Chief Financial Officer

Fractional CFO / Controller (20–30 Hours/Week)

Family-Owned Restaurant & Food Distribution Group

Location: Preference for candidates located in Florida; open to strong talent across the Southeastern U.S.

Schedule: Fractional (20–30 hours per week) with potential to convert into full-time as the business continues to scale

Industry: Multi-Unit Restaurants, Retail Food Service, Ready-Made Meal Distribution, Meal-Prep Subscription Services

Reporting To: Ownership Group / CEO

Overview

Our client, a rapidly growing family-owned restaurant and food distribution group, is seeking a Fractional CFO / Controller to provide hands-on financial leadership during a period of expansion and operational modernization. The company operates both retail restaurant brands and a multi-state food distribution business that supplies ready-made meals and meal-prep boxes to consumers and commercial partners.

As the organization scales locations, expands distribution channels, and evaluates future growth opportunities, the finance function requires a seasoned leader who can bring structure, accuracy, discipline, and strategic insight. This role is fractional to start (20–30 hours per week), with strong potential to transition into a full-time leadership role as the business continues to grow.

Position Summary

The Fractional CFO / Controller will oversee financial operations across all business units—restaurant, retail, production, and distribution. This individual will serve as a strategic partner to ownership while also being highly execution-oriented: establishing strong financial controls, improving reporting cadence, optimizing cash flow, and building scalable processes capable of supporting a growing multi-entity organization.

This is an ideal opportunity for an entrepreneurial finance leader who thrives in family-owned, hands-on environments and understands the financial complexities of both restaurants and food distribution.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Leadership & Advisory

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the ownership team on financial strategy, performance trends, profitability, and growth opportunities.
• Build a transparent, organized finance function with reliable reporting, budgeting, and forecasting disciplines.
• Develop financial models to evaluate new restaurant openings, distribution expansions, and potential new service lines.

Financial Operations & Controls

• Oversee month-end close, general ledger integrity, reconciliations, and financial statement preparation across all entities.
• Implement and standardize accounting processes across restaurant units and distribution operations.
• Improve inventory costing, COGS tracking, margin analysis, and unit-level profitability reporting.
• Build controls around cash management, purchasing, vendor payments, and revenue recognition.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Performance Management

• Create an annual budgeting process that aligns with operational realities across retail, production, and distribution.
• Produce weekly and monthly dashboards highlighting KPIs such as labor costs, food costs, margin trends, production throughput, delivery efficiency, and subscription metrics.
• Implement forecasting tools to anticipate working-capital needs and support expansion planning.

Cash Flow & Working Capital Management

• Manage cash flow forecasting and scenario planning as the business scales.
• Improve AP/AR processes, optimize vendor terms, and reduce cash-flow volatility.
• Support capital planning, including equipment purchases, new location budgeting, and distribution capacity expansions.

Systems, Reporting & Technology

• Evaluate current accounting, POS, and inventory systems; recommend upgrades or integrations as needed for scalability.
• Ensure data accuracy between restaurant POS platforms, production systems, and financial reporting.
• Build consolidated reporting across multiple legal entities and business lines.

Strategic Initiatives

• Support pricing strategy, cost-optimization initiatives, and menu analysis to drive profitability.
• Assist with supply-chain cost tracking and operational efficiencies across ordering, prep, and distribution.
• Build financial infrastructure capable of supporting a future full-time CFO/Controller role as the company expands.

Qualifications

• 7 years of progressive accounting & finance experience; experience as a Controller, Director of Finance, or CFO preferred.
• Strong background in restaurant, retail food service, food manufacturing, or food distribution required.
• Experience working with multi-unit organizations, franchise systems, or multi-entity structures.
• Hands-on operator who enjoys building processes and wearing multiple hats.
• Proficiency with restaurant POS systems, inventory platforms, and accounting software (QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage, etc.).
• Strong analytical skills and ability to turn data into actionable insights.
• Excellent communication, organization, and ability to work directly with ownership teams.
• Based in Florida or Southeastern U.S. with ability to travel periodically to headquarters.

Why This Opportunity

• Join a family-owned organization with strong values and a clear vision for growth.
• Shape the finance function from the ground up and build the long-term model.
• Work across dynamic business lines—restaurants, retail, distribution, meal prep—and influence strategic decision-making.
• Opportunity for the role to evolve into a full-time executive position as expansion continues.