Chief Financial Officer / Finance Director (CFO / DAF)

Client: Luxury Craftsmanship Group

Location: France with European Travel

Contract: Advisory / transformation consulting mandate → permanent executive role

Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer & Strategic Planner Director.

Governance: Executive Committee / Board exposure

Team: 2–3 people (Finance, Accounting, Admin/HR)

Context:

A European luxury fashion house with strong heritage and international ambitions is entering a critical transformation phase. The group is restructuring its legal and operational footprint, strengthening governance, and accelerating growth toward an ambitious mid-term objective.

To support this phase, the CEO wishes to appoint a highly operative CFO / DAF, initially through a confidential advisory and transformation mandate, with a clear objective to transition into a permanent executive role once the transformation is stabilised.

The appointment is urgent and requires the highest level of discretion.

Role Purpose:

The CFO / DAF is a key member of the leadership team, responsible for finance, accounting, treasury, compliance, and HR oversight, with a strong operational bias.

This role combines:

 Immediate execution in a sensitive environment

 Support of a complex organisational and legal transformation

 Progressive structuring of the finance & admin function to support international growth

This is not a purely supervisory CFO role. The successful candidate will be hands-on, pragmatic, and deeply involved in day-to-day operations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning, Analysis & Business Support

 Build and manage short- and mid-term cash-flow forecasts

 Deliver clear financial analyses and recommendations to the CEO

 Partner with business planning / controlling functions on budgets and scenarios

 Support strategic decision-making during transformation

2. Treasury & Banking Relations

 Manage relationships with banking partners and financial institutions

 Oversee treasury, liquidity, and working capital

 Optimise capital structure and funding sources

3. Accounting, Reporting & Compliance

 Ensure accuracy, timeliness, and compliance of financial statements

 Supervise monthly, quarterly, and annual closings

 Ensure full tax, social, and regulatory compliance

 Coordinate with auditors, legal advisors, and external consultants

4. Organisation, Governance & Transformation

 Support legal and organisational restructuring across entities

 Contribute to governance processes, including interaction with employee representative bodies

 Redesign finance and admin processes to support scale and internationalisation

5. Team Leadership

 Lead and develop a small finance / accounting / admin team (2–3 people)

 Bring structure and best practices while remaining pragmatic and operational

6. HR Oversight

 Supervise HR administration in coordination with existing resources

 Ensure compliance with employment law and internal HR processes

 Act as a trusted partner to the CEO on people-related topics during the transition

Profile & Experience

Background

 Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, or related field

 10+ years of experience in finance leadership roles

 5+ years as CFO / DAF or equivalent senior role

 Strong experience in SMEs or entrepreneurial environments

 Experience in luxury, fashion, retail, or craftsmanship-driven businesses is a strong plus

Languages

 French: mandatory

 English: mandatory

 Italian: strong plus

Technical & Personal Attributes

 Very hands-on and execution-oriented

 Strong accounting, tax, and treasury expertise

 Comfortable working directly in ERP and reporting tools

 High level of integrity, discretion, and confidentiality

 Calm, structured, and reliable in sensitive contexts

 Able to combine operational delivery with strategic perspective

Practical Information

 Immediate availability strongly preferred

 Initial confidential advisory / transformation mandate

 Clear intention to evolve into a permanent CFO / DAF role

 Regular travel within France and occasional international travel