Financial Contoller

Job Description

Worked for 1m 18s

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Director of Finance\n

Location: Greater Cleveland, Ohio — On-Site

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Compensation: $100,000–$120,000 base salary, performance bonus up to 30%, and potential long-term incentive compensation

About the Company\n

We are a founder-led hemp and consumer products company operating across multiple divisions:

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• Hemp product manufacturing
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• Beverage manufacturing
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• Wholesale and distribution
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• Retail
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The business has grown from approximately $7,000 in revenue in 2020 to an annualized run rate of approximately $4.2 million today .

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We are entering our next stage of growth and need a finance leader capable of building the financial structure, reporting, controls, and decision-making systems required to support a larger and more complex organization.

The Role\n

The Director of Finance will lead the company’s financial operations and work directly with the CEO and operating leadership.

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This is not a bookkeeping or reporting-only position. The person in this role must understand how manufacturing, inventory, pricing, labor, production efficiency, and working capital affect profitability and cash flow.

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You will be expected to determine:

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• Where the company makes money
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• Where margins are being lost
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• Where cash is tied up
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• Which SKUs, customers, and channels create value
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• What financial and operational changes are required to support growth
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The right candidate will be comfortable moving between the production floor, financial statements, executive meetings, and conversations with banks, CPAs, auditors, and advisors.

Key Responsibilities\n

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• Own monthly financial reporting and management reporting
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• Build annual budgets and rolling forecasts
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• Implement a reliable 13-week cash-flow forecast
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• Develop manufacturing cost-accounting systems
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• Establish accurate standard costs by SKU
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• Improve inventory valuation, accuracy, controls, and turns
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• Analyze profitability by SKU, customer, channel, and division
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• Identify margin leakage and working-capital inefficiencies
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• Build weekly executive KPI dashboards
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• Support pricing and capital-allocation decisions
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• Lead banking, lending, and financing relationships
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• Improve ERP and financial-system utilization
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• Coordinate with CPAs, auditors, tax advisors, and legal counsel
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• Develop the internal finance team and supporting processes
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Initial Priorities\n

During the first 90 days, the Director of Finance will be expected to:

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• Learn each operating division and revenue stream
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• Understand the manufacturing and inventory flow
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• Review current financial reporting and accounting processes
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• Evaluate inventory costing and valuation
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• Build a rolling cash-flow forecast
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• Analyze SKU, customer, and channel profitability
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• Identify immediate opportunities to improve margin and cash flow
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• Create an executive KPI dashboard
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• Present a 12-month finance and systems roadmap
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How Performance Will Be Measured\n

Success in this role will be measured by improvements in:

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• Gross margin
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• EBITDA
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• Operating cash flow
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• Forecast accuracy
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• Inventory accuracy
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• Inventory turns
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• Working-capital requirements
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• Month-end reporting speed and reliability
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• Product-costing accuracy
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• Pricing and profitability visibility
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• Financial controls
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• Management decision-making
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Required Experience\n

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• 8–15 years of progressive finance experience
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• Meaningful finance experience inside a manufacturing business
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• Strong manufacturing cost-accounting background
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• Experience with inventory accounting and controls
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• Cash-flow forecasting and working-capital management experience
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• Budgeting, forecasting, and FP&A experience
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• ERP implementation, optimization, or integration experience
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• Experience working directly with operations and production teams
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• Experience helping a privately held or founder-led company scale
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Preferred industry backgrounds include:

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• Food manufacturing
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• Beverage manufacturing
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• Consumer packaged goods
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• Nutraceuticals
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• Supplements
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• Contract manufacturing
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• Specialty manufacturing
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• Distribution
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• Other regulated manufacturing industries
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CPA or CMA credentials are a plus but are not required.

The Person We Are Looking For\n

The strongest candidate will:

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• Take ownership without waiting for detailed instructions
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• Use facts to challenge assumptions
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• Understand the relationship between operations, margin, and cash flow
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• Be comfortable identifying and confronting poor performance
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• Communicate clearly with ownership, operations, lenders, and advisors
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• Build practical systems without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
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• Spend time in production and learn how the business actually operates
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• Make decisions with incomplete information when necessary
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• Tell leadership what it needs to hear
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• Focus on measurable business results
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This Role Is Not a Fit For Someone Who\n

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• Wants a narrow accounting or compliance position
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• Prefers maintaining established systems rather than building them
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• Avoids operational involvement
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• Requires extensive direction
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• Creates processes without measurable business value
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• Is uncomfortable challenging leadership
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• Is primarily motivated by title
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• Expects a predetermined promotion path
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There is no guaranteed path to a specific executive title. Increased authority, compensation, and advancement will be based on performance, leadership, company growth, and demonstrated value.

The Opportunity\n

This role offers direct access to ownership and meaningful influence over major financial, operational, and strategic decisions.

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The company has reached the point where its financial infrastructure must catch up with its growth. We need someone who can build the reporting, controls, analytics, and financial discipline required for the next stage of the business.

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We are not hiring someone to simply report the numbers. We are hiring someone to improve them.

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What You'll Lead\n

You'll own and continuously improve the company's financial infrastructure, including:

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• Financial Strategy
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• Corporate Finance
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• Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
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• Manufacturing Cost Accounting
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• Standard Costing
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• Inventory Accounting & Controls
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• Cash Management & Treasury
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• Banking & Lending Relationships
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• Budgeting & Forecasting
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• Rolling Cash Flow Forecasts
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• Executive KPI Dashboards
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• ERP Optimization
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• Pricing & Margin Analytics
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• SKU Profitability
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• Customer & Channel Profitability
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• Capital Planning
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• Internal Controls
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• Risk Management
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• Board & Executive Reporting
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• Capital Raise Support
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• M&A Financial Analysis
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• Finance Team Development
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What Success Looks Like\n

Within your first 24 months, you will have:

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• Built a finance organization capable of supporting a $100M manufacturing business.
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• Implemented standard costing across manufacturing operations.
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• Created executive dashboards that provide real-time business insights.
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• Established accurate rolling forecasts and cash flow planning.
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• Improved gross margins through operational and financial analysis.
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• Increased inventory turns and reduced working capital requirements.
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• Developed meaningful SKU, customer, and channel profitability reporting.
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• Strengthened banking relationships and financing capabilities.
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• Built scalable financial systems that support continued expansion.
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Who You Are\n

We're looking for a finance executive who understands manufacturing from the production floor to the executive boardroom.

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You have helped growing companies scale and understand the financial challenges that come with rapid expansion.

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You can confidently move between discussions with production managers, commercial leaders, external lenders, auditors, and ownership.

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You're comfortable making decisions with imperfect information, building systems where none exist, and driving accountability through data.

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Experience We're Looking For\n

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• 8–15+ years of progressive finance leadership experience
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• Manufacturing finance experience is required
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• Strong standard cost accounting background
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• Inventory management and inventory accounting expertise
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• Financial planning and forecasting experience
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• Cash flow management and treasury experience
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• ERP implementation or optimization experience
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• Executive reporting and KPI development
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• Experience supporting operations—not just accounting
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• Experience helping companies scale through periods of rapid growth
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Preferred industry experience includes:

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• Food Manufacturing
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• Beverage Manufacturing
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• Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
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• Nutraceuticals
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• Supplements
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• Specialty Manufacturing
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• Contract Manufacturing
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• Other regulated manufacturing environments
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CPA and/or CMA credentials are welcomed but not required.

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Leadership Profile\n

The ideal candidate is:

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• Highly accountable
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• Competitive and results-driven
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• Operationally minded
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• Financially disciplined
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• Curious and analytical
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• Hands-on
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• Comfortable challenging assumptions with facts
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• Direct, honest, and collaborative
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• Calm under pressure
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• Comfortable influencing cross-functional teams without relying on hierarchy
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You naturally ask questions like:

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• Why is this process done this way?
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• Where is margin being lost?
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• Why is inventory sitting?
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• How can working capital be improved?
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• Which customers and SKUs create the greatest value?
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• What decisions will improve long-term profitability?
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This Role Is Probably Not For You If...\n

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• You prefer highly structured corporate environments.
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• You're looking to maintain existing systems rather than build new ones.
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• Your primary focus is compliance and historical reporting.
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• You avoid spending time with operations.
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• You require constant direction.
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• You're uncomfortable making decisions with incomplete information.
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• You believe finance exists only to report results rather than improve them.
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Your Relationship with the CEO\n

You'll serve as the CEO's strategic financial partner.

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Healthy debate is encouraged.

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We expect you to challenge assumptions, provide objective analysis, identify risks, and help guide major strategic decisions through data—not opinions.

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This is a leadership seat at the executive table.