Interim Chief Financial Officer

The client is a private equity-backed consumer products business operating across food and beverage in a multi-channel environment. They require an interim CFO for a roughly three-month engagement to serve as the senior finance leader during a period of transition, working closely with the CEO, executive team, ownership stakeholders and financing partners.

The successful candidate will rapidly assess the current finance environment, identify high-priority risks and opportunities, and strengthen financial processes while maintaining organisational continuity. Key areas of focus include FP&A, treasury and liquidity management, working capital optimisation, lender communications, financial reporting and board-level decision support. Experience in consumer products, CPG or another inventory-oriented operating environment, alongside meaningful exposure to private equity and lender relationships, is essential.

• Act as the senior financial adviser to the CEO and executive leadership team throughout the engagement.
• Assess the finance organisation, reporting environment, processes, controls and team capabilities to identify immediate priorities.
• Review and strengthen forecasting, budgeting, cash flow projections and financial planning disciplines.
• Oversee cash management, short-term liquidity planning, working capital performance and balance sheet priorities.
• Manage relationships with banks and financing partners, monitoring debt facilities, covenant compliance and borrowing capacity.
• Prepare and present financial materials for executive leadership, ownership stakeholders, lenders and board discussions.
• Coach existing finance and accounting team members and establish clear transition documentation at engagement close.

• 15 or more years of progressive finance and accounting leadership experience, with prior CFO or equivalent senior finance executive tenure required.
• Experience within consumer products, CPG, food and beverage, manufacturing or another inventory-oriented business environment strongly preferred.
• Prior experience working within a private equity-backed or sponsor-owned organisation required.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with CEOs, boards, PE stakeholders, banks and lending institutions.
• Strong hands-on FP&A capability, including budgeting, forecasting, scenario modelling and management reporting.
• Significant treasury and cash management experience, including liquidity planning and working capital optimisation.
• Executive-level communication skills with the ability to present complex financial information clearly to senior stakeholders.

SolomonEdwards is a national accounting and finance consulting and recruiting organisation serving CFOs and their stakeholders. Through its CFO's Domain practice, the firm places senior finance consultants with clients across a broad range of industries and growth stages, focusing on mission-critical deliverables where capacity or capability constraints exist.