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.