Chief Financial Officer

• Fast growing Australian manufacturer
• A genuine mandate to shape the systems, the team and the margin
• Board-facing role in a well-established family business success story

The opportunity

SVC Civil Products, a Melbourne-based civil products manufacturer with a history dating back to 1948, has completed a major acquisition. With a turnover exceeding $40m and a clear trajectory beyond $50m, it is consolidating and growing from a position of strength.

To support this, the business now seeks its first Chief Financial Officer; an elevated, Board-facing role created to lead the financial integration of the acquired business, bring rigour and discipline to an enlarged balance sheet, and capture the substantial margin upside the combined group presents.

This is a build-and-transform mandate, not a stewardship role. The incoming CFO will have the explicit backing of the Managing Director and Board to put their stamp on the function; reshaping systems, processes and team structure, and doing things differently where a better result can be had. Helpfully, both businesses operate on the same platform, with finance systems being brought together, providing a strong foundation for the work ahead.

The company

Established in 1948 and now in its third generation of family ownership, SVC Civil Products is one of Victoria’s enduring manufacturing success stories.

From its base in Melbourne’s south-east, the company manufactures and supplies precast concrete and third-party products across three areas: civil and infrastructure products, including pits, access covers, grates, pipes, kerbs and drainage; Anston Urbanware and streetscape products for public spaces; and Anston pavers. Its products are specified and trusted by civil design engineers, planners, landscape architects and contractors across the State.

The group pairs its operating business with substantial property holdings, giving it a balance-sheet strength and long-term horizon few businesses of its size enjoy. While proudly family-owned, SVC is professionally run. Led by an experienced Managing Director, the company has deliberately invested in governance maturity as it has grown. The recent acquisition of a direct competitor, the boldest move in its history, signals a business with the confidence and capital to keep growing. It is, in short, a company that combines the pace and pragmatism of private ownership with the discipline of much larger organisations.

The role

Reporting to the Managing Director and serving as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, the CFO will lead an eight-member finance and administration function, with four direct reports spanning finance, commercial analysis and cost accounting, data and reporting, and supply chain. Key accountabilities include:

• Leading the financial integration of the newly acquired business;
• Board reporting, analysis and trusted strategic advice;
• Budgeting, forecasting and banking covenant discipline;
• Margin leadership, product costing and pricing support;
• Foreign exchange and input-cost risk management, including forward cover;
• Working capital, cash and treasury management;
• Governance, internal controls, compliance and enterprise financial risk;
• Reshaping the finance team’s structure, systems and processes to match the enlarged business.

The candidate

Qualifications and experience

• Degree qualified in accounting, finance or commerce, with CA/CPA  or equivalent qualification highly regarded;
• Senior financial leadership experience in a complex, multi-entity business;
• Proven experience leading the financial integration of an acquired business;
• Background in manufacturing, industrial products or building materials preferred;
• Demonstrated exposure to Boards and Executive Leadership Teams;
• Experience managing input-cost and foreign exchange exposures, including hedging or forward purchasing;
• Strong command of management and statutory reporting, controls and compliance;

The person

• High-level financial expertise, high emotional intelligence, with a proven track record of developing teams;
• Energised rather than daunted by change, with an appetite to do things differently;
• Credible in the boardroom, yet hands-on enough to stay close to a team of eight;
• Commercially sharp, with the ability to turn financial insight into business decisions;
• Well organised and highly articulate communicator, who can relate at all levels of the organisation.

To apply

Applications, including a cover letter and CV, may be submitted via the links below, or at www.bluhat.com.au/jobs. For more information, please feel free to contact us on 1300 802 661. All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.