Gresham Executive is retained in a succession search for a dynamic PE-backed specialised wholesaler seeking a strategic finance leader to drive profitable growth, operational excellence, and value creation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Overall responsibility for financial management and performance, covering both operational and statutory reporting.

• Monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting.

• Budgeting, forecasting, and long-term financial planning.

• Liquidity management and working capital optimization.

• Management reporting, KPIs, and business intelligence.

• Supporting operational performance improvement across Finance, Warehouse, Logistics, and IT, in close alignment with the CEO.

• Contributing to ERP, digitalization, and process optimization initiatives as part of the CEO's broader organizational strategy.

• Building scalable financial processes, governance, and internal controls.

• Managing relationships with banks, auditors, tax advisors, and regulatory authorities.

• Acting as a trusted finance partner to the CEO and shareholders on strategic and operational topics.

Profile:

The ideal candidate will be a commercially driven and operationally focused leader who thrives on execution, takes a pragmatic, hands-on approach, and leverages strong analytical thinking and decisive judgement to deliver outstanding results.

We are looking for someone who:

● Has a degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.

● Significant progressive finance leadership experience: c. 10+ years for Senior Finance Director-level candidates; 15+ years for CFO-level candidates.

● Proven track record as CFO, Finance Director, or senior Head of Finance within a pharmaceutical wholesaler / pharmaceutical distribution company.

● Deep working knowledge of GDP (Good Distribution Practice) requirements in a regulated healthcare/pharma environment.

● Experience implementing and monitoring internal sales / commercial metrics.

● Team-building and operational management experience, particularly in a fast-moving change environment.

● Demonstrated ability to make and support decisions with limited external points of reference.

● Ability to draw inference and provide clarity from disparate company and market data sources, delivering routine analytics to support business decisions.

● Proactive, can-do attitude with a track record of business building within an SME environment.

● Experience implementing and optimizing IT/ERP environments.

● Fluent in German and English, with strong communication skills across teams and colleagues.

● Excellent communication and stakeholder management.

Big Four / Audit training would be a plus.