Chief Financial Officer

Role Description

Smalls has built something rare: a subscription-first pet food business with genuine customer love, durable unit economics, and a retail expansion underway. We've grown from a pure-play DTC brand into an omni-channel operation, and the financial complexity has grown with us. The CFO who built this infrastructure is stepping back. What we need now is someone who has lived inside a consumer business at scale, has managed the tension between growth and profitability and, at least once, sat at the closing table for a significant transaction.

This person will be the senior financial executive of the company — end accountable for financial results across the business, the health of the balance sheet, the discipline of the operating plan, and the readiness of the business for its next chapter.

The CFO leads two functions:

• Finance , managed day-to-day by the SVP Strategic Finance and encompassing FP&A, operating model, cohort analytics, and board financial materials.
• Accounting , managed day-to-day by the Director of Accounting and encompassing general ledger, close, GAAP financial statements, accounts payable/receivable, payroll, and external audit. Both functions report directly to the CFO.

What you'll own

• Operating Finance & Business Performance
  • Direct the annual operating plan process, including revenue and contribution margin targets by channel, headcount planning, operating expense budgets, and capital expenditure schedules; present the approved plan to the board of directors.
  • End responsibility for development and fidelity of the rolling forecast, incorporating actuals-to-plan variance analysis across P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow; translate variance findings into forward-looking operational recommendations.
  • End responsibility (in partnership with the CRO) for unit economics management and threshold-setting: CAC and payback period by acquisition channel, cohort LTV curves, contribution margin by SKU and channel, gross margin by co-manufacturer, and blended LTV:CAC ratio; establish and hold thresholds that govern ongoing acquisition investment decisions.
  • Design and direct omnichannel P&L architecture — particularly retail and wholesale margin reporting inclusive of trade spend, slotting, co-op, spoilage, and incremental fulfillment costs; evaluate new retail placements against defined return and payback thresholds.
  • Drive financial accountability with supply chain and operations on co-manufacturing cost structure, freight and fulfillment cost-per-order, inventory turn targets, and the financial implications of formulation or sourcing changes.
  • Oversee variance analysis against plan and forecast across all cost centers; develop and implement corrective action plans where performance deviates materially from targets.
  • Design and manage capital allocation decisions across the business — marketing channel investment, CapEx (freezer infrastructure, co-manufacturing capacity, ERP and systems), new SKU development, geographic expansion — against established ROI and payback thresholds.
  • Own the financial systems roadmap — ERP, OMS, and EDI — ensuring infrastructure supports accurate multi-channel and multi-category profitability reporting as the business scales.
  • Define and own the company's path to positive operating cash flow: establish milestones, identify the cost structure and revenue productivity levers required to achieve them, and track progress against plan.
• Financial Reporting, Controls & Accounting
  • Own the accuracy and timeliness of GAAP financial statements, including income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.
  • Oversee monthly and annual close process through the Director of Accounting; ensure close completes within established timelines with full account reconciliation and variance commentary.
  • Maintain documented accounting policies covering all judgment-sensitive areas: revenue recognition, subscription deferred revenue, lease accounting (ASC 842), warrant liability treatment, inventory valuation, and co-manufacturing accruals.
  • Design and maintain an internal controls environment appropriate for a VC-backed, pre-transaction business; ensure controls are audit-ready and consistently applied.
  • Own the external audit relationship; oversee preparation of audited financial statements and coordinate timely completion of the annual audit and required tax filings.
  • Oversee sales tax compliance, indirect tax obligations, and regulatory reporting requirements across all operating states and channels.
• Treasury, Working Capital & Debt Facility Management
  • End responsible for accurate 13-week and rolling cash flow forecasting; maintain visibility into cash conversion cycle dynamics specific to perishable goods, including inventory carrying costs, AP payment terms, subscription billing timing, and retail payment lag.
  • Evaluate, structure, and manage non-dilutive financing instruments as the business scales, including inventory-based facilities, receivables factoring, and revenue-based financing alternatives.
  • Optimize working capital across AP, AR, and inventory; develop and implement programs to improve days payable outstanding, reduce inventory days on hand, and accelerate cash conversion.
• Board & Investor Governance
  • End responsible for financial materials for the board of directors, including operating results, variance to plan, updated forecasts, liquidity position, and key risk factors.
  • Serve as the primary management liaison to the audit committee; maintain responsibility for all financial representations made to the board.
  • Oversee cap table management, equity administration, and all board-level financial disclosures in coordination with legal counsel.
  • Build independent relationships with board members as a financial steward — not as a proxy for the CEO, but as the board's own trusted source on the integrity of financial representations, risk posture, and governance.
• Transaction Readiness & M&A
  • Maintain the business in a continuous state of transaction readiness: clean audited financials, documented accounting policies, reconciled cap table, and no unresolved quality of earnings exposure.
  • Serve as CFO-level financial principal in any M&A, recapitalization, or secondary transaction process: lead quality of earnings preparation and defense, own rep & warranty positioning, and execute purchase price adjustment and working capital peg frameworks.
  • Lead financial due diligence on potential acquisition or strategic partnership opportunities; develop and present buy-side financial thesis and integration cost analysis to the CEO and board.
  • Develop capital structure recommendations — equity, debt, earnout, and rollover structures — in advance of and during any transaction process.

How this role works cross-functionally

• SVP Strategic Finance — the SVP owns the operating model, FP&A infrastructure, board financial materials, cohort and investor-grade reporting, and analytical partnership to the CEO and COO. The CFO sets financial philosophy and signs off on outputs; the SVP builds and maintains the analytical engine.
• Director of Accounting — the Director of Accounting owns the day-to-day close process, GL management, accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and external audit coordination. The CFO owns the controls environment and audit relationship at the executive level; the Director executes the work.

Qualifications

• Experience with physical/inventory businesses.
• Transaction experience (principal role).
• Growth-stage operating experience.
• Systems infrastructure leadership.
• Demonstrated operational financial outcomes.
• People leadership in a lean, high-stakes environment.
• Genuine comfort with lean.

Nice to have

• Experience in pet, food, subscription CPG, or other perishable goods categories.
• Deep familiarity with omnichannel or retail-expanding DTC businesses.
• Background in investment banking or private equity with a subsequent track record as a full-function operating CFO.
• Experience managing a debt facility with active covenant compliance and lender reporting.

Benefits

• Mission-Driven Company: We love cats and we're here to make nine lives ten.
• People-Driven Company: We treat our people like people; we're committed to Smalls, and we work hard but also respect everyone’s lives outside of work.
• Data-Driven Culture: We love using data to guide decision-making where appropriate, but we also know when to move quickly and go with our gut.
• Competitive Salary: Make some $$$.
• Very Competitive Benefits: Fully paid Health, Vision, and Dental insurance. 4-day work week. Unlimited PTO.
• Fully Remote Office & Culture: Our team is spread across the US day to day, but we travel for department & company off-sites and retreats.
• Free Product: Free cat food every month.