BSG Team Ventures Retained By GEMS Education for CFO Search
May 24, 2016 – Boston-headquartered executive search firm BSG Team Ventures has been selected by GEMS Education to lead its search for a new chief financial officer.
Based in New York City, the incumbent CFO will help drive all financial management decisions for the company. The ideal candidate will oversee all company accounting practices, including accounting, budgeting, financial reports, taxes and audit functions.
Culturally and temperamentally, according to GEMS, the ideal winning candidate will be a team player who believes that individual success flows from the overall success of the organization.
Specific position responsibilities and expectations include the following:
- Provide financial strategy and leadership for the entire company;
- Oversee all company accounting practices, including accounting, budgeting, financial reports and modeling, taxes and audit functions;
- Work with the CEO to raise future investments;
- Work with outside auditors in preparation of annual financial and compliance audits;
- Help drive all financial strategy, planning and forecasting.
GEMS Education, founded as Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), is a global advisory and educational management firm, and is the largest operator of kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, with a network of over 70 schools in over a dozen countries.
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Founded as Boston Search Group in 1997 and rebranded in 2008, BSG Team Ventures focuses on identifying senior level leaders. The firm, which has offices in Boston, San Francisco, and London, recently placed Theodore I. Les as CFO for iSystems, LLC as well as Susanne Stover as CFO of Johnny Rockets.
According to recruiters, CFOs are on the move much more than other C-suite leaders lately. And that begs an interesting question: What are ‘actively-looking’ CEOs most after as they team up with headhunters in the pursuit of their next CFO? The position generally serves as right hand man to the chief executive so the perfect match is critical.
One trait every CEO desperately seeks in his or her next CFO is leadership. “More and more often, the CFO is viewed as the No. 2 executive within a public company,” said Phil McCall, a Crist | Kolder Associates managing director. “That perception is consistent with both insiders (peers, managers), and outsiders (analysts, investors, and board members). Because a public company CEO is so time constrained, the CFO is expected to take his or her place at certain times. When that happens, you need a CFO who won’t shirk from those responsibilities, but rather, will instill a following.”
Cynthia Heckscher, a managing director for Philadelphia-based recruiters Diversified Search, said that increased competition throughout the sector is forcing up a super breed CFO, with competencies far exceeding those seen on standard job spec sheets. Not surprisingly, she said, many of these up-and-coming finance executives are on a CEO pathway as well.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media