Chief Financial Officer- for a leading Manufacturing Co.

Populux HR; Palakkad; On-site; INR 20,000,000 - 45,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Populux HR, recruiting on behalf of a prominent manufacturing client in India, seeks a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to oversee all financial operations, driving long‑term sustainability and strategic growth. The role requires deep expertise in manufacturing finance, governance, and capital management.

The ideal candidate will lead budgeting, forecasting, financial planning, and performance management, while strengthening internal controls and regulatory compliance across multiple locations.

Qualifications

• Minimum 20 years of overall experience.
• Experience in managing finances of ₹1,000 Crore+ revenue businesses.
• Exposure to Board interactions and financial strategy.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Board and senior leadership on 3-5 year strategy.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and performance management.
• Improve gross margin, EBITDA, PAT, and ROCE.
• Manage working capital, liquidity, and cash flow.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Forecasting

Financial Planning

Profitability

Treasury Management

Financial Reporting

Internal Controls

Taxation

Manufacturing Finance

Procurement

Strategic Investments

Digital Finance

ERP & BI

Corporate Governance

Education

CA or equivalent

Tools

ERP systems

BI dashboards

Job description

Populux HR is a leading executive search firm headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. We specialize in connecting talented professionals with leading organizations. We are currently recruiting on behalf of one of our esteemed clients, a prominent manufacturing company in India.

Role Description

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will be responsible for overseeing all financial operations for a leading manufacturing company, ensuring sound financial management and long-term sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

• Business Strategy & Leadership: Partner with the Board and senior leadership to develop and execute the 3 to 5 years business strategy, enabling sustainable annual growth .
• Financial Planning & Business Performance: Lead budgeting, forecasting, financial planning and performance management, translating business objectives into actionable financial targets.
• Profitability & Margin Enhancement: Drive improvements in Gross Margin, EBITDA, PAT and ROCE through pricing strategies, product mix optimisation and business profitability analysis.
• Working Capital & Cash Flow Management: Optimise receivables, inventory, payables and cash conversion cycle to strengthen liquidity and improve cash generation.
• Treasury & Capital Management: Oversee banking relationships, funding strategy, capital structure, cost of capital, liquidity management and foreign exchange exposure.
• Financial Reporting & MIS: Establish robust financial reporting systems, integrated MIS and Board-level dashboards to enable timely, accurate and data-driven decision-making.
• Internal Controls, Audit & Risk Management: Strengthen internal financial controls, internal audit, risk management frameworks and governance practices across all business operations.
• Taxation & Statutory Compliance: Oversee direct and indirect taxation, GST, tax planning, statutory compliance, assessments, disputes and regulatory matters.
• Manufacturing & Factory Finance: Drive factory-wise financial performance through cost optimisation, productivity improvement, capacity utilisation, material yield and manufacturing profitability.
• Procurement & Cost Optimisation: Partner with procurement and manufacturing teams to strengthen sourcing strategies, raw material cost management, purchase price variance and overall cost competitiveness.
• Strategic Investments & Corporate Development: Evaluate acquisitions, strategic partnerships, capital investments, capacity expansions and business restructuring opportunities to support long-term growth.
• Digital & E-commerce Financial Management: Drive financial visibility and profitability across D2C, e-commerce marketplaces, quick commerce and other emerging sales channels.
• Finance Transformation & Technology: Lead finance digitisation, ERP integration, automation, BI dashboards and adoption of AI/RPA to build an efficient, technology-driven finance function.
• Organisation Building & Stakeholder Management: Build a scalable, future-ready Finance and Internal Audit organisation while managing relationships with the Board, auditors, banks, investors and business leaders.
• Corporate Governance & IPO Readiness: Strengthen corporate governance, financial discipline, transparency, compliance and institutional processes to prepare the organisation for future IPO readiness.

Ideal Candidate Profile :

• Experience: Minimum 20 years of overall experience, with proven leadership in managing financials of businesses with ₹1,000 Crore+ revenue.
• Industry Exposure: Experience in FMCG, FMCD, Textile, Automotive or other consumer-oriented, high-volume manufacturing businesses.
• Manufacturing Experience: Strong exposure to multi-location manufacturing operations and working-capital-intensive businesses.
• Leadership Exposure: Demonstrated experience in Board interactions, financial strategy, business transformation and building scalable finance organisations.
• Qualification: CA or equivalent professional qualification.
• Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of Ind AS, Companies Act, direct and indirect taxation, corporate governance, budgeting and financial controls.

languange Skills : English, and Malayalam /Tamil/ Kannada Speaking candidate preferred.