Auto Parts Chief Financial Officer

Location: Little Rock, AR

Role Overview

Replacement Parts Inc. is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to help lead the next chapter of a long-standing, family-built, team-first automotive parts distribution business. This is both a strategic executive seat and a hands-on finance leadership role. The company has a strong, deeply trusted incumbent finance leader in the role currently, but the next CFO needs to bring broader leadership-team partnership, process improvement, technology curiosity, financial insight, and succession stability while still being willing to get into the details of the accounting function.

The right person will be able to sit with the CEO and COO on strategic decisions, support growth and acquisition opportunities, modernize systems/processes, and maintain the accuracy and discipline that have produced clean audits and reliable bank reporting for years.

What Replacement Parts Needs

• A strategic finance leader who can sit at the leadership table and help guide business decisions

• A true working CFO who is willing to produce work, review details, reconcile/understand accounts, and step in when needed

• Strong GAAP/accounting foundation with ability to learn industry-specific complexities such as LIFO inventory accounting

• Experience in distribution, automotive, multi-location, inventory-heavy, or similarly complex operating environments

• Comfort with consolidated financials across multiple entities and related companies

• Ability to own audit readiness, banking/line-of-credit reporting, borrowing base/fixed-charge coverage reporting, controls, and close process quality

• Experience or strong exposure to M&A, acquisition evaluation, purchase accounting, and integration

• Technology-forward mindset, including curiosity around AI, automation, Great Plains / ERP improvement, reporting speed, rebates, inventory systems, and modern finance tools

• Executive presence with humility; someone who can challenge, advise, and lead without ego or a “my way or the highway” style

• High trustworthiness and discretion; this person will have deep visibility into the business quickly

• Long-term orientation. Ideal fit is someone who could spend a significant chapter of their career with the company, not a short-term fixer

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the finance and accounting function across the business

• Partner with the CEO, COO, and leadership team on strategic planning, growth initiatives, and operational decision-making

• Maintain strong financial controls, accurate books, clean audits, and reliable reporting

• Oversee monthly financial review, account reconciliations, consolidated financials, and reporting across multiple entities

• Manage or support financial audits, IRS/state tax audits, P&C / bank audits, workers’ comp audits, corporate tax work, and related compliance cycles

• Support bank reporting, line-of-credit requirements, borrowing base, fixed-charge coverage, and lender communication

• Evaluate and improve close timelines, reporting cadence, dashboards, processes, and internal financial visibility

• Help assess acquisition opportunities and support transaction diligence, purchase accounting, modeling, and integration planning

• Review current systems, tools, staffing, and workflows to identify practical modernization opportunities

• Partner with IT and operations on systems, automation, Great Plains / ERP improvements, and process modernization

• Develop and mentor the finance/accounting team, including helping shape the future

controller/accounting leadership structure

• Model the kind of respectful, accountable leadership that helps people learn, grow, and stay

• Serve as a trusted executive voice who can identify profitability levers, risks, and opportunities across the company

Ideal Background

• Current CFO, divisional CFO, VP of Finance, senior finance executive, or high-caliber controller from a larger / more complex organization

• CPA strongly preferred

• Experience in a business roughly in the $100M to $1B revenue range is attractive

• Distribution experience is highly preferred; automotive aftermarket / parts distribution would be a home run

• Multi-state or multi-location operating experience preferred

• Strong inventory accounting / operational finance exposure; LIFO is helpful, but learnability matters more than checking every technical box

• Manufacturing experience may translate if the candidate has strong inventory, operational finance, and strategic leadership exposure

• Track record of improving financial processes, systems, reporting, and business insight

• M&A, acquisition, purchase accounting, or integration experience strongly preferred

• ERP / Great Plains or similar system experience helpful, especially in upgrade or process-improvement contexts

Culture Fit

• Low ego, collaborative, and highly trustworthy

• Listens well, communicates clearly, owns mistakes, and does the right thing even when it is not the easiest path

• Comfortable working with Type A leaders who value directness, accountability, and teamwork

• Practical, accurate, and willing to check work for reasonableness before relying on outputs

• Respectful of the existing team and Ginger’s legacy, while also comfortable improving and streamlining what needs to change

• Servant-minded leader who builds people up, holds the team accountable without intimidation, and keeps the customer/team impact in view

• Comfortable in a high-trust, low-micromanagement environment where leaders expect the CFO to own the work

• Practical rather than overly corporate; able to modernize without trying to turn the company into something it is not

• Wants a long-term seat and meaningful impact, not a short transitional engagement

Timing / Transition

The company would like to begin interviewing quickly and would be excited to have someone identified by July if possible. A more realistic target is selection in Q3. Ginger is ready to transition but is expected to remain available for a thoughtful handoff. 

Employment at Replacement Parts, Inc. is subject to post offer, pre-employment drug testing.  Equal Opportunity Employer.   Replacement Parts, Inc. is a drug-free workplace.  *This is a Safety Sensitive position due to the use of heavy equipment and hazardous material.

Replacement Parts, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring and retaining the most qualified individuals based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.