Vice President, Finance

Job Title: Vice President, Finance FLSA Classification: Exempt Facility Location: Boulder, CO Department: Finance Reports to: Chief Executive Officer Salary Range $175K - $225K

About Centaurus Farms

At Centaurus Farms we develop cannabis cultivation and production facilities and produce high-quality flower and extracted products. We are the parent company operating businesses in Colorado and Kentucky and are exploring opportunities for expansion in Delaware and other locations.

Every time we grow something we record what went in, what came out, what was different, was it as good as last time — or better. The next time we grow the same strain we use the data to get it right rather than relying on someone’s memory.

There is no shortcut. Plants take their time. We just make sure we learn everything we can every time we cultivate, harvest, or trim something. Craft sets our standards. Consistency sets our schedule. Quality is what we deliver to our customers — every time. All part of our focused vision and what makes us a different strain of cannabis company.

The role

This is the first internal finance hire. There is no in-house finance team today: a bookkeeper (payables and receivables), controller and CFO are all fractional providers.
The role is being created to build the finance function. The person will own the numbers and be a key partner to the CEO and the operating leaders for decision making. It is a role for a person interested and capable of building something, not a role for someone expecting a team, systems, processes, or procedures to already exist. For the first several months the role will be hands on until the proper design for the finance function and staff is created and implemented.

Responsibilities

Build the finance function

• Personally run month-end close, reconciliations, payment runs and reporting during the first months, to learn the business from the bottom.
• Within 60 days, deliver a proposed final state design for the function: what is automated, what is hired, what remains outsourced, what is the sequence, and how much will it cost.
• Hire and develop the agreed upon team.
• Select and implement required systems including accounts payable automation and, where justified, ERP.
• Bring work currently held by fractional advisors in house, retaining outside support only for specialist technical matters.

Planning and analysis

• Build and own the annual budget and a rolling 13-week and 12-month cash forecast.
• Produce a monthly forecast against plan with clear variance explanation by site and product line.
• Build cost models by facility, process stage and product — including cost per pound of flower and cost per gram of extract — and keep them current.
• Provide decision support on capital investment, pricing, product mix, capacity and new-market entry, with scenarios and recommendations.
• Own the long-range financial model supporting expansion into additional states, sites, or business lines.

Management reporting

• Design and deliver a single monthly reporting pack on a fixed calendar: P&L by site, cash, production against plan, yield and potency, price realization and key operating metrics.
• Refine the KPI set each operating leader is measured against and present them monthly.
• Present results to the executive team and the board with a focus on insights, not just numbers.

Sales and operations planning

• Chair the monthly S&OP process, reconciling the commercial demand plan against the capacity of each facility.
• Publish the committed production plan and report variance against it, as a neutral party with no site or commercial interest.
• Surface capacity, inventory and working-capital constraints early enough to act on them.

Accounting, controls and tax

• Own the general ledger, month-end close, and multi-entity consolidation.
• Own inventory accounting and costing, including capitalization methodology across cultivation, processing and packaging.
• Direct outside tax advisors on Section 280E positions, inventory method and state excise obligations.
• Establish the control environment: delegation of authority, dual approval for payments, banking controls, vendor verification and segregation of duties.

Treasury and capital

• Manage cash, banking relationships and cash-handling controls in a sector with limited banking access.
• Support the CEO on financing, lender relationships and capital raising, including models, diligence and data room preparation.
• Support due diligence and financial integration for acquisitions and new-market entry.

The first year

What success looks like, in sequence.

• By day 60: A reliable month-end close within 10 business days, and payment release no longer dependent on the CEO.
• By day 60: The proposed design for the function delivered and agreed.
• By month 3: The monthly reporting pack established and trusted by the executive team; a rolling cash forecast in use.
• By month 4: S&OP running monthly with a committed production plan; cost models by site and product in place.
• By month 6: The function staffed and systematized as designed

Qualifications

• Has built or substantially rebuilt a finance function at a company between $10M and $75M in revenue.
• Comfortable owning the models: forecasting, budgeting, cost and margin analysis and scenario work. This role does not delegate the analysis.
• Cost accounting in a business that makes physical goods — manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, consumer packaged goods or pharmaceuticals.
• Technical accounting competence to own inventory costing and direct outside advisors: GAAP, standard and actual costing, multi-entity consolidation.
• Multi-site or multi-state operations.
• Experience with lender, investor or board reporting.
• MBA and or CPA preferred. Public accounting background valued but not required.
• Cannabis experience and Section 280E familiarity valued, not required.

Characteristics

• Will do the work. Runs a payment batch or a reconciliation personally without regarding it as beneath them. Candidates who want to arrive to a built team will not succeed here.
• Builds rather than administers. More interested in designing what should exist than maintaining what does.
• Operationally curious. Walks the facilities, understands where cost actually comes from, and is credible with people who grow and manufacture.
• Comfortable with incomplete information. Much of the historical data is imperfect. Improves it rather than waiting for it.
• Clear rather than comprehensive. Produces reports that lead to decisions. One page before twenty.
• Professional maturity. Steady, discreet and reliable..

Physical Demands

• Sedentary Exertion: Exerts up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, or a negligible amount of force frequently, to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects (including paperwork and light office supplies).
• Stationary Position: Remains in a stationary position (sitting or standing) for prolonged periods, typically 75% to 80% of the workday.
• Fine Motor Skills: Constantly operates a computer, keyboard, mouse, calculator, and other office productivity machinery to analyze complex financial data.
• Communication & Exchange: Frequently communicates, expresses oneself, and exchanges accurate information verbally and in writing during board meetings, executive briefings, and financial presentations.
• Visual Acuity: Requires close visual acuity, with or without corrective lenses, to prepare and analyze data, view a computer monitor, and read extensive legal, regulatory, or financial documents.
• Mobility: Occasionally moves about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, and meeting rooms.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.