Interim CFO / Chief Transformation Officer | Restructuring, PE Value Creation & Large-Scale Turnaround Leadership
This executive brings a strong combination of financial expertise, transformation leadership and operational capability, enabling them to take accountability in complex, high-stakes environments. Their approach blends strategic clarity with rigorous execution, ensuring that financial, operational and organisational levers work in harmony during turnaround or growth phases. They are recognised for identifying hidden performance potential, implementing pragmatic improvements and building governance frameworks that sustain long-term value creation.
They have extensive experience working with private equity firms across buy-side and sell-side mandates, performance improvement programmes, carve-outs, refinancing processes and portfolio company restructuring. Their work includes leading PE-backed businesses through crisis, supporting investment decision-making, executing integration and value-enhancement measures, and preparing organisations for IPO or exit. They operate confidently with investors, banks, supervisory boards and family owners alike, consistently restoring trust and driving aligned transformation.
Well suited to interim CFO, Chief Transformation Officer, restructuring lead, or programme leadership roles, this executive brings extensive international experience, deep financial and operational expertise, and a proven ability to deliver results across highly demanding environments. Their blend of strategic insight, crisis management capability and disciplined execution makes them an asset for organisations requiring decisive leadership and measurable impact.
Stabilised and transformed a €1bn retail and logistics group facing major operational, financial and strategic crises—restoring transparency, reducing overhead costs by 10%, securing €180m in financing and establishing a comprehensive transformation roadmap.
Directed the restructuring of a private equity–owned entertainment and real estate group, resolving compliance challenges, building commercial control structures, securing financing and delivering a multi-country turnaround with over 100 measures.
Served as CFO in a technology and automotive software business preparing for a potential IPO, strengthening governance, financial reporting and KPI systems, and guiding the company through strategic restructuring following major commercial setbacks.
As Group CFO for a major food industry holding, managed transformation efforts during an industry crisis, executing internationalisation, internal carve-outs, cost optimisation in the tens of millions, and securing €300m syndicated financing.
About the Candidate
This executive is a highly accomplished CFO and transformation leader with more than two decades of experience managing complex corporate restructurings, growth transformations, financial turnarounds and business model reinventions. Their track record spans more than 20 mid-cap organisations ranging from €50 million to €7 billion in revenue, across sectors including automotive supply, retail and consumer, food, energy, healthcare, entertainment, public sector, machinery, technology and industrial engineering. They combine strategic capability with strong operational leadership, enabling them to quickly stabilise organisations, redesign financial and operational models and deliver measurable value uplift.
They excel in situations where financial transparency is lacking, liquidity is under strain, operational processes are ineffective or the business model requires significant revision. Their expertise includes integrated planning, KPI-driven governance, ERP/SAP transformations, IPO readiness, M&A including buy-and-build strategies, post-merger integration, stakeholder and banking negotiations, and large-scale cost optimisation programmes. With strong crisis leadership skills and the ability to build high-performing teams, they consistently restore confidence, secure financing, and lead organisations through periods of intense strategic and operational change.