Director of Finance

Company Description

SIMPLi is an award-winning, leading regenerative food brand on a mission to connect people around the world through the joy of food. SIMPLi co-founders Sarela Herrada and Matt Cohen sought to bring the best clean, nutrient-dense single-origin ingredients from around the world directly to you in a way that equally benefits people, producers, and the planet. SIMPLi partners directly with farmers to source the finest ingredients and make them accessible to consumers nationwide in stores, restaurants, and online. 

At SIMPLi, our 8 Norms guide our teams to deliver the highest quality work to our partners & customers. By embedding these Norms into our daily life, we are creating a culture that thrives on excellence and accountability.

1.     Own It – We take full responsibility for what we build – our words, our work, and our impact. We don’t wait to be told. We anticipate, act, and own outcomes.

2.     Bring The Heat – We show up with energy, presence, and emotion. Passion fuels performance, and we bring it every time – loud, proud, and full-on.

3.     Build Boldly – We move fast, take smart risks, and challenge the status quo. Safe is slow. Perfect is too late. We build what's next.

4.     Keep It Tight – We follow through with clarity and discipline. If we say we’ll do it, we do it – cleanly, clearly, on time, every time.

5.     Say The Thing – We give real feedback, early and often. No politics. No drama. Just direct, human conversations rooted in trust.

6.     Win Together – We’re not just teammates – we’re all in. We show up for each other, share the weight, and celebrate our wins like they matter. Because they do.

7.     Raise The Bar – We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standard. Excellence is how we show respect – to the work, the mission, and each other.

8.     Stay In It – You stay in dialogue when things get tough, not just ease. You don’t shut down or ghost – you stay connected.

If you’re passionate about food, sustainability, and making a difference, then SIMPLi is the place for you! 

Role Description

This is a full-time remote position for a Director of Finance. The Director of Finance will oversee financial operations, including financial planning, reporting, and analysis. Key responsibilities include managing budgets, preparing financial statements, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and developing strategies to drive fiscal growth. The role also involves providing financial insights and recommendations to guide organizational decision-making. This role is based out of our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office and does require to be in-office on Monday, Tuesdays & Wednesdays.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Planning and Analysis

• Own the annual operating plan, rolling forecasts (13-week and 12-month), and long-range model across all channels — retail, e-commerce, foodservice, and international
• Build and maintain a fully integrated P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow model with SKU-level gross margin visibility
• Analyze trade spend effectiveness, promotional ROI, and retailer-level profitability; partner with Sales to optimize trade investment against velocity targets
• Model new item launches, customer programs, and channel expansion scenarios with clear hurdle rates and payback timelines
• Conduct variance analysis (price, volume, mix, COGS) and distill findings into clear, actionable narratives for the leadership team

Reporting & Financial Infrastructure

• Deliver timely and accurate monthly close packages, management reporting, and board materials with CPG-specific KPIs (velocities, ACV, trade rate %, contribution margin by channel)
• Own the deduction management process — build systems to track, dispute, and resolve customer chargebacks across major retail accounts
• Serve as the resident NetSuite expert: own system configuration, chart of accounts design, module utilization (SuiteBilling, PBCS, Advanced Financials), and workflow automation to ensure the ERP is a strategic asset, not just a ledger
• Lead financial reporting for investors, lenders, and strategic partners; maintain audit-ready books in partnership with the accounting team
• Establish and continuously improve reporting dashboards and BI infrastructure connecting NetSuite data to actionable insights
• Own 13-week cash flow forecasting and liquidity management; proactively identify pressure points driven by inventory builds, seasonal shipment patterns, and extended retailer payment terms
• Manage banking relationships, line-of-credit utilization, and covenant compliance; partner with legal on credit facility amendments as needed
• Optimize working capital through disciplined inventory planning, AP/AR management, and supplier payment terms negotiation in coordination with Supply Chain
• Model the cash impact of co-manufacturing agreements, ingredient procurement commitments, and packaging spend
• Build the capital allocation framework — evaluate competing priorities (marketing investment, new product development, geographic expansion, infrastructure) against returns and strategic fit
• Lead financial diligence on strategic investments, partnerships, co-man arrangements, or potential M&A; build operating models and integration cost analyses
• Partner with the CEO on equity and debt financing rounds — prepare investor materials, data rooms, and financial projections with scenario sensitivity
• Define and track return on invested capital across initiatives; enforce a culture of capital discipline without starving growth

Foodservice and retail oversight

• Own channel-level profitability analysis and ensure pricing, promotions, and trade spend strategies support sustainable growth
• Build reporting that clearly tracks performance across major foodservice partners, distributor programs, and retail accounts
• Work closely with sales to improve forecast accuracy, identify trends, and optimize mix

Inventory, costing, and supply chain controls

• Oversee all inventory accounting in NetSuite, including reconciliations, costing accuracy, assemblies, and work orders
• Ensure landed cost workflows are fully accurate for every SKU and sourcing region
• Strengthen internal controls across warehouses, co-packers, and suppliers to reduce variances and protect margins

Budgeting, planning, and analysis

• Lead the annual planning cycle and monthly forecast updates in partnership with leadership
• Translate business goals into financial models that guide resource allocation
• Build tools and dashboards that improve visibility and speed across the organization

Compliance, audit, and governance

• Ensure strong financial controls, policy compliance, and audit readiness
• Manage relationships with external accountants, banks, and auditors
• Maintain clean documentation and support tax, regulatory, and lender requirements

Team leadership and cross-functional partnership

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO on pricing architecture, channel strategy, margin expansion levers, and cost structure transformation
• Embed finance deeply into commercial and operational decisions — be the person every functional leader calls before making a significant commitment
• Build and develop the Finance team over time; establish scalable processes and controls appropriate for a high-growth brand
• Lead annual insurance renewals, risk assessments, and financial compliance programs

Experience

• 5 years of finance experience specifically within CPG; this is a hard requirement; generalist or adjacent industry backgrounds will not be considered
• At least 3 years in FP&A, Finance leadership, or a strategic finance capacity at a consumer brand with physical retail distribution
• Direct experience at a company in the $50M–$300M revenue range; scale-up or founder-backed environment strongly preferred
• Hands-on experience with major retail accounts (natural/conventional grocery, mass, club) and deep fluency in trade spend economics, gross-to-net mechanics, and retailer deduction management
• Experience managing cash flow and working capital at a product company with physical inventory and complex supply chain dynamics
• Prior exposure to debt facilities, investor reporting, or equity raise processes

NetSuite Expertise — Required

• Deep hands-on command of NetSuite — including Advanced Financials, SuiteAnalytics, saved searches, custom reports, and dashboard configuration
• Experience owning or significantly contributing to a NetSuite implementation, migration, or major re-configuration
• Ability to design and optimize the chart of accounts, approval workflows, and multi-subsidiary/multi-currency setups as the business scales
• Comfort extracting, transforming, and presenting data from NetSuite to support FP&A cycles without heavy IT dependency

Skills & Capabilities

• Expert financial modeler — can build a three-statement model from scratch and stress-test it meaningfully across multiple scenarios
• Strong command of CPG P&L mechanics: gross-to-net, trade accruals, COGS build, contribution margin by channel
• Ability to move fluidly between detail and strategy — comfortable presenting to a board and debugging a formula in the same day
• Clear, confident communicator — written and verbal; no jargon, just insight
• High EQ and collaborative instincts; finance as a service function, not a gatekeeping one