Chief Financial Officer

Job Title: Chief Financial Officer

Location: North Sutton, NH (Hybrid: 4 days on-site / 1 day remote)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Salary:$200,000 - $225,000 Salary + 30% Target Annual Performance Bonus + Potential Equity
Travel: Occasional travel to sponsor or lender meetings as required

Company Introduction

This role is with a precision photonics manufacturer headquartered in North Sutton, New Hampshire. The company designs and manufactures light measurement systems, integrating spheres, reflectance materials, and optical calibration solutions used across aerospace, automotive, LED/lighting, medical device, and defense markets worldwide.

Occasional travel to Peabody required due to an extension of the company's capabilities in specialty light sources and radiometric instrumentation.

This company is in an active growth phase. The Controller will be central to the financial rigor, reporting discipline, and operational transparency that PE ownership demands.

Role Overview

The Chief Financial Officer is the senior finance executive and strategic partner to the CEO and the PE sponsor. The CFO owns the full finance, accounting, treasury, tax, and strategic finance functions of the business, leads a team that includes a Controller and downstream finance staff, and serves as the primary sponsor-facing financial voice.

This is a hands-on, execution-oriented CFO seat. The right candidate has done this before in a PE-backed manufacturing environment, thrives under sponsor pressure and tight reporting deadlines, and takes personal ownership of the EBITDA story, the capital structure, and the path to exit.

Core Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary financial partner to the CEO and the PE sponsor, including direct interaction with the operating partners, the board, and the lender group
• Own the EBITDA story including normalized EBITDA development, EBITDA bridge analysis, and the operational drivers behind margin movement
• Lead all sponsor reporting including monthly board packages, lender compliance reporting, covenant calculations, sponsor dashboards, and quarterly sponsor reviews
• Oversee the monthly close across all legal entities and ensure delivery within 5 - 7 business days, with the Controller executing under the CFO's direction
• Own consolidated financial statements, entity-level reporting, and the integrity of all financial data presented to sponsors and lenders
• Lead capital structure management including debt facility negotiation, refinancing, working capital optimization, and CapEx prioritization
• Direct manufacturing cost accounting strategy including standard costing methodology, variance analysis discipline, BOM and routing integrity, and overhead absorption frameworks
• Partner with operations to drive gross margin improvement, support pricing decisions, and identify cost-reduction opportunities
• Lead annual budgeting and frequent reforecasting cycles aligned to sponsor expectations and value-creation milestones
• Own 13-week cash flow forecasting and weekly cash management; serve as the executive owner of working capital improvement across AR, inventory, and AP
• Design and maintain internal control infrastructure appropriate for PE ownership; ensure IFRS and GAAP compliance and covenant calculations
• Lead M&A activity including bolt-on identification, financial due diligence, Quality of Earnings preparation, data room management, transaction execution, and post-close integration
• Manage tax strategy across sales/use, property, and income tax provisions including multi- jurisdiction compliance in coordination with external advisors
• Serve as primary executive contact for external auditors, tax advisors, lenders, and sponsor advisors; keep the company audit-ready and diligence-ready at all times
• Own financial system strategy across Epicor and supporting platforms; drive process automation, chart of accounts optimization, and finance technology investment
• Build, lead, and develop the finance organization including direct ownership of the Controller and indirect ownership of accounting, FP&A, treasury, and tax personnel; establish a high- accountability culture with clear roles, deadlines, and ownership
• Promote cross-training, documentation, and succession planning to reduce key-person risk and build a scalable finance function ready for the next phase of growth or exit
• Partner with the CEO on strategic initiatives, pricing strategy, margin expansion programs, and the overall path to value creation and exit

Required Background

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance
• 15+ years of progressive finance leadership experience including 5+ years as a CFO, Interim CFO, or senior finance leader at a manufacturing company
• Direct experience as a finance leader in a private equity backed environment with proven sponsor-facing reporting, EBITDA discipline, and lender compliance ownership
• Manufacturing and cost accounting depth including standard costing, BOM integrity, overhead absorption, labor variance, and inventory valuation experience
• Proven ownership of multi-entity environments including intercompany transactions, eliminations, reconciliations, and transfer pricing
• Demonstrated M&A leadership including buy-side or sell-side due diligence, Quality of Earnings, data room management, and post-close integration
• 13-week cash flow forecasting experience and working capital optimization track record
• Strong U.S. GAAP and IFRS knowledge; advanced Excel and ERP fluency (Epicor a plus; SAP, Oracle, and similar platforms are transferable)
• Direct experience with covenant compliance, lender reporting, and capital structure management
• Track record of building and leading high-performing finance teams in a high-accountability environment
• CPA or CMA (Preferred)
• MBA or other advanced degree (Preferred)
• Prior experience through a successful PE exit, recapitalization, or carve-out transaction (Preferred)
• Experience with precision manufacturing, instrumentation, photonics, optics, or related technical product environments (Preferred)
• Prior experience with bolt-on acquisition integration in a PE platform context (Preferred)
• Familiarity with multi-jurisdiction tax compliance and international subsidiary operations (Preferred)
• Direct Epicor experience (Preferred)

Compensation & Perks

• Base Salary: $200,000 - $225,000 based on experience
• Annual Performance Bonus: 30% target, structured around Revenue, EBITDA, and MBO objectives, with predictability and on-time delivery weighted heavily
• Potential equity participation for the right candidate
• Hybrid schedule: 4 days in the North Sutton, NH office, 1 day remote
• Full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, and retirement plan
• Direct access to PE sponsor leadership and operating partners
• C-suite seat with high-visibility ownership of value creation, capital structure, and exit readiness