CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Operational Finance | Scaling | Public Company Leadership
Confidential Executive Search | Public-Market Aerospace & Space Company
Location: Florida Space Coast
Work Structure: Hybrid / Flexible with Regular On-Site Executive Presence
Industry: Aerospace | Space | Advanced Technology | Government / Defense Programs
Company Overview
Our client is an emerging publicly traded aerospace and space company entering a significant growth phase in one of the most active aerospace markets in the United States. The company is building the operating, financial and organizational infrastructure required to support its next stage of commercial and public-company growth.
This role is centered on scaling. The CFO will work hands-on, day-to-day with the CEO to help scale an approximately 25-50 person organization into a larger, more disciplined operating platform while maintaining the standards required of a U.S. public company.
Position Overview
This is not a traditional reporting-only CFO role.
The Chief Financial Officer will serve as the CEO’s senior financial and operating partner, working closely with leadership on execution, financial planning, capital allocation, performance management, organizational build-out and scaling the company.
The company has a capable Controller overseeing day-to-day accounting and utilizes outside attorneys, CPAs and public-company specialists for highly technical matters including EDGAR/XBRL support, 10-Q/10-K production, equity accounting and stock compensation.
Public-company experience and SEC oversight are mandatory. The CFO will retain executive accountability for financial reporting, controls, governance, certifications and coordination with external specialists.
The priority is a hands-on operator who can help the CEO scale the business, team, systems and financial infrastructure - not simply manage filings.
Key Responsibilities
- CEO Partnership & Execution: Work hands-on with the CEO and senior leadership team to translate strategy into operating priorities, financial plans, capital requirements and measurable execution milestones.
- Scaling: Help scale the organization, finance function, operating processes and management infrastructure from an entrepreneurial platform into a larger public-company organization.
- Operational Finance: Lead FP&A, budgeting, rolling forecasts, long-range planning, cash management, treasury, capital allocation and financial decision support.
- Performance Management: Build practical KPIs, dashboards and management reporting providing clear visibility into revenue opportunities, costs, liquidity, cash requirements, execution risk and operating performance.
- Commercial Decision Support: Develop financial models and business cases for new programs, contracts, partnerships, hiring, capital expenditures and strategic investments.
- Public Company / SEC Oversight: Own executive oversight of SEC reporting, disclosure controls, internal controls, CFO certifications, Board/Audit Committee reporting and coordination with auditors, attorneys and outside reporting specialists.
- Capital Markets: Support financing strategy, investor communications, capital raising, banking relationships, Board presentations and strategic transactions.
- Systems & Infrastructure: Evaluate and upgrade financial systems, workflows, reporting tools and controls as the company scales in size and complexity.
- Team Development: Partner with the Controller and build additional finance talent and capability as growth requires.
- Operations: Remain close to day-to-day business execution and operate comfortably across finance, operations, contracts, commercial programs and executive decision-making.
Required Qualifications
- Public-company experience is required. Candidates must have served as a CFO, senior finance executive, divisional CFO, VP Finance or comparable leader within an SEC-reporting company.
- U.S. CPA required. Strong understanding of U.S. GAAP, SEC reporting, governance, disclosure controls and internal controls.
- SEC oversight experience required. Must be capable of owning CFO-level accountability while directing outside legal, audit, accounting and reporting specialists.
- Demonstrated scaling experience. Experience helping a growth-stage, entrepreneurial or PE-backed organization build teams, systems, processes and financial infrastructure.
- CEO partnership. Proven ability to work directly and hands-on with a CEO and senior leadership team on daily operating and strategic decisions.
- Operational finance strength. Strong FP&A, forecasting, cash management, capital planning, modeling, KPI development and business-partnering capability.
- Local presence. Must be based in, or willing to relocate to, Florida and maintain regular on-site executive presence on the Space Coast.
- U.S. citizenship should be included as a requirement where supported by applicable export-control, defense, government-program or security requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Aerospace, aviation, defense, space, advanced manufacturing, engineering or government-contracting experience is a strong plus.
- Capital markets, public financing, equity raising, investor relations or M&A experience.
- Experience scaling a smaller public or PE-backed company through a meaningful growth phase.
- Experience upgrading ERP, FP&A, BI or management-reporting systems in a growing organization.
- Comfort operating in a lean executive environment where senior leaders remain close to the business and execution.
Leadership Profile
The successful candidate will be an operating-minded, public-company CFO who wants to work side-by-side with the CEO and be directly involved in scaling the business.
The strongest candidate will combine public-company judgment with practical operating leadership, financial discipline, urgency, accountability and the ability to build people, processes and systems as the company grows.
The Opportunity
This is a high-impact CFO opportunity within the rapidly growing Florida Space Coast aerospace ecosystem.
The incoming CFO will have direct influence over capital allocation, financial strategy, operating discipline and scaling a public aerospace and space platform through its next stage of growth.
Work Structure: Hybrid / flexible, with regular on-site executive presence required. This is not a fully remote role.
