Chief Financial Officer

We seek an experienced Chief Financial Officer to play a significant role in scaling a multi-site manufacturer that has recently taken significant international investment.

This hands-on CFO will be a strong partner to the Commercial and Operations team, seek out opportunities from the data, and play a key role in profitably doubling this well-established business with the CEO and new investors.

Our ideal CFO will be a team player with deep manufacturing finance and accounting knowledge, experience in a matrixed reporting structure, and thrive in a lean, humble environment. Proximity to their plants in central NC or northern SC is desired.

About Our Client

Our client is a well-established, privately held, multi-site manufacturing company with a nearly 40-year history and a diverse customer base spanning several end markets. The Company has built a strong reputation for quality, reliability, and specialized manufacturing capabilities.

Following a recent acquisition by a global strategic parent, the Company is entering an exciting new phase of growth and operational development. Existing leadership and ownership remain meaningfully invested in the business, creating strong alignment around its continued success.

About the Role

This is an opportunity for a strategic, operationally-minded CFO to serve as a key partner to the CEO and leadership team in driving profitable growth, strengthening financial and operational performance, and positioning the Company for its next phase of scale. The ideal candidate will combine strong financial discipline with entrepreneurial thinking and a hands-on, “roll up your sleeves” approach—bringing the strategic perspective and executive presence of a CFO while remaining deeply engaged in the business and close to execution. Experience leading finance in a multi-site manufacturing environment will be highly valued.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Financial Leadership & Strategy

• Lead the company’s overall financial strategy, planning, forecasting, and reporting functions.
• Partner closely with the CEO, executive leadership team to drive profitability, operational efficiency, EBITDA improvement, and scalable growth initiatives.
• Develop and maintain KPI dashboards, financial reporting tools, and operational analytics to improve organizational visibility and decision-making.
• Provide strategic financial insights and recommendations related to pricing, margins, inventory performance, operational efficiencies, and capital investments.
• Evaluate business performance trends and proactively identify opportunities for operational and financial improvement.
• Support long-range planning initiatives and help establish scalable financial infrastructure for future growth.
• Leverage technology to enhance business analytics and reporting, including assessing and implementing an ERP and other associated data management and visualization tools and systems to improve financial insights.

Cash Flow & Working Capital Management

• Lead all cash flow forecasting, liquidity planning, and treasury management activities.
• Optimize working capital performance, including inventory turns, receivables management, payables management, and overall cash conversion cycle.
• Partner with banking institutions and external financial partners to maintain strong financial flexibility and support future growth initiatives.
• Drive financial discipline across the organization while balancing growth objectives and operational needs.
• Ensure strong budgeting controls, forecasting accuracy, and disciplined expense management practices.

Inventory & Operational Finance

• Oversee inventory accounting, forecasting, and controls within a highly technical manufacturing environment.
• Analyze inventory health, aged inventory exposure, forecasting accuracy, and gross margin performance.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with sourcing, sales, and operations teams to align inventory strategies with demand planning and business objectives.
• Support operational process improvements that enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and improve profitability.

Leadership & Culture

• Build, mentor, and develop a strong finance and accounting organization capable of supporting a growing business.
• Foster a collaborative, team-first culture focused on accountability, professionalism, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Bring maturity, confidence, and constructive opinions to leadership discussions.
• Professionally challenge ideas and provide thoughtful pushback when appropriate to support strong decision-making.
• Lead with integrity and maintain a high standard of ethics and accountability throughout the organization.
• Operate as a hands-on leader who is actively engaged in execution, not solely in delegation.
• Help champion a progressive culture that embraces technology, AI tools, automation, business intelligence, and operational innovation.
• Contribute positively to a low-ego, no-drama environment focused on teamwork and long-term success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or a related field required; CPA and/or MBA preferred.
• 15 years of progressive financial leadership experience within manufacturing environments.
• Experience in a multi-site manufacturing company.
• Experience working with an internationally owned business, understanding subsidiary reporting across jurisdictions in a matrixed structure is strongly desired.
• Strong understanding of working capital management, inventory-intensive operations, cash flow forecasting, and operational finance.
• Proven success in driving EBITDA improvement initiatives and operational process enhancements.
• Experience selecting and implementing a new ERP system, along with relevant supporting controls, is beneficial.
• Experience supporting acquisitions, diligence activities, and post-acquisition integration efforts are a plus.
• Strong systems orientation with openness toward efficiencies, analytics, automation, and business intelligence tools. Exceptional communication, leadership, and relationship-building capabilities.
• High integrity, strong business ethics, and a hands-on leadership style are essential.
• Ability to travel internationally as needed.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strategic thinker who is equally comfortable operating tactically and hands-on.
• Operationally engaged leader who has personally executed the work, not simply managed large teams.
• Comfortable rolling up their sleeves while helping build scalable infrastructure for growth.
• Confident and thoughtful professional who brings opinions, ideas, and independent thinking to the leadership team.
• Willing to professionally challenge leadership when appropriate in support of better decision-making.
• Strong team builder with experience developing organizations and mentoring talent, including remote team members.
• Collaborative leader who values teamwork, accountability, and culture over politics and ego.
• Calm, steady presence capable of leading through growth, acquisitions, integration activity, and organizational change.
• Progressive mindset with openness toward innovation, process improvement, and operational modernization.
• Values integrity, transparency, accountability, and doing business the right way.
• Excited by the opportunity to help build and scale a growing organization with long-term market opportunities.