Chief Financial Officer - Startups/D2C/Consumer

Role summary:

Our client is a technology-led consumer health business, and they are looking to appoint a CFO - Head of Finance to lead the finance function end to end. This role requires a strategic leader with strong expertise in capital structuring, fundraising, financial planning, systems implementation and investor management.

The CFO owns the finance function in full - accounting, compliance, treasury, FP&A and team while working closely with the founders to drive capital strategy, ensure financial discipline, and support rapid, multi-market business growth.

The role carries a broad remit, with legal and procurement also reporting into the position. The appointee will lead a team of 14 - 15, including 4 - 5 direct reports.

Key responsibilities:

1. Capital Strategy & Fundraising:

- Lead fundraising initiatives end-to-end, including equity and debt financing.

- Build and manage relationships with investors, VCs and financial institutions.

- Develop robust financial models, valuations and investor presentations.

- Actively manage surplus cash through appropriate investment instruments, balancing liquidity, risk and return.

2. Financial Planning, Reporting & Cash Management:

- Drive financial strategy, planning and forecasting aligned with company growth.

- Oversee budgeting, cash flow management and cost optimisation across the business.

- Support strategic decision-making with data-driven financial insights for founders and business heads.

- Institutionalise a disciplined monthly close, with MIS available on the first working day of each month.

3. Systems, Automation, Finance Operations & Team Build:

- Own the finance function end-to-end - accounting, controllership, statutory reporting and day-to-day operations, not just the strategic layer.

- Drive automation and systems implementation to modernise finance processes as transaction volume and complexity scale.

- Build and lead the finance team as the company scales, including hiring, mentoring and structuring the team for future growth.

4. Compliance & Regulatory:

- Ensure compliance with financial regulations, audits and reporting standards across all entities and, in time, international geographies.

- Manage statutory compliance, tax strategy (direct and indirect) and regulatory audits, working closely with legal and regulatory affairs as the business expands into new product categories and owned manufacturing.

- Oversee the legal and procurement functions, including contracting, corporate structuring and commercial rigour across vendor relationships.

5. Business Partnering & Expansion:

- Work closely with the founders on business expansion, partnerships and capital allocation across new lines of business and international markets.

- Progressively build the financial controls and governance framework required for institutional fundraising and eventual IPO readiness.

- Establish the P&L framework and performance metrics for new categories and the expanding retail network.

Qualifications & Experience:

- CA mandatory; MBA from a premium institute preferred; 10 - 15 years of experience in finance.

- Proven track record of raising institutional equity and debt capital, with strong investor relations experience.

- Strong understanding of financial modelling, valuation and deal structuring.

- Experience in a startup or high-growth environment, ideally combined with a larger corporate background.

- Strong knowledge of financial planning, business finance, budgeting and cash flow management.

- Experience managing compliance, audits and regulatory frameworks.

- Hands-on experience leading and scaling finance teams, and driving finance systems and automation.