Position: Interim Chief Financial Officer
Company Size: ~$500M revenue, PE‑backed manufacturing
Engagement Details
3–6 months, until the FT CFO is onboard
Start Date: On or before June 1st, 2026
Our client is seeking an experienced Interim Chief Financial Officer to lead the company’s finance organization, drive the enterprise financial model, and serve as a key strategic partner to the CEO and private equity ownership. This executive will provide hands-on leadership across Tax, Treasury, Cost Accounting, FP&A, and Controllership, with a particular focus on improving contribution margin and optimizing capital structure in a PE-backed environment.
Strategic Leadership & PE Partnership
- Serve as the primary financial partner to the CEO and PE sponsor, translating value‑creation plans into robust financial models and actionable initiatives.
- Lead development of short-, mid- and long-range financial plans, including revenue, margin, cash, and capital allocation scenarios that align with PE ownership objectives.
- Prepare and deliver high-quality board and lender materials, including monthly/quarterly performance packages, KPI dashboards, and variance analyses.
Financial Modeling & Performance Management
- Own and refine the company’s integrated financial model, including P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow, to support strategic decisions, pricing, and operational initiatives.
- Drive margin and profitability analysis at product, customer, and plant levels, identifying levers to improve contribution margin and overall EBITDA.
- Partner with Operations, Commercial, and Supply Chain to evaluate capital investments, cost-savings programs, and working capital initiatives, ensuring clear ROI and payback.
Tax & Treasury
- Oversee all Tax planning, compliance, and strategy, ensuring optimized effective tax rate and alignment with PE holding structure.
- Lead Treasury activities, including cash management, liquidity forecasting, covenant compliance, and banking relationships.
- Manage debt structures and capital markets interactions in coordination with the PE sponsor, including refinancing, amendments, and reporting.
Cost Accounting & Manufacturing Finance
- Lead Cost Accounting across plants, ensuring accurate standard costs, overhead allocation, variance analysis, and inventory valuation.
- Implement and refine manufacturing KPIs and dashboards that connect operational performance (yield, scrap, labor, throughput) to financial outcomes.
- Partner with plant leadership to drive productivity, scrap reduction, and footprint optimization with clear financial impact on contribution margin.
FP&A & Controller Leadership
- Oversee FP&A, including budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, and performance analytics.
- Lead the Controller function to ensure timely, accurate financial statements and a strong control environment.
Qualifications:
- 10+ years of progressive finance leadership experience, including CFO experience at a PE‑backed manufacturing company in the $300M–$1B revenue range.
- Demonstrated success operating as a seated CFO in a private equity ownership model, including direct interaction with PE partners, boards, and lenders.
- Deep experience across Tax, Treasury, Cost Accounting, FP&A, and Controllership, with a track record of improving contribution margin and cash flow.
- Strong background in manufacturing finance, standard costing, and plant-level performance management.
- Hands-on experience with JD Edwards or a similar mid/large‑scale ERP; able to work at both strategic and detailed levels within the system.
- Prior experience in an interim, turnaround, or value-creation setting is strongly preferred.
- Exceptional financial modeling and analytical skills; able to simplify complexity and clearly communicate insights to both operators and investors.
- Proven ability to manage and develop finance teams, instill accountability, and create a performance-oriented culture.
- Comfortable in a fast-paced PE environment with demanding timelines, frequent change, and high expectations for execution and results.
- Strong executive presence and communication skills; able to engage credibly with CEOs, PE partners, lenders, and plant leadership.
- Highly hands-on, action-oriented, and comfortable “diving into the details” while maintaining a strategic perspective.
