CFO-in-Residence (United States)

CFO-in-Residence

Flying Horse Capital

Location: Relocation required to the acquired business

Employment type: Full-time

Seniority: Executive

ABOUT THE ROLE

Flying Horse Capital acquires lower-middle-market family- and founder-owned businesses and holds them permanently. When we buy a company, we put leadership in the seat a CEO, a CFO, or both and give them the ownership and authority to run it. This isn't a search fund or a typical private equity finance role. You are not producing reporting packages for a deal team waiting on an exit. You are building the financial backbone of a business that will be owned for decades.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

We are selective about who we partner with. Every leader in our program brings deep operational experience, a proven track record, and a personal investment in the outcome. Our approach is built on the conviction that great businesses deserve great operators, and that long-term ownership creates the environment for both to thrive. CFOs of our portfolio companies receive meaningful ownership and real authority over the finance function they build.

We place a CFO in one of two situations:

The owner is transitioning out. We acquire the business, the founder or family exits on agreed terms, and we place both a CEO and a CFO to run it. In this case you are half of a new leadership team stepping into a company that has never had one. You build the finance function while your CEO builds the operating rhythm, and the two of you establish credibility with employees and customers from day one.

The owner is staying. We acquire the business and the founder or family CEO remains in the seat, but the finance side of the organization needs to be upgraded. In this case you are the CEO's right hand the first real finance leader the company has ever had. You bring visibility, discipline, and decision-quality information to an owner who has run the business on instinct and a checkbook balance, without taking away what made them successful.

Both paths require the same person: someone who can build a finance organization from the ground up inside a company that has never had one, and do it without breaking what already works.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Once a business is identified and acquired, the CFO steps in from day one. You relocate to where the business operates and take ownership of the financial function.

• Own the financial function end to end accounting, reporting, forecasting, cash, treasury, and controls
• Build the close. Get to accurate, timely monthly financials that leadership can actually make decisions from
• Establish the cash discipline that drives the business: working capital, collections, vendor terms, and liquidity
• Build a reporting and KPI framework that ties financial results to operational drivers the team understands
• Replace tribal knowledge and hand-built spreadsheets with systems that scale
• Serve as the CEO's closest partner on pricing, capital allocation, hiring, and growth decisions
• Develop the accounting and finance team already in the building, and hire where you have gaps
• Manage the banking, insurance, tax, and audit relationships
• Support add-on acquisitions and integration where the business pursues them
• This is a long-term role. Our CFOs are committed to building enduring businesses.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• 10+ years of progressive finance and accounting leadership, including time as a CFO, VP of Finance, or Controller with full-function ownership
• Experience as the senior-most finance person in a business not a division of a larger company with corporate support behind you
• Experience in businesses that are not fully professionalized: inconsistent reporting, cash-basis habits, tribal knowledge, systems built by hand
• Demonstrated ability to build a monthly close, a forecasting process, and a reporting package where none existed
• Strong operational orientation you spend time on the floor, in the field, and with customers, not only behind a desk
• Comfort partnering with a founder or family owner who has never worked with a finance executive before
• CPA, MBA, or equivalent depth preferred but not required
• Ability and willingness to invest personal capital alongside Flying Horse Capital
• Willingness to relocate to the acquired business, wherever it is located

SELECTION PROCESS

Every candidate goes through a rigorous vetting process, including behavioral assessments, background and credit checks, and a requirement to invest personal capital alongside Flying Horse Capital.

CONSIDERATION FOR THE PROGRAM

If you would like to be considered for the Flying Horse Capital CFO-in-Residence program, we welcome your application. Please note: submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance or admission to the program. Applications are reviewed for consideration into our CFO pipeline. We build this pipeline continuously, ahead of the businesses we acquire, so that when the right opportunity comes we already know the right operator. If you are selected to move forward, a member of the Flying Horse Capital team will contact you directly.