Group Chief Financial Officer (Group CFO)

Our client, a leading multi-site retail group, is seeking to appoint a Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to provide senior executive leadership and drive the next phase of organizational maturity and growth across its diverse business portfolio.

The Role

● Overall executive accountability for the group’s financial health and capital structure, defining and delivering a robust financial strategy that supports both the core supermarket chain and the group's various other business ventures.

● Strategic financial oversight of the operations, with a heavy emphasis on optimizing working capital, managing high-volume cash flows, and enhancing margin performance across complex retail formats.

● Full responsibility for financial governance, transitioning the group from an entrepreneurial finance model to a sophisticated, disciplined corporate function with rigorous internal controls and standardized reporting.

● Leadership of the investment and diversification agenda, providing rigorous financial modeling and due diligence for new business ventures, store expansions, and capital allocation projects to ensure maximum ROI.

● Direct executive management of the Finance, Treasury, Audit, and Legal departments, fostering a performance-led culture and building a high-capacity team capable of supporting a multi-entity corporate structure.

● Sponsorship of data-driven decision-making, partnering with the Head of IT to implement business intelligence tools that provide real-time visibility into stock valuation, shrinkage, and store-level profitability.

● Executive oversight of Procurement and Supply Chain finance, ensuring transparent pricing architectures, robust rebate management, and optimized payment terms with local and international vendors.

● Maintenance of critical external relationships, acting as the primary liaison with banking partners, auditors, tax authorities, and insurers to secure the group’s credit facilities and manage regulatory risk.

● Active partnership with the CEO and the Board, providing high-level strategic insight, what if scenario planning, and forward-looking financial analysis to guide long-term group expansion.

● Ensuring group-wide compliance and risk management, overseeing statutory reporting, tax planning, and internal audits to protect the group’s assets and reputation across all operating jurisdictions.

● Driving organizational accountability by embedding clear KPIs and financial discipline within non-finance departments, ensuring that operational initiatives are always aligned with the group’s liquidity and profitability targets.

Requirements

• Be a locally warranted accountant.
• Have senior leadership experience preferably within a high-volume retail or FMCG environment.
• Proven experience managing the financial complexities of a multi-site group, specifically regarding high-frequency transactions and high inventory valuation.
• Demonstrated success in overseeing the finances of a group structure with multiple business lines, including inter-company eliminations and consolidated reporting.
• A track record of leading of migrating manual processes to automated, scalable systems.
• Experience in managing significant credit facilities, negotiating with banks, and executing capital raises or complex restructuring.
• The ability to identify operational inefficiencies and revenue-leakage points in the supply chain.
• Experience in transitioning an organization from a founder led entrepreneurial culture to a more high-governance corporate environment.
• Exceptional executive presence with the ability to simplify complex financial data for the Board while holding operational managers accountable.
• Strong expertise in internal audit frameworks and loss prevention strategies