Senior Director of Finance

Job Description

Job Description

We are seeking a senior, highly capable finance leader who can serve as a senior finance leader and overtime as a CFO.

- Active CPA license required.

- Big 4 experience is a Big Plus.

The role combines rigorous controllership of two companies, one a distribution business, and the other a brand with a growing national presence.  The candidate will be providing lender- and investor-facing financial support, must be able to move comfortably from the general ledger and QuickBooks into Excel analysis, lender reporting, diligence requests, management reporting and direct financial discussions with external stakeholders.

This is not a narrow accounting-management role. We need a hands-on senior professional who can independently locate, reconcile, explain and present financial information quickly and accurately working in close partnership with the CEO.

Primary Responsibilities

Controllership and Financial Reporting

·         Own the integrity, accuracy and completeness of financial reporting for the two companies, including standalone and consolidated reporting.

·         We also have an affiliate in Europe, and the ability to interface with management and finance there, is critical.

·         Lead and continuously improve month-end and year-end close, including journal entries, accruals, allocations, balance-sheet reconciliations and review of supporting schedules.

·         Prepare and review monthly P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and management reporting packages; investigate variances and unusual movements rather than simply report them.

·         Manage multi-entity and intercompany accounting, reconciliations and eliminations.

·         Maintain accounting policies, internal controls, audit readiness and disciplined financial documentation.

·         Oversee AR, AP, payroll, inventory accounting and other core accounting processes, while remaining personally capable of working in the detail when required.

Lender, Investor and Financing Support

·         Serve as a senior day-to-day financial resource for lenders, investors and stake holders.

·         Support debt raises, refinancing, equity raises and other financing or strategic transactions.

QuickBooks Enterprise, Data and Analysis

·         Operate at an advanced level in QuickBooks Enterprise, including the inventory module, chart of accounts, journal entries, AR/AP, inventory, classes or other reporting dimensions, and customized financial reporting.

·         Drill from financial statements into transaction-level detail and independently locate the source of discrepancies or unusual balances.

·         Export, structure and reconcile QuickBooks data in Excel for management, lender and investor analysis.

·         Build and maintain practical reporting tools for revenue, gross margin, inventory, working capital, liquidity, customer profitability and operating performance.

Inventory, Distribution and Excise Tax

·         Oversee inventory accounting, valuation, COGS accuracy, inventory movements, shrinkage and related reconciliations in an inventory-intensive wholesale/distribution environment.

·         Understand and oversee multi-state tobacco/nicotine excise-tax accounting and compliance.

·         Support state pricing matrices, regulated-product reporting and other finance processes that are specific to multi-state tobacco/nicotine distribution.

FP&A and Business Partnership

·         Own and support annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, cash forecasts, working-capital analyses and disciplined budget-to-actual / forecast-to-actual reporting.

·         Build revenue, volume, gross-margin and profitability forecasts by retailer, customer, channel and SKU, with particular attention to planned retail promotions and trade-spend assumptions.

·         Analyze trade promotions, discounts, rebates, billbacks, chargebacks and promotional allowances, including their proper accounting treatment, forecasted cost, realized spend and margin impact.

·         Track actual retail performance against budget and forecast - including sales, unit velocity, promotional lift, trade spend, gross margin and customer/SKU profitability - and explain the drivers of material variances.

·         Partner with Sales and management before and after retail promotions to establish realistic promotional budgets and volume assumptions, measure ROI and effectiveness, and use actual results to improve future forecasts and promotional decisions.

·         Partner with Sales, Operations and management on inventory planning, customer economics, vendor terms and other financial decisions.

·         Develop scenario analyses and practical financial models to support management decisions and external financing discussions.

Required Experience and Qualifications

·         Senior-level Controller, Director of Finance or equivalent experience in a business with at least approximately $60 million of annual revenue; experience in a larger company is strongly preferred.

·         Demonstrated direct experience working with lenders and investors. Candidates should have personally supported lender reporting, diligence and covenant/borrowing-base requirements.

·         Meaningful experience supporting outside investors, financing diligence, boards/owners or transaction processes.

·         10+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including ownership of month-end close and financial statement preparation.

·         Advanced hands-on QuickBooks Enterprise experience, preferably with inventory, plus strong Excel and financial-analysis skills.

·         Strong knowledge of GAAP, balance-sheet reconciliations, inventory/cost accounting, working capital and cash flow.

·         Experience in distribution, wholesale, CPG or another inventory-intensive operating business strongly preferred.

·         Demonstrated budgeting and forecasting experience in a retailer-driven CPG, distribution or comparable environment, including promotion calendars, trade spend, volume/revenue forecasting and actual-versus-forecast variance analysis.

·         Experience with tobacco/nicotine excise tax is highly preferred. Comparable multi-state excise or regulated-product tax experience (for example fuel, alcohol or similar) is also relevant.

·         Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or related field required. CPA is strongly preferred; meaningful Big Four or mid-tier public-accounting experience is valued but not required for the right operating Controller.

What Will Distinguish the Right Candidate

·         A true player-coach: senior enough to face lenders and investors, but willing and able to open QuickBooks, trace transactions and solve accounting problems personally.

·         High urgency and responsiveness. When a lender or investor requests information, the candidate knows how to determine exactly what is being asked, locate the data, reconcile it and return a reliable answer promptly.

·         Strong financial judgment and healthy skepticism - notices when a number does not make sense and keeps digging until it is understood.

·         Comfort operating in an entrepreneurial, fast-moving environment with multiple entities, complex inventory, regulated products and evolving financing requirements.

·         Clear, concise communicator who can explain financial issues to the CFO, CEO, lenders, investors and operating leaders without losing technical accuracy.

·         Highly organized, disciplined and thorough, with the confidence to own deliverables while operating collaboratively under the CFO's direction.

Reporting Relationship

The Senior Controller / Director of Finance reports to the CEO and serves as the senior U.S.-based finance execution lead. The role works closely with the CEO and fractional CFO on lender and investor reporting, forecasting and financing activity, and coordinates with internal accounting, operations, excise-tax and other functional personnel. The objective is to create a finance organization in which the CFO can set direction and exercise review and judgment without having to personally retrieve or build every financial answer requested by U.S.-based lenders, investors or management.