Chief Financial Officer

Martin Inc., a third-generation, family-owned industrial distribution and supply company, is seeking a hands-on, operations-oriented Chief Financial Officer to serve as a key member of the executive leadership team. This leader will be both the senior financial steward and a strategic operational partner, driving financial discipline, operational excellence, governance maturity, and scalable growth across a multi-site distribution network.

The ideal CFO brings deep experience in inventory-driven, lower-margin, operationally complex businesses, and thrives in a family-owned environment that values long-term thinking, trust, and continuous improvement. This role requires a leader who is as comfortable in the warehouse and with branch managers as they are in the boardroom.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial & Operational Leadership

• Lead the company’s financial strategy in alignment with ownership’s long-term vision.
• Serve as a strategic business partner to ownership, sales, operations, supply chain, and HR.
• Translate financial data into actionable operational insights that improve profitability, efficiency, and scalability.
• Drive financial discipline and accountability across all functions.

2. Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)

The CFO serves as the executive owner of Governance, Risk & Compliance, ensuring Martin Inc. operates with disciplined oversight, strong internal controls, and a scalable governance framework aligned with a multi-site industrial distribution business.

Governance

• Establish governance structures, policies, and standards that promote transparency, accountability, and operational consistency across all branches and functions.
• Strengthen policy management across finance, operations, supply chain, HR, and IT.
• Ensure consistent branch-level governance, including standardized processes, controls, and reporting.
• Oversee data governance, ensuring accuracy and integrity across ERP, WMS, CRM, and financial systems.

Risk Management

• Lead enterprise risk management (ERM), identifying and mitigating financial, operational, supply chain, cyber, and compliance risks.
• Oversee insurance strategy, including property, liability, fleet, workers compensation, and cyber coverage.
• Implement risk dashboards and reporting mechanisms for ownership and executive leadership.
• Ensure risk-aware decision-making in capital allocation, pricing, credit, and operational initiatives.

Compliance

• Ensure compliance with GAAP, tax regulations, credit policies, safety requirements, and contractual obligations.
• Strengthen internal controls across finance, inventory, credit, and operational processes.
• Partner with HR, operations, and supply chain to ensure compliance with employment law, safety standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain a centralized contract repository and ensure adherence to contract governance protocols.

3. Financial Planning, Budgeting & Analysis

• Oversee FP&A, including forecasting, scenario modeling, and performance measurement tied to operational drivers.
• Lead the annual budgeting and rolling forecast processes with strong alignment to sales, supply chain, and operations.
• Develop and monitor KPIs specific to industrial distribution: gross margin, pricing discipline, inventory turns, service levels, working capital, ROIC, and branch-level performance.

4. Pricing Governance & Margin Management

• Establish and oversee pricing governance, including matrix pricing, contract pricing, and margin leakage prevention.
• Partner with sales to evaluate customer profitability, rebate programs, and supplier incentives.
• Ensure disciplined pricing execution across branches and customer segments.

5. Operational Finance & Decision Support

• Support operational initiatives related to inventory optimization, logistics efficiency, branch performance, and demand planning.
• Provide financial analysis for capital investments, fleet decisions, automation, and facility expansions.
• Implement branch-level P&Ls and scorecards to drive accountability and performance.

6. Financial Reporting, Controls & Compliance

• Ensure timely, accurate financial reporting in accordance with GAAP.
• Oversee tax planning, audits, regulatory compliance, and internal controls appropriate for a privately held family business.
• Build clear reporting and dashboards that link financial performance to operational outcomes.

7. Cash Flow, Working Capital & Credit Management

• Manage cash flow forecasting, liquidity, and capital allocation.
• Optimize working capital with a strong focus on inventory, customer credit, collections, and supplier terms.
• Oversee customer credit policies and credit risk management in a high-volume distribution environment.

8. Financial Operations & Systems

• Lead day-to-day accounting and finance operations (AP, AR, payroll, general accounting).
• Partner with operations and IT to optimize ERP systems, WMS, pricing tools, and reporting platforms.
• Champion process automation, data integrity, and technology modernization to support scalability.

9. Data, Analytics & Business Intelligence

• Build a data-driven culture with robust dashboards, analytics, and operational scorecards.
• Improve data quality across ERP, CRM, WMS, and supply chain systems.
• Enable real-time visibility into branch performance, customer profitability, and inventory health.

10. Banking, Insurance & External Relationships

• Manage relationships with banks, lenders, insurers, and external advisors.
• Ensure compliance with loan covenants and reporting requirements.
• Oversee insurance strategy as part of enterprise risk management.

11. Supply Chain & HR Leadership

• Oversee and support the leaders of Supply Chain and HR to ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Strengthen supplier economics, rebate optimization, and sourcing strategies.
• Support workforce planning, talent development, and organizational capability building.

12. Mergers, Acquisitions & Growth Support

• Lead acquisition analysis, due diligence, integration planning, and post-acquisition performance tracking.
• Develop a repeatable M&A integration playbook.
• Evaluate organic growth initiatives through both financial and operational lenses.

13. Contracts, Legal & Governance

• Oversee contract review, negotiation, and management.
• Maintain a centralized contract repository to support governance and risk management.
• Serve as primary liaison with outside legal counsel on financial and operational matters.

14. Leadership, Culture & Talent Development

• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and alignment with company values.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships in a collaborative, family-owned environment.
• Develop finance, supply chain, and HR leadership talent; build succession plans for key roles.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 10–15 years of progressive financial leadership experience.
• Prior CFO, VP Finance, or senior finance role in wholesale distribution, industrial supply, or asset-intensive businesses.
• Experience in lower-margin, operationally complex, multi-site environments.
• Family-owned or founder-led company experience strongly preferred.
• Hands-on, practical leader who understands how the business truly runs.
• Comfortable being visible in the operation — warehouses, branches, and with sales leadership.

Core Strengths & Attributes

• Strong accounting and financial controls foundation.
• Deep understanding of operational drivers of margin and profitability.
• Excellent communicator who can simplify financial concepts for non-financial leaders.
• Proven collaborator with sales and operations, navigating growth vs. margin tension effectively.
• Practical, steady, humble leadership style aligned with a family-business culture.
• Technology-forward mindset with experience modernizing systems and processes.
• Strong governance orientation with a disciplined approach to risk and compliance.

Compensation & Incentives

• Competitive base salary and annual incentive.
• Long-term incentive or equity-like participation may be available.
• Relocation support may be considered.

Why This Role Is Attractive

• Stable, profitable, third- and fourth-generation family-owned business.
• Strong family culture with professional management and clear values.
• Opportunity to modernize and scale a respected industrial distributor.
• High visibility and influence with ownership.
• Ability to leave a lasting legacy in a company that values long-term stewardship.