Chief Financial Officer

Klipspringer

The food industry’s dependable partner.

Klipspringer is a food safety compliance partner for food and beverage businesses across the UK and Ireland. Its vision is to be the dependable partner of choice across the complete food sector through innovation and an exceptional customer experience.

Founded by the Carlyon family in 1999, the company builds on three generations of family involvement in the British food industry. Today it supports customers through a broad portfolio of hygiene and production equipment, visual management, instrumentation, monitoring and calibration services.

Values & Culture

Care, Competence and Focus guide the way Klipspringer works.

The Opportunity

Klipspringer has set an explicit growth mandate for the plan period: to grow revenue from £20m to £50m, and to double EBITDA from £5m to £10m. The CFO owns the financial strategy, capital structure and commercial discipline required to deliver this
growth sustainably – providing the Board of Directors with the forecasting, reporting and risk management needed to make fast, well-informed decisions, and taking the lead on funding, M&A and exit-readiness as the business scales.

The CFO also holds oversight of Corporate Services, ensuring HR, Compliance, H&S and Systems are all successfully underpinning the business – without this becoming a distraction from the core financial and commercial mandate above.

The growth mandate, at a glance:

• Revenue: £20m → £50m (2.5x)
• EBITDA: £5m → £10m (2x)

Roles & Responsibilities

• Strategy & growth: own and continually refresh a rolling 3-year business plan that translates the £20m→£50m revenue and £5m→£10m EBITDA targets into a funded, resourced roadmap.
• Capital & funding: determine and secure the funding structure (debt, equity, working capital facilities) needed to support growth and any acquisitions; manage lender/investor relationships.
• Commercial performance & margin: partner closely with Sales, Marketing and Operations on pricing, unit economics and cost discipline so EBITDA scales in line with plan.
• Financial leadership, reporting & forecasting: lead finance across the business, delivering reporting and forecasting for Shareholders, the Board, the Management Team and GBS.
• Real-time insight & systems: leverage business systems for real-time financial insight; direct the IT & Systems function to ensure technology and data infrastructure scale with the business.
• M&A & corporate development: lead due diligence, integration and post-acquisition delivery for acquisitions supporting the growth plan.
• Governance, risk & compliance: ensure adherence to regulation as Klipspringer expands into new regions; embed strong governance and internal controls.
• Team & talent: build, mentor and develop a Corporate Services function sized and skilled for a £50m business, with clear succession planning.
• AI & automation: proactively identify opportunities to embrace AI across the business, with a strong governance plan to manage it effectively.
• Group support: support the set-up and growth of Locus where required.

Skills & Experience Required

• Proven track record scaling a business through a comparable growth trajectory (e.g. doubling revenue or EBITDA), ideally within a £20m–£50m+ turnover business.
• Experience raising or managing external capital (debt and/or equity) and/or preparing a business for a liquidity event.
• M&A experience across due diligence, integration and post-acquisition value delivery.
• Professional qualification in financial management (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent).
• Experience operating across multiple regions/jurisdictions, with working knowledge of the compliance implications of expansion.
• Strong commercial acumen, with a track record of partnering directly with Sales, Marketing and Operations on pricing and margin.
• Confident with business systems/ERP and comfortable directing an IT function or an IT leadership hire, without needing to be a technologist personally.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to handle, coordinate and prioritise several projects simultaneously.
• Team player – humble, hungry and people-smart – with strong internal communication skills.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure, with a high level of confidentiality and integrity

General Expectations

• Maintain personal and professional development to meet the changing demands of the job and participate in appropriate training activities.
• Undertake such other duties, training and/or hours of work as may be reasonably required and which are consistent with the general level of responsibility of this job.
• Undertake health and safety duties commensurate with the post and as detailed in the company's Health and Safety Policy.
• Act as an ambassador of the company and promote the company brand, always displaying a positive image to customers and members of the public.
• Live and breathe our core values – Care, Competence and Focus; deliver to our mission statement and promote the company's long-term vision.

Remuneration

A package designed to reflect the scale of the role and the outcomes it will deliver.

Appointing our first CFO is a big step for the business, our team and our family shareholders, and an essential one as we enter the most exciting phase of growth in our history.

Our core values of care, competence and focus shape how we treat all our stakeholders and how we make decisions. Alongside them sits a relentless commitment to continuous improvement and hard work. We never stand still.

That approach has given us strong foundations and real momentum, and now we're ready to go further. We have ambitious targets, and we're building the team and capability to deliver them.

We're looking for a CFO who brings drive, sharp commercial insight and financial discipline, and who will be a true partner to me and the leadership team. You'll help shape our strategy as well as report on it: turning ambition into clear plans, making sure we invest in the right places, and being a trusted voice for our family shareholders as we scale.

This is a rare chance to join a values-led, growing business at a pivotal moment so if that excites you, we'd love to hear from you.