PE-Backed Carbon Infrastructure Projects

A private equity–backed operating platform is scaling a diversified portfolio of agricultural, forestry and land-based operating assets across Australia. Purpose-built to professionalise, optimise and grow real-asset operations, the business is entering a phase of accelerated expansion, with forecast growth of 150% over the next 12 months.

Backed by institutional capital and led by a highly experienced executive team, the platform is transitioning from build-out to scale - creating significant scope for impact and value creation.

The Opportunity

As Chief Financial Officer, you will play a central role in shaping the financial foundations of a fast-growing operating business. Working closely with the CEO, executive leadership team and Board, you will help drive growth, support investment decisions and build a best-in-class finance function capable of supporting a complex, multi-asset operating portfolio.

This is a hands-on leadership role suited to a commercially minded finance leader who thrives in scale-up environments and enjoys building systems, processes and teams from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities

You will have end-to-end responsibility for finance across the platform, including:

Leading financial strategy, planning, budgeting and forecasting in a high-growth environment
Platform-level and asset-level financial reporting and performance analysis
Oversight of day-to-day finance operations and cash management
Asset and project budgeting, cost control and financial governance
Establishing robust risk management frameworks, internal controls and compliance
Managing audit, tax and external adviser relationships
Acting as a trusted commercial partner to the executive team and Board, supporting capital allocation and growth initiatives

About You

You will be a Chartered Accountant and an accomplished finance leader with experience in agriculture, forestry, infrastructure, land-based businesses, carbon projects, or adjacent asset-heavy sectors. You bring strong capability across both asset-level and platform-level financial management and are comfortable operating close to the detail while maintaining a strategic lens.

This role is ideal for a high-performing Finance Director / CFO within a PE-backed scale-up. You bring a pragmatic, commercial approach and are comfortable working hands-on in a scaling organisation.

Applicants must have full working rights in Australia.

For a confidential discussion, please contact Michael Nolan on02 9235 9460 | mnolan@jmes.com.au

JMES (Jon Michel Executive Search) Jobs

Chief Financial Officer