Operating Chief Financial Officer (Operating CFO)
A private company/family office is seeking an operationally focused Chief Financial Officer to lead and elevate the finance and accounting function for a private organization. The ideal candidate brings experience within a family office or privately held company, where they have built structure, strengthened controls, and served as a trusted business partner to ownership and senior leadership. The books are current; the mandate is to professionalize and streamline—implementing efficient, repeatable processes, a rigorous control environment, and best-in-class reporting. This is an operating role for a builder who is equally comfortable shaping strategy and executing the day-to-day.
Key Responsibilities
- Finance & accounting leadership: Own all accounting operations across multiple legal entities, including the general ledger, month-end close, consolidations, cash management, and intercompany transactions.
- Controls & process improvement: Build and enforce internal controls, segregation of duties, and audit-ready discipline; document repeatable processes that scale and reduce reliance on any single person.
- Reporting & analysis: Deliver timely, accurate financial reporting, budgets, forecasts, and analytics that inform ownership and business-unit decision-making.
- Expense & asset oversight: Manage budgeting, cost tracking, and clean business-versus-personal allocation across the organization's assets and investments.
- Automation & systems: Identify and implement modern finance and accounting tools to streamline manual processes, improve efficiency, and enhance reporting capabilities.
- Vendor & risk management: Oversee key vendor relationships, insurance and risk coverages, banking relationships, and compliance requirements across the entities.
- Team leadership: Lead, develop, and mentor the accounting, HR, and IT staff, setting clear standards and elevating service levels to internal stakeholders.
Qualifications & Experience
- Proven experience as a CFO, Controller, or senior finance leader within a family office or privately held company.
- Track record of building and improving accounting operations, internal controls, and financial reporting in a multi-entity environment.
- Strong technical accounting foundation; CPA and/or MBA preferred.
- Experience overseeing complementary operational functions (e.g., HR, IT, insurance/risk) is a plus.
- Fluency with modern finance automation, ERP, and reporting systems.
- Demonstrated ability to lead and develop teams while remaining hands-on.
Key Attributes
- Builder mindset: Proactive problem-solver who improves how work gets done and recommends best-fit solutions.
- Operationally hands-on: Comfortable moving between strategy and day-to-day execution.
- Discreet & trustworthy: Exercises sound judgment and maintains confidentiality in a private environment.
- Service-minded & relational: Communicates clearly and collaborates effectively with ownership and staff at all levels.
