What are the responsibilities and job description for the Chief Financial Officer position at Chesapeake Search Partners?
The Chief Financial Officer will serve as a strategic and operational partner to the owners, helping run the business—not just report on it. This role goes well beyond accounting and reporting and is responsible for financial leadership, process and policy design, strategic analysis, and business insight. The ideal CFO has experience in owner‑led, services‑based organizations and thrives in environments where structure, clarity, and scalable systems are being built in a hands on environment.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic & Business Partnership
- Act as a trusted advisor to the owners on strategy, growth initiatives, pricing, capital allocation, and risk
- Provide clear, actionable financial and operational insights to support decision‑making
- Translate financial data into plain‑English recommendations for running the business better
- Support long‑range planning, budgeting, forecasting, and scenario modeling
Financial Leadership
- Own all aspects of finance and accounting, including:
- Financial reporting (monthly, quarterly, annual)
- Cash flow management, banking, and working capital
- Budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
- Design financial dashboards and KPIs that owners and leaders actually use
- Ensure timely, accurate, and decision‑ready financial information
Operational Discipline, Processes & Policies
- Build and refine scalable processes, controls, and policies across the organization
- Improve financial and operational discipline without slowing down the business
- Partner with operations, HR, and leadership to align financial processes with how the business runs
- Drive standardization where helpful while preserving flexibility in the field
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop the finance/accounting team
- Set clear expectations, roles, and accountability
- Elevate the finance function from transactional to strategic
Risk, Compliance & Infrastructure
- Ensure appropriate controls, compliance, and risk management practices are in place
- Lead relationships with banks, insurance providers, auditors, and external advisors
- Evaluate and improve systems and tools (ERP, accounting software, reporting tools)
What Success Looks Like (12–24 Months)
- Owners have clear visibility into performance, cash, and key drivers of the business
- Financial and operational metrics are proactive, not reactive
- Core processes and policies scale with growth instead of breaking under it
- The finance team operates independently, accurately, and on time
- The CFO is viewed internally as a co‑pilot to the owners, not a back‑office function
Ideal Candidate Profile
- Experience as CFO, VP Finance, or senior finance leader in a $25M–$150M services, construction, industrial, or asset‑light operating company
- Proven success working directly with founders or owners
- Strong operator mindset—comfortable getting into the details and then zooming out
- Skilled at building processes, controls, and structure in growing organizations
- Excellent communication skills; can turn numbers into insight and action
- CPA and/or MBA a plus, but practical business judgment matters more than credentials
Salary : $185,000 - $225,000