Group Chief Financial Officer - Manufacturing/Industrial - CA

Group Chief Financial Officer (Group CFO)
Location: Chennai, Bengaluru
Reporting To: Chairman
Stakeholders: CEOs of Group Companies, Board of Directors, Investors, Auditors, Lenders, Regulatory Authorities
About the Role:
We are seeking an accomplished Group CFO to lead the finance function across a diversified business group with an aggregate turnover of approximately 8,000 Crores. The role requires a strategic finance leader capable of partnering with the Chairman and CEOs to drive profitable growth, capital efficiency, business transformation, governance, and long-term value creation. The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to the Chairman and leadership team, providing financial leadership across both listed and unlisted entities while ensuring robust governance, performance management, and strategic decision support.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Finance & Business Leadership:
- Partner with the Chairman and CEOs in shaping the Group's long-term business strategy and growth agenda.
- Drive enterprise-wide financial planning, performance management, and value creation initiatives.
- Provide strategic insights on business expansion, diversification, investments, and inorganic growth opportunities.
- Support the Board and leadership team with scenario planning, financial modelling, and business intelligence.
- Evaluate emerging business opportunities and their financial viability.
Capital Allocation & Value Creation:
- Lead capital allocation decisions across businesses to optimize shareholder value.
- Monitor return on capital employed (ROCE), EBITDA improvement, free cash flow, and overall business performance.
- Develop and implement value creation strategies across the Group portfolio.
- Drive productivity, profitability, and working capital improvement initiatives.
Corporate Finance & Fund Raising:
- Lead fund-raising activities across debt and equity markets.
- Manage banking, investor, and lender relationships.
- Develop financing strategies aligned with business growth requirements.
- Oversee treasury management, liquidity planning, and capital structure optimization.
- Support strategic investments, joint ventures, and corporate restructuring initiatives.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Investments:
- Evaluate acquisition opportunities, strategic partnerships, and new business ventures.
- Lead financial due diligence, valuation, negotiation support, and deal execution.
- Oversee post-merger integration and value realization initiatives.
- Assess portfolio performance and recommend investment or divestment decisions.
Governance, Risk & Compliance:
- Strengthen corporate governance standards across listed and unlisted entities.
- Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory, statutory, taxation, SEBI, Companies Act, and accounting requirements.
- Drive enterprise risk management frameworks and financial controls.
- Work closely with internal and external auditors and Board Committees.
Performance Management:
- Establish robust MIS, dashboards, and business review mechanisms.
- Monitor financial and operational performance across all group businesses.
- Drive accountability through effective KPI and performance measurement systems.
- Provide actionable recommendations to improve business outcomes.

Stakeholder Management:
- Act as the principal finance advisor to the Chairman and Board.
- Partner closely with CEOs and business heads across group companies.
- Build strong relationships with investors, banks, auditors, regulators, legal advisors, and external stakeholders.
- Support Board presentations and strategic reviews.
Digital Finance & Transformation:
- Lead finance transformation initiatives and adoption of technology-enabled finance processes.
- Drive automation, analytics, forecasting, and data-driven decision-making.
- Improve finance operating effectiveness and reporting capabilities.
Team Leadership:
- Build and mentor high-performing finance teams across the Group.
- Develop future finance leadership capability and succession pipelines.
- Foster a culture of accountability, business partnership, and operational excellence.
Ideal Candidate Profile:
- Chartered Accountant (CA) mandatory.
- 20+ years of progressive finance leadership experience.
- Proven experience as CFO, Group CFO, Finance Director, or Business Finance Head in large diversified organisations.
- Experience managing finance across multiple business entities, including listed and unlisted companies.
- Strong exposure to corporate finance, treasury, business partnering, fundraising, M&A, governance, and strategic planning.
- Demonstrated ability to engage with Boards, Promoters, Investors, and CXO stakeholders.
- Strong commercial acumen with a track record of driving growth and value creation.
- Experience in manufacturing, industrial, infrastructure, consumer, diversified conglomerates, or multi-business groups would be preferred.