Context:
Finatal is exclusively retained to appoint a Group CFO for a €1.5bn pan-European services group undergoing a major transformation. Backed by a leading private equity sponsor, the business is streamlining operations, embedding performance accountability, and preparing for a strategic exit in the next 3–4 years. This is a career-defining opportunity to lead a full financial transformation and drive value creation across a complex, multi-entity international platform.
Reporting directly to the CEO, you will lead all core finance functions, FP&A, treasury, reporting, and transformation, with a mandate to build a forward-looking, insight-led finance organisation. You will drive visibility across unit economics, cash, and margin, elevate country-level performance and accountability, and partner closely with the Board and investors to prepare the business for a successful exit.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Strategic Financial Leadership: Shift the finance function from reactive to proactive; embed data-driven decision-making. Own the full finance function (FP&A, Treasury, Reporting) and drive ERP and BI upgrades to enable real-time, data-driven decision-making. Shift the function to a forward-looking, value-driven engine.
2. Commercial Performance & Profitability: Drive 13-week cashflow forecasting, free cashflow improvement, and profitability modelling across products, services, and geographies.
3. Transformation: Coach and challenge country CFOs to boost planning, accountability, and P&L ownership. Strengthen local performance through targeted reviews and better visibility on margins, pricing, site-level data, linking finance to operations to drive profitability.
4. Exit Preparation: Simplify structures, instil Capex discipline, and consolidate financial processes. Get ready for sale with clean data, robust governance, and scalable infrastructure.
The ideal candidate will thrive in high-change, execution-focused environment and have the executive presence to engage confidently with investors and the Board. Culturally, this role suits a high-energy, commercially astute leader who can drive transformation, coach local teams, and embed a performance-led, data-driven execution culture across a complex, multi-country platform.
Experience & Professional Qualifications:
The CFO role requires a sophisticated finance executive with strong commercial instincts and a proven track record of bringing structure, insight, and control to complex, multi-country operations. The ideal candidate will be highly analytical yet pragmatic, able to act with speed and precision in a leveraged, under-institutionalised environment. This is a transformation agenda – requiring both strategic orientation and operational toughness.
Please reach out to Ishtah Kadel and Chris Rabis to find out more.