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Sourcing a Charity interim CFO
For the past 20 years, this charity has provided lifesaving emergency services across the Midlands. It employs over 1,000 volunteers and paid staff and relies upon its 35 stores and fundraising activities to support its operations, reaching an important milestone in 2023 of 50,000 missions.
In 2023, the charity engaged Practicus to source an Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO). It identified a need for an enhanced structure for its finance operations where it sought to improve the governance and metrics of the organisation with the implementation of a new strategy and business plan. As a complex charity with several areas contributing to its financial operations, the role required a candidate with experience and fluency not only within finance but also within strategy, IT and retail operations. Additionally, the advent of a new CEO meant the need for a successful CFO placement was time-critical to allow the organisation sufficient time to prepare for their arrival and imminent changes.
The charity’s requirements were niche and hard-to-fill, requiring a recruitment partner with specific experience in its sector and the senior finance candidate marketplace.
We approached the task by producing an in-depth brief, providing detailed information about the reasons for the new placement, its aims and objectives and the qualities sought in a candidate. We understood the charity required:
- Commercial acumen as well as Finance expertise and experience in broader operations including, Strategy, IT and retail.
- Stakeholder and leadership qualities that could improve the financial literacy across the organisation and build relationships with staff at all levels.
- A cultural fit that shared the charity’s values and would be willing to meet the task ahead with passion and commitment to its organisation.
Our team of dedicated Consultants began the search process immediately with a tandem approach of canvassing our network of senior finance candidates and reaching out to passive candidates. Due to the senior nature of the role, we thoroughly vetted each candidate by spending time with them to understand their motivations, verifying their experience and communicating the specifics of the role to manage their expectations. A key part of our search included communicating the unique brand of the charity with honesty, presenting them in an aspirational way that best conveyed its values and culture. As a charity, we also understood the budgetary constraints it faced and ensured our search accounted for this when seeking the right fit for the role.
The search resulted in Practicus creating a shortlist of five candidates, where two candidates were interviewed and one was offered and accepted the role. This process took two weeks from receipt of the request, to making the offer and therefore placing the successful candidate. The contract was measured by the speed at which we were able to fulfil the request and by the quality of the candidates presented.
Benefits:
- Due to the speed at which we were able to secure an Interim CFO placement, the charity was able to initiate a comprehensive handover from the outgoing CFO. This provided a solid foundation from which the new CFO could begin the role of implementing its new strategy for financial governance and operations.
- The quality of the Interim CFO met and exceeded all the role requirements. Our candidate had the broader experience in finance and business operations as well as the experience of imparting financial literacy and partnering to non-finance functions.
- The commitment of the candidate to undertake the role aligned with the charity’s own values ensuring a successful cultural fit that would be long-lasting.
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