Chief Financial Officer, PE-backed Commercial MEP Platform Roll-up

About the role

Chief Financial Officer for Foundral, Inc., a Midwest platform of union‑labor commercial mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, process piping and specialty trade businesses, backed by McNally Capital. The role reports to the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman, is remote with residence required near a major airport (Central or Eastern time zone preferred), and involves approximately 50% travel to operating companies across the Midwest and to board and sponsor meetings.

Responsibilities

• Serve as trusted advisor and principal liaison to the CEO, Board, investors, sponsor, lenders and surety providers; absorb sponsor reporting load heavier than the CEO’s own.
• Lead long‑term financial planning, budgeting, variance analysis, forecasting and capital allocation; translate financial and operational data into actionable insight that drives EBITDA growth, cash flow and risk mitigation.
• Own project controls outright across the platform: work in progress, percentage of completion, margin fade, under/over billings, cost in excess of billings, project cash flow; use WIP schedule as a forecasting instrument to diagnose margin erosion before it hits P&L.
• Build the platform finance function from a standing start: hire corporate controller, then VP of Finance, then FP&A; establish consolidated reporting, compress close from 1‑2 weeks to 3‑4 days, set GAAP‑compliant controls and Delegation of Authority framework.
• Manage treasury and banking: liquidity planning, bank account structure, cash forecasting that reflects retainage, billing terms and job‑by‑job cash conversion; oversee lender relationships, covenant compliance, borrowing base certificate, principal/interest forecasting.
• Manage surety relationship directly: carry cost to complete on bonded work, forward bonding needs, optimize bonding capacity and indemnity obligations.
• Lead acquisition integration (≈70% of role): integrate people, processes, chart of accounts, systems, reporting and performance tracking for 2‑4 acquisitions per year; run post‑close working capital, management forecast, WIP diligence, closing statement work.
• Support deal execution (≈30%): valuation, structuring, financial modeling, management forecast, project and WIP diligence, closing statement work, post‑close working capital, pressure‑test Q of E outputs.
• Oversee ERP and financial systems implementation, upgrade and standardization; provide executive oversight of enterprise IT strategy, cybersecurity and data governance as they affect financial data.
• Drive working capital efficiency, pricing discipline and cash flow optimization across AR, AP, retainage and WIP.
• Establish and monitor KPIs aligned with the value‑creation plan; lead enterprise‑wide financial analytics and performance management; partner with operating leaders to improve profitability, productivity and margins.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in project controls and work‑in‑progress for long‑duration commercial construction and service businesses; ability to read schedules line‑by‑line with operating company presidents and use WIP as a forecasting tool to anticipate margin fade, under/over billings and cost excess.
• Proven track record building a corporate finance function from scratch, including controllership, consolidated close, internal controls and Delegation of Authority.
• Experience managing leveraged capital structures: covenant compliance, lender reporting, borrowing base certificates, cash forecasting that reflects retainage and job‑by‑job conversion.
• Background in surety management: direct relationship with surety carriers, cost to complete on bonded work, forward bonding needs.
• Experience leading post‑acquisition integration (people, processes, systems, chart of accounts) at a pace of 2‑4 deals per year, with a focus on integration over deal execution.
• Strong leadership presence: ability to act as CEO’s number two and sponsor’s principal counterpart without a large staff, earn trust of lieutenants, hold rooms under scrutiny, and bring problems forward with proposed solutions.

Skills

• Financial forecasting and modeling using work‑in‑progress schedules.
• GAAP financial reporting, internal controls, audit readiness.
• Treasury, banking and cash management.
• Surety and bonding expertise.