Vice President, Wholesale Finance

COMPANY:
A privately owned distributor headquartered in the Southeast.

REPORTS/RELATIONSHIPS:
This position will report directly to the Chief Financial Officer with indirect reporting to the President.

BASIC FUNCTIONS:
The Vice President, Wholesale Finance provides strategic financial leadership to support the wholesale division’s (multiple companies under one portfolio) business performance and execution of strategic initiatives. This role oversees financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and analysis to ensure disciplined fiscal management and alignment with organizational goals. The position partners closely with operational and commercial leaders to evaluate business opportunities, optimize profitability, and enhance decision-making across the division. The Vice President is responsible for ensuring the integrity of financial reporting, maintaining compliance with corporate standards, and driving continuous improvement in financial processes that strengthen efficiency and accountability.

Specific duties will include, but not necessarily be limited to:

Proactively provide wholesale senior management with financial and competitive insights designed to drive business performance across multiple warehouses and, in some cases, go-to-market strategies. Build finance departments that effectively serve as data-driven challengers to ensure the best possible financial decisions. Lead advances in technology that provide the business with real-time financial insights.
Evaluate and align the finance organization with the changing wholesale business strategies of the wholesale companies. Continually strengthen the capabilities of the wholesale finance teams and stay informed of industry trends that impact company performance.
Develop, monitor, analyze, and manage the capital requirements of the wholesale companies. Approve all capital expenditures and recommend them for final approval by senior management. Direct resource allocation to achieve the most effective return on assets deployed.
In partnership with the President of Wholesale, lead the transformation, integration, acquisition, and growth strategies for the wholesale division. Help unlock potential and opportunity across all wholesale businesses and employees.
Oversee preparation and presentation of the annual budget and monthly/annual forecasts to the parent company and wholesale senior management, ensuring all budgets support the overall enterprise strategy.
Drive senior management’s awareness of the wholesale companies’ financial performance to ensure timely course corrections as necessary. Educate leaders on the value of financial analysis in decision-making.
Provide transparent reporting and discussion on the wholesale companies’ financial performance to the CEO and CFO.
Continually pursue innovative methods to improve processes, enhance profit margins, reduce expenses, and increase return on invested capital (ROIC).
Lead post-mortem financial analyses of significant capital expenditures (e.g., automation, warehouse expansions) to capture learnings, drive improvement, and maximize returns for all wholesale operations.
In partnership with the SVP of HR and Transformation, support the preparation of board of director and management presentations that clearly and transparently communicate a balanced view of wholesale’s business performance and execution of strategic financial initiatives.

REQUIREMENTS:

Bachelor’s degree required; MBA strongly preferred.
Minimum of 10 years of experience as a senior financial executive within a grocery wholesale or logistics company with $2 billion or more in revenue.
Proven expertise leading financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and accounting functions.
Exceptional written, verbal, analytical, and storytelling communication skills.
Demonstrated record of inspirational leadership, fostering employee engagement, professional growth, and retention of top talent.
Strong creative and strategic thinking skills with the ability to challenge the status quo and deliver innovative, practical solutions.

COMPENSATION:
Compensation will be commensurate with experience including a competitive base salary, bonus opportunity, and competitive benefits package.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jonas Hedin, Managing Partner
jhedin@CLCBsearch.com
704.377.0362