accountabilities, and alignment between Facilities, Capital Planning, and Finance
- Ensure facilities and capital decisions support the hospital’s clinical and strategic priorities
Success Measures
By the end of the engagement, success will be evidenced by:
- Stabilized hospital financial performance during the budget recovery period
- Improved transparency and confidence from the Board, ELT, and funders
- A more sophisticated, strategically aligned finance function
- Successful implementation and early stabilization of Workday
- Clear recommendations and a roadmap for long‑term hospital financial sustainability
- Strengthened financial partnership with the Foundation and Research Institute
- Stabilized and restructured Facilities leadership, with a new Director effectively onboarded
- Strong financial governance and oversight of the P3 initiative
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal interim executive will bring:
- Senior experience as a CFO or VP Finance in a hospital
- A proven track record leading budget recovery, finance transformations, and ERP implementations (Workday strongly preferred)
- Deep experience working with hospital Boards, Audit & Finance Committees, and executive teams
- Demonstrated success optimizing funding models, revenue opportunities, and cost structures in healthcare
- Ideally experience supporting hospital foundations and research institutes
- Comfort leading both Finance, Payroll, Procurement and Facilities portfolios
- A steady, pragmatic leadership style with the credibility to rebuild trust quickly
PLEASE SEND YOUR CV (AS A WORD DOC) TO: Interim.Applications@LHHknightsbridge.com (Subject: Job Title)
LHH Knightsbridge Interim Management is a service to help our clients address a wide range of scenarios including leadership support due to sudden departures, driving key change initiatives or leading transformation projects. Our interim executives step in with minimal downtime to meet specific objectives and deliver results. All have held senior positions in the past and have now chosen to offer their unique depth and breadth of experience to organizations on a limited engagement basis.
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Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbridge Corp. is committed to providing equitable treatment and accommodation to ensure a barrier-free recruitment process. In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and our AODA policy, a request for accommodation will be accepted as part of the hiring process. If you require accommodation to apply or if selected to participate in an assessment process, please provide your accommodation needs in advance to the Recruitment Lead for this opportunity.
We thank all interested candidates in advance; however, only individuals selected for interviews will be contacted.
March 2026
