Head – Finance & Accounts (Plant & Food Processing)

Position: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) / Head – Finance & Accounts

Location: Gurugram (Base Office)

Business Operations: Plant and Food Processing Facilities in Chhattisgarh

Industry: Food Processing / FMCG / Agri & Food Products

Salary Range: Rs. 18 LPA – Rs. 25 LPA

About the Organisation

We are a growing Food Park and food processing business with operations across multiple product categories, including Dairy Products, Jaggery and Tomato Puree, with manufacturing and processing facilities in Chhattisgarh and the corporate/base office in Gurugram.

The organisation is at an exciting stage of its growth journey and is looking to strengthen its leadership team to support the next phase of expansion, diversification and value creation.

We are seeking a strategic, hands-on and future-oriented Chief Financial Officer (CFO) / Head – Finance & Accounts who can partner with the leadership team in building a strong financial foundation and contribute significantly to the organisation’s growth to the next level.

Role Overview

The CFO / Head – Finance & Accounts will be responsible for providing strategic financial leadership and ensuring strong financial governance across the organisation. The role will go beyond traditional finance and accounting and will actively contribute to business strategy, growth planning, investments, expansion, profitability and long-term value creation. The CFO will also have clear accountability for overall financial performance, including revenue, gross contribution, EBITDA, cash generation, working capital, return on capital employed and financial risk management, and will drive corrective actions with business and functional heads.

The incumbent will work closely with the Promoters and Senior Leadership Team and provide financial insights to support key business decisions.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Financial Leadership

• Partner with the Promoters and Leadership Team in defining the financial strategy and long-term growth roadmap.
• Own and drive the financial strategy in alignment with the organisation’s growth plan, including profitability improvement, capital allocation, return on capital employed and long-term value creation.
• Develop financial plans aligned with business expansion, new product categories and future growth opportunities.
• Lead financial evaluation of major capital allocation decisions using appropriate ROI, IRR, payback and sensitivity analysis.
• Evaluate new investments, expansion projects, acquisitions, partnerships and diversification opportunities.
• Provide financial insights and commercial perspectives for key strategic decisions.
• Support the organisation in building scalable financial systems and processes.

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Lead annual business planning, budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Own monthly performance reviews covering actual vs. budget vs. forecast, EBITDA bridge, price-volume-mix analysis, cash-flow outlook and corrective-action tracking.
• Drive product-wise, business-wise and plant-wise profitability analysis and identify actionable margin-improvement opportunities.
• Develop robust MIS and financial reporting systems for effective decision-making.
• Monitor revenue, profitability, margins, costs, working capital and cash flows.
• Analyse financial performance and identify opportunities for improving profitability and operational efficiency.
• Establish appropriate financial KPIs and performance dashboards for the leadership team.

Fund Raising & Investor Relations

Lead negotiations and periodic review of working-capital limits, term debt, BG/LC facilities, pricing, covenants and other banking arrangements, with a focus on liquidity and funding-cost optimisation.

• Develop and manage strategies for raising debt and equity capital, as required for future growth.
• Build and maintain relationships with banks, financial institutions, investors and other stakeholders.
• Lead financial due diligence and support discussions with potential investors and strategic partners.
• Lead tax planning and tax-risk management and identify applicable government incentives, subsidies and state/central schemes relevant to food processing and manufacturing operations.
• Evaluate funding options and optimise the organisation’s capital structure.
• Strengthen SOPs, delegation of authority, maker-checker controls, internal audit processes and timely closure of control observations.
• Support the company in preparing for future institutional funding, private equity or other strategic investment opportunities.

Finance, Accounts & Compliance

• Oversee the Finance and Accounts function and ensure accurate and timely financial reporting.
• Establish measurable working-capital targets covering inventory days, receivable days, payable days and cash-conversion cycle, with clear ownership and periodic review.
• Strengthen credit-control, collection, customer-credit-limit and overdue-escalation processes.
• Ensure compliance with applicable statutory, taxation, corporate and regulatory requirements.
• Manage relationships with auditors, tax consultants, banks and other financial partners.
• Develop an enterprise-level financial risk framework covering liquidity, customer credit, commodity-price exposure, interest-rate risk, insurance and other material financial risks.
• Strengthen internal controls, financial discipline and governance processes.
• Ensure timely completion of audits and statutory filings.

Working Capital & Treasury Management

• Drive effective working capital management across the business.
• Drive standard costing and variance analysis, capacity-utilisation analysis, inventory ageing, slow-moving/obsolete stock review and post-investment performance monitoring.
• Optimise inventory, receivables, payables and cash flows.
• Prepare concise Board/Promoter MIS and financial reviews highlighting performance, cash position, working capital, risks, strategic initiatives and actions required.
• Lead product costing, contribution-margin analysis, pricing support, procurement savings, break-even analysis and make-or-buy evaluations.
• Develop effective treasury and cash management systems.
• Evaluate and monitor expansion and capital-expenditure projects through business cases, ROI/IRR, payback, sensitivity analysis, budget control and post-investment review.
• Ensure appropriate utilisation of banking facilities and working capital limits.
• Monitor financial risks and develop appropriate mitigation strategies.

Manufacturing & Operational Finance

• Work closely with Plant and Operations teams to strengthen financial controls across manufacturing facilities.
• Lead finance-process standardisation, ERP enhancement and automation across finance, procurement, inventory, production and sales, supported by reliable management dashboards and data controls.
• Drive product-wise and business-wise profitability analysis.
• Monitor manufacturing costs, raw material costs, wastage, yield and operational efficiencies.
• Develop systems for inventory control and cost optimisation.
• Support commercial decision-making relating to procurement, production and supply chain.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with Promoters and/or Board and to translate financial analysis into commercial and operational decisions.

Growth & Business Partnering

Strong experience in product costing, pricing, profitability analysis, treasury, banking relationships, ERP/process transformation and commercial finance.

Experience in a promoter-led or high-growth organisation with responsibility for building scalable finance processes and teams will be preferred.

• Act as a strategic business partner to the Promoters and Senior Management.
• Evaluate the financial viability of new products, markets and business opportunities.
• Key Success Metrics – First 12–18 Months
• Improvement in EBITDA / contribution margins and visibility of product-wise profitability.
• Reduction in working-capital cycle, inventory ageing and receivable days.
• Optimisation of borrowing cost and effective utilisation of banking facilities.
• Timely and reliable MIS, budgeting, forecasting and cash-flow reporting.
• Strengthening of internal controls, SOPs, audit closure and financial discipline.
• Successful ERP/process automation and integration across key business functions.
• Improved cash-flow predictability and disciplined capital allocation.
• Support expansion into new geographies and product categories.
• Develop financial models and business cases for strategic initiatives.
• Identify opportunities for improving business performance and shareholder value.

Team Leadership & Systems Development

• Build, mentor and develop a high-performing Finance and Accounts team.
• Introduce technology-enabled financial systems and automation where appropriate.
• Strengthen financial processes suitable for a rapidly growing organisation.
• Create a culture of accountability, transparency and financial discipline.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) is preferred. MBA in Finance or other relevant financial qualifications will be an added advantage.
• Significant experience in senior finance leadership roles, preferably as CFO, Finance Director, VP Finance or equivalent.
• Experience in Food Processing, FMCG, Manufacturing, Agri-business or related industries will be highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing finance, costing, working capital and supply chain economics.
• Demonstrated experience in financial planning, business strategy, fund raising and stakeholder management.
• Experience of working with growing businesses and managing expansion would be an advantage.
• Strong understanding of taxation, statutory compliance, corporate finance and financial controls.
• Exposure to multi-location operations will be preferred.

Note:

Interested professionals can share their updated profile with current salary detail and notice period to: rakhee@teamrecruiter.in / bhawana@teamrecruiter.in