LOCAL candidates at this time only
Prefer candidates coming from a manufacturing/distribution background.
OUR CLIENT
Our client is based in Cleveland and in the industrial sector of parts distribution ($50M-$100M) in revenue.
POSITION SUMMARY
They are seeking a hands-on, collaborative Chief Financial Officer to serve as a true financial partner to the President & CEO and the broader leadership team. This is not a back-office role; the right candidate is an engaged storyteller who translates numbers into operational insight, rallies people around shared financial goals, and helps the entire organization understand the “why” behind the results.
Their business operates in a working capital-intensive environment, cycling between periods of meaningful leverage and near-neutral leverage depending on inventory position, customer demand, and strategic opportunity. The CFO will be the steward of that capital structure, maintaining a productive, transparent relationship with their commercial banking partners and actively managing the credit line as a strategic tool, not simply a safety net.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Financial Leadership & Storytelling
- Own the financial narrative of the business; go beyond the numbers to clearly articulate what is driving performance, what the trends mean, and where attention is required.
- Prepare and present timely, accurate financial statements with meaningful management commentary that connects operational activity to financial outcomes.
- Partner with the CEO to develop and maintain a rolling strategic financial plan, including scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to department heads, helping each function understand its contribution to overall financial health and working capital dynamics.
Cost Accounting & Gross Margin Management
- Maintain rigorous cost accounting disciplines across inventory, freight, supplier pricing, and landed cost, ensuring gross margin data is accurate, actionable, and trusted by the sales and operations teams.
- Identify margin erosion at the customer, product, and branch level; partner with commercial leadership on corrective action.
- Build and sustain a costing methodology that supports pricing decisions and competitive positioning in a distribution environment.
- Monitor and report on product mix shifts, supplier cost changes, and market pricing trends with forward-looking perspective.
ERP Reporting & Systems
- Maximize the financial reporting capabilities of the company’s ERP system; design dashboards, reports, and KPI frameworks that provide real-time visibility to operational leaders.
- Serve as a key stakeholder in any ERP enhancements, integrations, or migrations, ensuring the finance function’s needs are fully represented.
- Drive continuous improvement in reporting automation, data integrity, and close cycle efficiency.
- Build reporting tools that non-financial managers can use independently to track their areas of accountability.
Working Capital & Cash Management
- Take direct ownership of working capital performance, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory optimization; understanding that working capital is where the business’s financial performance is most directly felt day to day.
- Actively manage the company’s revolving credit facility, maintaining compliance with covenants, forecasting borrowing needs, and optimizing usage across the cash conversion cycle.
- Build and maintain a 13-week cash flow forecast as a core management tool; communicate cash positioning proactively with the CEO.
- Maintain fluency with the company’s debt structure; from the revolver to any term obligations and manage lender relationships with transparency and professionalism.
- Understand and communicate the company’s leverage position across cycles; be comfortable operating and reporting at both highly leveraged and near-neutral states.
Commercial Banking & Lender Relations
- Serve as the primary relationship manager with the company’s commercial bank(s), maintaining open and proactive communication on performance, covenant status, and capital needs.
- Prepare and deliver all lender reporting requirements accurately and on schedule.
- Evaluate the company’s credit structure periodically and make recommendations on facility size, structure, or lender alternatives as the business evolves.
- Support any refinancing, amendment, or expansion of credit facilities, including preparation of lender presentations and financial packages.
Procedures, Controls & Infrastructure
- Assess the current state of financial controls, policies, and procedures; develop and implement improvements that scale with business growth.
- Establish and document accounting policies consistent with GAAP and best practices for a distribution company of this size.
- Lead the annual financial statement review or audit process; maintain a clean, audit-ready financial environment throughout the year.
- Strengthen the internal control environment, including authorization matrices, segregation of duties, and reconciliation disciplines.
Strategic Planning & New Opportunity Identification
- Partner with the President & CEO and leadership team in the annual strategic planning process, translating business objectives into financial targets and capital allocation decisions.
- Proactively surface financial and operational opportunities; geographic expansion, product line investment, supplier programs, customer profitability improvements backed by data and rigorous analysis.
- Develop financial models to evaluate capital expenditures, organic growth investments, and strategic initiatives.
- Provide competitive and market context to strategic discussions, helping the leadership team make better-informed decisions.
Team Development & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Lead and develop the accounting and finance team; foster a culture of accuracy, urgency, and continuous improvement.
- Serve as a financial educator for the broader organization; helping operations, sales, and logistics managers understand their financial impact and what levers they can pull.
- Build bridges between finance and other departments so that budgets, variances, and forecasts feel relevant and real to the people closest to the work.
- Champion financial accountability without creating a culture of fear; the goal is understanding and improvement, not blame.
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Provide financial support for M&A opportunities as they arise, including preliminary financial due diligence, valuation modeling, and integration planning.
- While acquisitions are not the primary strategic focus at this time, the CFO should be capable of leading the financial workstream on a transaction when the opportunity is right.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA or CMA strongly preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, with a minimum of 3–5 years in a senior financial leadership role.
- Demonstrated experience in distribution, manufacturing, or another product-based, working capital-intensive industry.
- Proven expertise in cost accounting, inventory valuation, and gross margin analytics.
- Deep, hands-on experience managing revolving credit facilities, banking relationships, and debt compliance in a leveraged operating environment.
- Advanced financial modeling and analytical skills; able to build, maintain, and communicate complex models clearly.
- Strong ERP proficiency with the ability to develop and improve financial reporting infrastructure.
- Excellent communication skills; able to present financial information clearly to non-financial audiences.
- Track record of implementing or meaningfully improving financial controls, procedures, and reporting frameworks.
- High emotional intelligence; collaborative by nature and comfortable working without a large support staff.
Preferred
- Experience with mergers & acquisitions, including financial due diligence and post-close integration.
- Prior experience as a CFO or VP Finance
- MBA Preferred
- Familiarity with distribution-specific ERP systems
- Experience operating through refinancing events, facility amendments, or commercial bank transitions.
LEADERSHIP PROFILE
The successful candidate will be defined as much by who they are as by what they know. We are looking for someone who:
- Leads with humility; no ego, no silos. Brings the same energy to coaching a warehouse manager on turns as presenting to the CEO.
- Thrives in a mid-market, privately held environment where being hands-on is expected and valued, not a step down.
- Finds genuine satisfaction in helping others connect the dots between their work and the company’s financial results.
- Is energized by complexity; a dynamic balance sheet, a fluctuating revolver, a cost structure that requires constant attention.
- Communicates proactively and directly, without burying the news in a spreadsheet.
- Builds trust quickly across functions and levels, becoming a go-to resource that people want to bring their questions and problems to.
- Is motivated by building; better systems, better processes, a stronger team, a more resilient business.
