Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: Greater Toronto Area, ON (Hybrid)
Industry: Professional Services
Position Type: New Role
About the Opportunity
This newly created VP, Finance & Operations role reporting directly to the Founder & CEO. You’ll own profitability, cash, the people function, legal and risk, and the operating plan the company runs against.
You’ll have a direct line to the founder, clearly defined decision rights, and room to shape the team beneath you.
Key Responsibilities
Finance & Profitability
- Lead the finance function and build the team beneath you, delivering a close, reporting and controls the leadership team trusts, along with statutory compliance and tax remittances
- Manage gross and contribution margin by service line, client and team, inside a pricing and margin framework you design, with rate cards, discount thresholds and a floor below which work is declined
- Find and close margin leakage, and make numbers-backed recommendations on where to invest, what to reprice and what to stop
- Own cash and working capital, including a rolling cash forecast reliable enough for hiring and investment decisions, DSO, collections, client credit terms and banking relationships
- Work with the technology and data lead to move finance reporting toward real time, automate manual processes and choose the long-term finance tools
Planning & Strategy Execution
- Turn the CEO’s strategy into a rolling 24-month operating plan with owners, dates and resourcing
- Design and own the company scorecard and KPI framework, in the format you propose
- Catch deviations early and build recovery plans directly with business leaders, so issues reach the CEO already diagnosed
- Build the business cases and resourcing models for new hires, new functions and new service lines
Legal, Compliance & Risk
- Oversee legal and compliance with external counsel, including client, vendor and employment agreements, privacy obligations and disputes
- Own the insurance program and a live enterprise risk register
People & Culture
- Lead people and culture through a senior People & Culture lead, building a development path that gets new hires productive faster and a defined way to identify and keep top performers
- Make role clarity standard across the firm, so every role has defined outcomes, decision rights and escalation triggers
Office of the CEO
- Run the leadership team’s weekly, monthly and quarterly operating rhythm, with decisions logged and every action owned
- Present results to the firm and act as the CEO’s thinking partner, with written recommendations and constructive challenge
What You Bring
- 10+ years of progressive finance experience, including 5+ as head of finance with ownership of operations, and a degree in accounting, commerce or business
- A finance and operations function you built rather than inherited, ideally while the business was changing how it delivers or who it sells to
- Experience as a planning partner to a CEO or owner, including disagreeing constructively and defending your recommendations with data
- A track record of moving margin, not just reporting it, with results you can quantify
- Cash and working capital management across more than one revenue model, including a cash forecast that leaders rely on
- People leadership in a headcount-driven business, including owning HR or acting as its business partner
- Oversight of contracts and risk in a company without in-house counsel
- Hands-on use of AI tools or automated workflows to solve business problems
- Working command of Canadian statutory requirements, including CRA, GST/HST and Ontario employment standards
Nice to Have
- CPA designation
- Experience in a founder-led or owner-managed company, after time inside a larger organization
- A professional services or SaaS background
- Organization design experience
Next Steps
We do appreciate all interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Clarity Recruitment is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible recruitment process and workplace. If you require accommodation, please let us know in advance and we will work with you to meet your needs.
Please note: We use AI-assisted tools for notetaking during the screening process.
JOB ID # 3707778
About Clarity Recruitment
Clarity is an executive search and recruitment firm specializing in Finance & Accounting talent across Canada - from accountants to CFOs. Additionally, Clarity partners with organizations to hire exceptional talent in HR, Operations, and IT, helping build the teams that power business success. Our process is designed to minimize risk, maximize alignment, and move quickly. With dedicated practices in Executive Search, Full-Time Search, and Project & Interim Consulting, we help organizations grow with confidence. Visit findingclarity.ca to learn more!
