About This Role
Position: Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Company Type: Private Equity-Backed Manufacturing ($750M+ Revenue)
Engagement Duration: 3–6 months
Location: East coast based business
Reporting Relationship: Reports directly to the CEO and the Board of Directors / PE Sponsors
Key Responsibilities
As the Interim CFO, you will step into a stable yet transitioning environment. Your primary focus will be split across three core pillars:
1. Strategic Partnership & Transition Support
- CEO Collaboration: Act as a strategic co-pilot to the incoming CEO, accelerating their onboarding by providing deep visibility into the company’s financial health, cost structures, and operational drivers.
- PE Sponsor Management: Maintain high-transparency communication with the Private Equity sponsors, delivering routine financial packages, liquidity updates, and covenant compliance reports.
- Team Leadership: Stabilize and lead the existing finance and accounting organization, maintaining morale and performance through the transition period.
2. Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- 2027 Planning: Lead, build, and finalize the comprehensive 2027 annual operating plan (AOP) and financial budget, aligning it with manufacturing capacity constraints and PE growth objectives.
- Cash & Working Capital: Closely monitor cash flow forecasting, working capital optimization (inventory, AR, AP), and capital expenditure (CapEx) tracking.
3. Audit & Controllership Oversight
- Audit Readiness: Serve as the primary point of contact for external auditors to ensure a smooth, timely, and accurate year-end audit process.
- Internal Controls: Safeguard assets by ensuring rigorous adherence to internal controls, GAAP accounting standards, and manufacturing cost accounting principles.
Professional Profile & Qualifications
The ideal candidate is an established financial executive or a veteran PE CFO who can walk in on Day 1 and command respect without needing ramp-up time.
- Experience: 15+ years of progressive financial leadership, with at least 5 years as a sitting CFO in a private equity backed manufacturing or heavy industrial environment .
- PE Pedigree: Proven track record working with Private Equity sponsors; deep understanding of PE reporting metrics, debt structures, and accelerated timelines.
- Scale Expertise: Direct experience managing financial operations for complex businesses with at least $500M to $1B+ in revenue .
- Audit Leadership: Demonstrated success managing large-scale corporate audits with Big 4 or national accounting firms.
- Soft Skills: Exceptional emotional intelligence, a calming executive presence, and the adaptability to mesh quickly with a brand-new CEO.
Key Deliverables (3-6 Month Horizon)
- Finalized and Board-approved 2027 Annual Operating Budget .
- Clean, on-schedule progress or completion of the annual financial audit .
- Seamless handoff documentation and onboarding support for the permanent CFO successor.
Travel: This role will require a travel cadence to the East Coast during the engagement.