Construction · CFO
Construction CFO search
We recruit chief financial officers who already speak construction finance, from the WIP schedule to the surety meeting.
The role
Construction finance is its own discipline
Percentage-of-completion revenue, job cost reporting, over and under billings, bonding capacity. A CFO from another industry has to learn all of it on your money.
In many construction companies the CFO also holds the relationships with the surety, the bank and the insurance carriers. Those take years to build and one bad review to damage.
Why it's hard
Why the construction CFO search is hard
- The pool is small. CFOs with real construction experience are a fraction of the CFO market, and the good ones are well looked after.
- Margins are thin and revenue is high. A misread WIP schedule or a cash crunch on a profitable job can threaten the whole company.
- Many founders have run the finances themselves, or with a trusted controller, for years. The new CFO has to earn that trust.
- The role reaches past accounting into bonding, banking, insurance and tax.
What we look for
What a strong construction CFO looks like
We test for four things, in interviews and in references from CEOs and controllers who've worked with them.
- They know construction accounting at a technical level and can spot a margin fade in a project review.
- They treat the surety and the bank as partners and present the company's numbers with credibility.
- They turn financial reports into decisions the CEO and the operations team can act on.
- They build finance systems for the company you're growing into.
How it works
How the search runs
The Bullseye Meeting
We meet the CEO, the owners and anyone in the finance function to understand where the books stand today and what the next CFO has to fix or build.
Mapped search
We approach CFOs, finance VPs and senior controllers at construction companies who are doing the job well, most of whom aren't looking.
Mutual-fit assessment
We assess technical depth, construction knowledge and judgment, and check fit with your CEO and your finance team.
Onboard & follow through
We advise on the offer, then stay in touch through the first 90 days, while the new CFO earns credibility with your team and your partners.
Questions
Construction CFO search: common questions
If you need someone to keep the books accurate and on time, a controller may be enough. If you need someone to manage bonding and banking, plan cash across years and sit at the table on strategy, that's a CFO. We help you decide in the Bullseye Meeting.
Typically one to three weeks to calibrate, candidate recommendations from around week four to week eight, and an offer to your top candidate between weeks eight and twelve for a leadership role or twelve and sixteen for an executive role. Searches finish faster when you're ready to move as soon as the right person surfaces.
You pay a deposit to launch the search, nothing more until you hire, a payment at hire, and a final payment thirty days after your new leader starts. Fees depend on the role, and we quote them plainly in the first conversation.
Every FireSeeds search carries a guarantee. If the placement doesn't work out within the agreed period, we re-run the search. The specifics are set out in the engagement letter before we start.
Ready to hire a CFO?
Tell us about the seat you need to fill. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right team to fill it.