The CFO a business needs today may be very different from the CFO it needs three years from now.
That is one reason senior finance appointments can be particularly challenging.
Businesses aren’t simply recruiting an experienced accountant. They may need someone who can lead financial strategy, improve reporting and controls, support investment, manage cash and risk, challenge the leadership team and build the finance function as the organisation develops.
Finding that combination requires looking beyond the job title.
What stage is your business at?
Start by considering where the organisation is heading.
Are you:
- scaling rapidly?
- preparing for investment?
- professionalising a founder-led business?
- considering acquisition?
- expanding internationally?
- preparing for exit?
The answer should influence the CFO you recruit.
Someone who has successfully managed finance within an established corporate organisation may not necessarily be the best person to build systems, processes and teams within a growing SME.
Likewise, an excellent hands-on SME Finance Director may not have the experience required for a complex investment or international growth strategy.
Strategic or hands-on?
For many SMEs, the answer is both.
A CFO may need to discuss strategy with the Board in the morning and become involved in cash flow, forecasting, systems or operational finance later that day.
That balance is important.
Candidates accustomed to large finance teams and extensive infrastructure may not suit an environment where they need to build rather than inherit.
Look beyond technical credentials
Technical finance expertise should be expected at this level.
The differentiators can be:
Commercial judgement: Can they use financial information to improve business decisions?
Leadership: Can they build and develop a finance function?
Board credibility: Can they challenge and influence senior stakeholders?
Adaptability: Can they operate strategically while remaining close enough to the detail?
Growth experience: Have they operated through circumstances comparable to where your organisation is heading?
Don’t recruit for the CV alone
A recognisable employer or impressive job title doesn’t automatically make someone right for your organisation.
Ask:
Have they worked with limited resources?
Have they built rather than inherited?
Can they work effectively with founders or investors?
Have they experienced your stage of growth?
Can they move comfortably between strategy and delivery?
Context matters as much as credentials.
When the candidate pool becomes smaller
The more specific the requirements become, the less likely the ideal CFO is to be actively applying for jobs.
We’ve seen this challenge first-hand.
When a high-growth London biotech business needed a Finance Director to support its next phase of scale, it wasn’t looking for a traditional senior finance hire. The successful candidate needed startup and scale-up experience, exposure to funding rounds, investor credibility and the ability to build financial infrastructure while remaining hands-on. Bond Williams successfully identified and placed a Finance Director with the combination of strategic and operational capability the business needed.
Read the Finance Director scale-up case study
Executive Search, market mapping, established networks and confidential direct approaches can become particularly valuable at this level.
Bond Williams recruits CFOs, Finance Directors and senior finance leaders through our specialist Accounting & Finance and Executive Search expertise.
Planning your next senior finance appointment? Talk to our Accounting & Finance recruitment specialists at Bond Williams.
