About the CFO role
A CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, is the executive who owns a company's financial strategy and its financial health. The role goes far beyond overseeing accounting: a CFO shapes capital allocation, leads fundraising and banking relationships, builds the financial model behind the company's plans, manages risk, and acts as the CEO's closest partner on every decision with money attached, which is nearly all of them.
What the role looks like depends heavily on stage. A startup CFO spends much of their time on fundraising, runway, unit economics, and building the finance function from scratch. A CFO at an established company focuses on capital structure, investor or board relations, M&A, and leading a team that spans accounting, FP&A, tax, and treasury. Public-company CFOs add earnings communication and regulatory reporting to that list.
Because CFO searches are expensive to get wrong, your posting should be honest about the mandate. Say what the finance function looks like today, what the next 18 months hold (a fundraise, an audit, international expansion, a possible exit), and how the board is involved. Strong CFO candidates choose roles based on the problem they are hired to solve, so lead with that problem.
CFO job description template
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Job brief
We are hiring a Chief Financial Officer to own our financial strategy and to be the partner the chief executive tests decisions against. You will lead the finance function, own the model behind our plans, manage capital and risk, and carry the relationships with our board, investors, and banks.
This is the right seat if you have done this at a comparable stage, are as comfortable in the detail as in the boardroom, and can tell a company something it does not want to hear about its own numbers.
Responsibilities
- Own the company's financial strategy, long-range model, and capital allocation decisions
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, and scenario planning, and hold the organization to its plan
- Manage cash flow, runway, and treasury, including banking and credit relationships
- Lead fundraising processes, from preparing materials to negotiating terms
- Oversee accounting, close, audit, tax, and statutory compliance through the controller
- Present financial results, risks, and recommendations to the board and investors
- Build and lead the finance team across accounting, FP&A, and operations
- Set pricing, margin, and unit-economics guardrails with commercial leaders
- Own enterprise risk management, insurance, and key financial controls
- Lead financial due diligence for M&A, partnerships, or exit processes
Requirements and skills
- A long track record in senior finance, including ownership of the whole picture
- Has held a chief financial officer, vice president of finance, or finance director seat at comparable scale
- Hands-on with fundraising, debt, or transactions of the kind we are planning
- Fluent in financial modeling, unit economics, and management reporting
- Deep enough in accounting, audit, and compliance to lead controllers credibly
- Has presented to boards and investors and managed those relationships over years
- Has led a finance team spanning several disciplines
- A finance, economics, or business degree; a professional qualification helps but does not replace the record
Nice to have
- Experience in your industry or business model, such as SaaS, marketplace, or manufacturing
- Exposure to international operations, transfer pricing, and multi-entity structures
- Experience taking a company through an exit, IPO, or major acquisition
- Operational range beyond finance, such as owning legal, IT, or people operations
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