Role and industry
Controller, PE-Backed Company Recruiters
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
Financial Headhunters: Hire a Controller for your private equity portfolio who generates 13-week cash models, tracks debt covenants, and standardizes multi-entity reporting during aggressive acquisition cycles.
This is what we do all day: recruit accounting, finance, banking and insurance professionals.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- Controller
- CFO
- VP Finance
- FP&A Director
- Accounting Manager
- Director of Accounting
- Assistant Controller
- Tax Director
- Treasury Manager
- Internal Audit Director
- Senior Accountant
- Financial Analyst
- Head of Financial Reporting
- Commercial Lender
- Chief Credit Officer
- Business Systems Finance Lead
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Accounting, finance, banking and insurance
- We reach people who aren’t on job boards
- Replacement terms on standard searches
01
What does this hire really come down to?
Your next Controller must turn your accounting function into a tool for liquidity management. A board needs to see accurate 13-week cash flow models and immediate tracking of debt covenants. If the candidate cannot explain how they reconcile specific cash discrepancies or why a covenant calculation changed period-over-period, they will fail to provide the visibility required by your investors.
Rapid portfolio growth creates friction through add-on acquisitions and changing system requirements. A hire who succeeds fixes workflows before they break rather than fixing issues after the month-end close. They must bridge the gap between startup bookkeeping and the requirements of a sophisticated audit by converting manual workarounds into scalable processes.
Staff change jobs when their current organization stops requiring growth or when manual tasks consume their time. They seek environments where they can build a finance function to prepare for an exit. A Controller who views a P&L as static figures rather than a driver for operational decisions will not fit this environment.
02
What do we check before you see anyone?
- 01We verify their history managing external audit engagements to confirm they produce a PBC list that prevents late-stage adjustments to sponsor reports. Ask them to describe the most complex audit adjustment they encountered and how they documented the resolution.
- 02We check if they execute complex multi-entity consolidations within an ERP, specifically identifying who built the logic for intercompany eliminations.
- 03We audit their history with debt covenants to confirm they know the specific inputs required by lenders and how to communicate those figures during a board meeting.
- 04We test how they integrated previous add-on acquisitions, asking them to describe the specific mapping of legacy accounts into a new consolidated reporting chart.
- 05We evaluate their control design, specifically asking what risks they identified in prior roles and what specific steps they took to mitigate those vulnerabilities.
- 06We test their ability to explain technical accounting changes, asking them to describe how they translated a GAAP requirement into an actionable impact on the P&L for non-finance leaders.
03
Where do we find them?
We search for professionals working in middle-market companies that are scaling quickly or audit managers who spent years at public accounting firms cleaning up disorganized ledgers. These individuals operate in environments where an error in data accuracy results in an immediate negative outcome during a reporting deadline.
These candidates change jobs when they see their current firm stagnate or when they lose the opportunity to build new processes. They look for chances to prepare a business for a divestment. We approach these people directly because they remain focused on their current mandates and rarely check job boards.
04
Which hiring mistakes should you watch for?
- 01Selecting a candidate based on tenure in a specific industry instead of their ability to build 13-week cash models and maintain debt compliance schedules.
- 02Hiring an accountant from a stable, large corporation who lacks experience in the high-pressure environment of a sponsor-backed firm with limited accounting resources.
- 03Choosing a candidate who delegates all manual ledger cleanup to staff while failing to advise the executive team on financial strategy.
05
The search in three steps
- 01First, we analyze your financial lifecycle to determine if you need a builder who creates accounting systems from scratch or a stabilizer who optimizes reporting for a pending exit.
- 02Second, we run technical interviews to confirm candidates can handle your specific ERP environment and multi-entity consolidation requirements.
- 03Third, we conduct situational interviews to check how they handle pressure from board members and how they manage the integration of new business units.
06
Which related hiring decisions are worth comparing?
How your Controller search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
One sequence, from a well-defined seat to a shortlist you can judge.
Search Calibration
We start with a call about the seat, the books, the owners and the people the hire will work with. We learn what the role must fix in the first year and what would make a candidate wrong even if the resume looks right.
You get: A written search brief: scope, must-haves, deal-breakers and the pay range, agreed with you.
Market Mapping
We map the companies and institutions where the right people already work: similar size, similar ownership, similar complexity, in your market and in others.
You get: The target list of companies and institutions we will search, reviewed with you before outreach.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We find direct ways to reach the people on the map. Most are employed and not reading job boards, so reaching them takes real research.
You get: Direct routes to people who are not on job boards, researched for your search.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We call and write to people individually and follow up. Interest varies, so we discuss the actual opportunity rather than promising a particular response.
You get: One-to-one conversations about your actual role, followed up, never a mass email blast.
Live Candidate Qualification
We speak with every candidate before you do. We check scope, systems, reporting lines, compensation expectations, location and why they would move.
You get: Only candidates we have spoken with, checked on scope, systems, pay, location and motive.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You receive a short written brief on each finalist covering what they have done, where they are thin and what they want. Then we help with interviews, references and the offer.
You get: A short written brief on each finalist, plus help with interviews, references, counteroffer risk and the offer.
Questions people ask
When can we expect to see the first wave of qualified profiles?
We start headhunting immediately after we define the technical requirements. You receive a list of candidates once they pass our initial vetting process.
How do you prioritize specific technical tasks like 13-week cash modeling when vetting candidates?
We ask candidates to describe exactly how they built their last cash model and how they reconciled it against actuals. We disqualify those who cannot show how they handled a specific cash flow variance.
How do you approach a candidate who receives a counteroffer to keep them focused on our long-term goals?
We identify their motivations for leaving their current role early in the process. We align your position with those specific growth needs to minimize the appeal of an existing employer counteroffer.
Can we conduct this search without the broader market realizing our company is hiring?
We use a direct outreach strategy that maintains your company identity as confidential. We agree on the level of disclosure before we contact anyone.
Are there any costs incurred by us to initiate this search?
Our search model is contingency-based. You pay only after a candidate we present is hired.
How soon will I see a Controller shortlist?
It depends on the seat, the location and the pay. We give you an honest read after the calibration call and we do not promise dates we cannot control.
What is your guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your Controller job and forward whoever applies. We do not send stacks of unscreened resumes, and we do not recruit outside accounting, finance, banking and insurance.
Start a search
Tell us about the seat.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
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