Chief Financial Officer

VGM Group, Inc•Waterloo, IA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

LEAD THE FINANCIAL FUTURE OF AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED ENTERPRISE VGM Group is seeking a transformational Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to serve as a key strategic partner to the CEO, executive leadership team, and Board of Directors. As a 100% employee-owned organization, VGM's CFO plays a critical role in driving long-term enterprise value, financial sustainability, operational excellence, and strategic growth while preserving and strengthening our culture of ownership. This executive leader will provide enterprise-wide financial leadership, guide capital allocation decisions, support mergers and acquisitions, strengthen business performance, and deliver the financial insight necessary to help leaders make informed decisions. The ideal candidate combines exceptional financial expertise with strong business acumen, executive presence, and the ability to influence across a diverse portfolio of businesses. Relocation to Waterloo, IA required. Position Summary The Chief Financial Officer must bring the financial acumen, strategic thinking, enterprise leadership, and business partnership skills needed to strengthen VGM Group’s long-term financial health, enterprise value, ESOP sustainability, and continued growth. This role requires strong judgment, analytical depth, executive communication, curiosity, and the ability to translate complex financial information into clear business insight for the CEO, COO, Board of Directors, business unit leaders, employee owners, external partners, and future acquisition targets. Success in this role depends on the ability to apply forward-looking financial strategy, scenario planning, business analysis, risk judgment, and constructive challenge to help leaders make disciplined decisions. The CFO must be skilled at identifying what drives performance across different businesses and converting those insights into practical recommendations that improve accountability, growth, and long-term sustainability. The ideal CFO pairs technical finance expertise with relationship-building, executive influence, external representation, talent development, and change leadership skills. This leader must be able to build trust, communicate with candor, simplify complexity, and engage credibly with business leaders, members, vendors, financial partners, ESOP advisors, and industry stakeholders.

Requirements

10+ years of enterprise leadership and financial decision-making experience with progressive responsibilities required
CFO experience in a company with approximately $500M+ in revenue and ESOP experience preferred but not required
Experience operating in a high-growth environment with demonstrated understanding of enterprise value creation
Extensive M&A, investment portfolio management, and capital allocation experience
CPA, CA, CMA, or equivalent experience required; MBA strongly preferred
Experience advising CEOs and boards on risk, opportunity, capital strategy, growth, and long-term sustainability
Strategic foresight: anticipates opportunities, risks, market shifts, and business implications before they become urgent
Learning agility and the ability to quickly understand new businesses, markets, technologies, financial structures, and ESOP mechanisms
Constructive challenge: questions assumptions productively and uses data, judgment, and credibility to improve decisions
Enterprise accountability: makes decisions that balance performance, value creation, culture, risk, and long-term sustainability
Executive communication: translates complex financial information for the Board, employee owners, customers, M&A prospects, banks, ESOP partners, members, vendors, and industry stakeholders
Risk judgment: evaluates tradeoffs and supports disciplined decisions in complex or ambiguous situations
Execution discipline: applies strong project management, organizational, analytical, and presentation skills to move priorities forward
Technical fluency: uses MS Office programs, including advanced Excel capability, to analyze, synthesize, and communicate financial information
Confidentiality and discretion: handles sensitive business, financial, employee, and transaction information appropriately
Adaptability: works effectively in a flexible schedule with occasional overnight travel

Nice To Haves

ESOP experience preferred but not required

Responsibilities

Advise the CEO, COO, Board of Directors, business unit leaders, and employee owners with clear financial insight and enterprise perspective
Connect financial strategy to growth, ESOP sustainability, operating discipline, and long-term company health
Build productive relationships between finance, operations, and senior leadership to improve execution and accountability
Engage members, vendors, financial partners, industry stakeholders, and acquisition targets in ways that create enterprise value
Coach, develop, and align finance leaders and teams across VGM
Prepare, interpret, and communicate complex reports, forecasts, models, and analyses that explain performance drivers, variances, trends, risks, and opportunities
Lead budgeting, forecasting, long-range planning, and enterprise financial performance management
Build proactive capabilities in risk assessment, market analysis, pricing strategy, procurement support, and M&A analysis
Strengthen accounting and finance functions through shared standards, scalable processes, integrated capabilities, and stronger dotted-line leadership
Balance growth, risk, liquidity, investment portfolio performance, and ESOP obligations
Evaluate opportunities that strengthen financial performance, operating discipline, and enterprise value creation
Lead or support sourcing, diligence, valuation, structuring, integration, and post-close performance management
Advance VGM’s holding company model through integrated shared services and scalable enterprise capabilities
Partner with the CIO and other leaders to assess financial implications related to cybersecurity, AI, robotic process automation, and broader technology deployment
Identify bolt-on opportunities, adjacent markets, new buying groups, partnerships, and other growth avenues that support core businesses
Represent VGM through member education, vendor engagement, industry events, regulatory awareness, advocacy-related financial insight, and market leadership