Description
Our client is a substantial, entrepreneurial business with significant international reach. The company has expanded over the last five years and with further growth anticipated, are seeking to appoint a high calibre CFO to enhance the capability of the finance department and provide sound advice to the Board.
The Role:
The CFO is a key member of the Senior Management Team and will fully support the Board. The CFO will take responsibility for the delivery of accurate and high-quality management information while organising and contributing to the leadership of the finance function.
The main duties and responsibilities will involve:
- Provide strategic and financial direction, commercial insight and judgement about both the core business and new opportunities; promoting and supporting actions and activities that ensure the long-term profitability of the business
- Act as a key player in the management team, driving successful business forward, engaging closely and effectively with the other executives
- Lead the relationships and negotiation with external partners, including the bankers, auditors and tax advisors
- Ensure all annual financial standards are produced in accordance with financial reporting standards
- Provide strong direction to the finance team with full responsibility for all areas of budgets, forecasts, working capital and cash management to maximise financial performance
- Manage and control the bank facilities, including all aspects of overseas treasury decisions
- Ensure the production of management accounts monthly reporting pack are timely and robust, enabling data driven decision making and thus helping the business plan for the future
- Continuous review of current business practices and procedures, improvements as required
- Ensure the successful introduction of a new financial management system to complement the product life cycle system (process already underway)
- Leadership of all areas the finance function, including credit control and payroll
- Conducting feasibility studies on any company projects and involvement in both their monitoring and, where appropriate, implementation
The Individual:
The CFO position requires a professionally qualified accountant who possesses excellent track record of success within similar senior finance roles. It is likely that the individual has trained in a professional services firm, but has also operated within commercial environments, ideally in entrepreneur led owned managed businesses.
A summary of the key candidate requirements are as follows:
- Fully qualified accountant with appropriate post-qualification experience
- Sound technical knowledge of statutory accounting, taxation and compliance
- Experience of implementing robust financial controls, processes and procedures
- Keen commercial acumen, assessing and supporting new business opportunities
- Ability to develop high quality management information to support company decision making
- Excellent staff management and development skills
- Previous system implementation and development experience
- Sufficient personal gravitas and impact to challenge the Board and manage external relationships (e.g. bank, auditors, etc.)
- A “sleeves rolled up” operator who is not afraid to be involved in the detail
- Analytical mindset and able to drill down into all areas of business performance
- Prior international experience, especially from a banking perspective, would be desirable.
- Self-driven with a high degree of personal integrity and ambitious to participate in the success of the business as its continues to expand
What to do next:
For a full Position Profile or to register your interest, please contact our retained search partner Mark Lewis on [email protected] or call 0141 611 7770.