Chief Financial Officer

Navigate Realty•Raleigh, NC

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Navigate Realty is a rapidly growing residential real estate firm with operations across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Our business is focused exclusively on residential real estate sales and property management, with a growing portfolio of agents, offices, clients, and managed properties across the Southeast. As we continue to scale, we are seeking an experienced, strategic, and hands-on Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to build the financial infrastructure required to support significant growth while maintaining strong financial discipline, visibility, and accountability. The CFO will be a key member of the executive leadership team and will play a critical role in helping the company scale efficiently, improve profitability, manage cash flow, and make data-driven decisions across our sales and property management operations. The CFO will oversee all aspects of the company's financial strategy and operations, including accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, financial controls, tax planning, and performance analysis. This is a highly strategic and operational role. The successful candidate will not simply oversee accounting-they will become a business partner to the CEO and leadership team, providing the financial insight, systems, reporting, and discipline necessary to manage a rapidly expanding residential real estate organization. The ideal candidate will have experience in residential real estate, brokerage operations, property management, or another multi-location, high-growth service business.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or a related field.
10+ years of progressive finance and leadership experience, with experience as a CFO, VP of Finance, Controller, or similar senior-level position.
Strong preference for candidates with residential real estate brokerage and/or property management experience.
Experience supporting a rapidly growing, multi-location organization.
Demonstrated experience building financial systems, reporting structures, controls, and processes from the ground up or significantly improving existing infrastructure.
Strong understanding of revenue recognition, commissions, payroll, operating expenses, cash flow, and profitability in a service-oriented business.
Experience with multi-state operations is highly desirable.
Experience overseeing accounting for property management operations is a significant plus.
Exceptional financial modeling, forecasting, and analytical skills.
Strong technology and systems aptitude, including experience implementing or improving accounting, reporting, and business intelligence systems.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to translate financial information into clear business recommendations.
Strong leadership skills with the ability to work effectively with executives, office leaders, sales professionals, property managers, and operational teams.
High level of integrity, discretion, accountability, and attention to detail.

Nice To Haves

The ideal candidate is an entrepreneurial finance leader who understands how a residential real estate business actually operates.
You should be equally comfortable discussing financial statements with the President, agent metrics with sales leadership and property-level profitability with the property management team.
We are looking for someone who can bring structure without bureaucracy, build systems without slowing the business down, and provide the financial visibility necessary for leadership to move quickly and confidently.
This is an opportunity for a CFO to have a meaningful impact on a company experiencing significant growth and to help shape the financial infrastructure, culture, and strategy of a multi-state residential real estate organization.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the company's financial strategy in partnership with the President and executive leadership team.
Build scalable financial systems, processes, and controls to support rapid growth across multiple states and offices.
Establish meaningful financial KPIs and dashboards for the company, individual offices, sales teams, and property management operations.
Provide senior leadership with clear, timely financial analysis and recommendations.
Identify opportunities to improve profitability and operational efficiency.
Participate in strategic planning, expansion decisions, acquisitions, and other growth initiatives.
Oversee all accounting and finance functions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll coordination, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
Ensure accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements.
Develop standardized reporting across all offices and business lines.
Establish appropriate internal controls and financial policies.
Coordinate with external CPAs, auditors, tax advisors, attorneys, and other professional advisors.
Oversee tax planning, compliance, and multi-state financial considerations.
Develop financial reporting and performance metrics for the company's brokerage operations.
Analyze agent productivity, commissions, splits, recruiting costs, marketing expenses, and office profitability.
Partner with sales leadership to evaluate compensation structures, incentives, recruiting investments, and growth strategies.
Improve visibility into revenue, commission expenses, margins, and profitability by office and business unit.
Develop forecasting models that account for transaction volume, seasonality, market conditions, agent growth, and commission trends.
Oversee financial management and reporting for the company's residential property management operations.
Establish clear reporting around management revenue, property-level expenses, maintenance costs, owner distributions, and operating margins.
Ensure strong controls around client/owner funds and property-level financial activity.
Partner with property management leadership to improve operational efficiency and profitability.
Develop financial metrics to monitor growth in doors under management, revenue per property, maintenance costs, staffing costs, and overall portfolio performance.
Support scalable processes as the managed portfolio expands across multiple markets.
Maintain strong visibility and control over company-wide cash flow.
Develop rolling cash-flow forecasts and liquidity plans.
Establish appropriate cash management policies across offices and business lines.
Monitor working capital and identify potential cash-flow risks before they become issues.
Optimize banking relationships and treasury processes.
Build financial models to evaluate new markets, offices, teams, and business opportunities.
Analyze potential acquisitions, partnerships, and expansion opportunities.
Establish financial benchmarks and reporting requirements for newly opened or acquired operations.
Help leadership understand the financial implications of rapid headcount, transaction volume, and property growth.
Develop systems capable of supporting a substantially larger organization without unnecessary complexity.
Build and lead a high-performing accounting and finance organization.
Establish clear roles, responsibilities, processes, and performance expectations within the finance function.
Develop talent and create a culture of accountability, accuracy, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
Determine when to centralize versus decentralize financial functions as the company grows.