Our private equity client is searching for an exceptional, commercially oriented Chief Financial Officer to serve as the financial and strategic co-pilot to the President & CEO at one of their portfolio companies.
The CFO will own the full finance function across all subsidiaries including financial reporting, FP&A, treasury, tax, and compliance, while also serving as a key thought partner on capital allocation, M&A support and negotiation, and board-level communication.
This is a hands-on, high-accountability role that offers: (i) a financial leadership position within a dominant player in their industry (ii) the opportunity to partner directly with an engaged ownership group focused on long-term value creation (iii) the ability to shape the financial infrastructure of a growing platform business, (iv) exposure to acquisitions and capital allocation decisions, and (v) the opportunity to participate directly in long-term equity value creation alongside ownership.
Responsibilities
Financial Leadership & Reporting
- Full-cycle financial management: Own consolidated financial reporting across all company owned entities, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with applicable accounting standards.
- Board and investor reporting: Prepare and present board-ready monthly management packages and quarterly board materials.
- Financial systems management: Lead the modernization of financial systems, reporting infrastructure, and analytics capabilities to support the company’s continued growth, enhance efficiency, and allow for greater data-driven decision making.
- Internal controls and governance: Strengthen internal controls, financial governance, and audit readiness across the group, with particular focus on inventory, purchasing, and cash management.
FP&A and Capital Allocation
- Budgeting and forecasting: Own the annual budget and rolling forecast process across all entities, partnering with business unit leaders to set targets, track deviations, and reforecast as needed.
- Capital allocation: Develop a rigorous framework for capital allocation decisions, including M&A investment, capex, and distributions, and present recommendations to the board.
- Working capital optimization: Improve working capital efficiency across purchasing, inventory levels, and receivables.
- M&A support: Lead financial due diligence on prospective acquisitions, construct transaction models, and lead financial integration of acquired businesses, including systems, controls, reporting cadence, and alignment to group KPIs.
Operational Finance & Business Partnership
- Channel and margin analysis: Partner with operating leaders on margin analysis, pricing, and inventory economics across wholesale and DTC channels.
- Operational reporting: Develop data-driven reporting to improve decision-making across purchasing, inventory management, and logistics.
- KPI and performance management: Build a robust performance management framework, including KPIs, dashboards, and operating metrics that improve visibility, accountability, and decision-making across the business.
- Strategic project support: Support major strategic initiatives including channel expansion, operational scaling, and systems modernization.
- Capital projects and infrastructure planning: Support the evaluation of major capital investments, facility expansion, and longer-term operational infrastructure planning.
- Treasury, Tax, and Compliance
- Cash and debt management: Manage banking relationships, credit facilities, cash forecasting, and intercompany funding across the group.
- Cross-border financial management: Oversee the financial management of the company’s Canadian and U.S. operations, including foreign exchange exposure, intercompany flows, import duties, cross-border tax considerations, and structural efficiency.
- Lender strategy and capital structure: Lead lender strategy, covenant management, and financing planning to support growth, working capital requirements, and major capital investments.
- Tax compliance and planning: Oversee corporate tax filings across Canadian and U.S. entities and work with external advisors to implement tax-efficient structures.
- Insurance and risk: Maintain appropriate insurance coverage, identify, quantify, and monitor key financial risks including inventory obsolescence, customer concentration, FX exposure, and liquidity risk, and implement mitigation strategies.
- Team and Organizational Development
- Finance team leadership: Recruit, develop, and manage the finance team across all subsidiaries; assess current staffing and build toward a scalable structure.
- External relationships: Manage relationships with external auditors, legal counsel, tax advisors, and banking partners.
The Right Candidate
Experience & Qualifications
- CPA designation required; MBA or equivalent graduate credential an asset
- 15+ years of progressive finance experience, including at least 3-5 years in a senior finance leadership role
- Familiarity with PE-style reporting, board dynamics, and capital allocation frameworks. Prior experience in a private equity-backed business strongly preferred
- Demonstrated track record of building or upgrading finance functions and leading through organizational change
- Experience with multi-entity, multi-currency consolidations (CAD / USD) an asset
- Exposure to M&A - due diligence, transaction structuring, or integration - is a meaningful differentiator
- Demonstrated ability to partner closely with operators and translate financial insight into practical business decisions
- Personal Attributes
- Exceptional analytical and financial modelling skills with a bias toward clean, decision-ready output
- Strong communication skills: comfortable presenting to a board, negotiating with lenders, and working alongside operating managers
- High integrity, sound judgment, and a collaborative leadership style
- Entrepreneurial mindset: thrives in a dynamic, resource-constrained environment with significant autonomy
- Detail-oriented without losing sight of the strategic picture