
Hello F***o,
I’m J***e, an HR recruiter at StrategyBrain. I came across your profile and was impressed by your track record as CFO at N***p,especially your success in securing blended financing, driving board-level governance, and scaling deep-tech ventures.
We’re currently partnering with A***p in Bern, a fast-growing industrial automation, robotics and AI holding, to find a Chief Financial Officer who can lead strategic planning, capital structuring and M&A integration.
Would you be open to a brief conversation about this opportunity?
Best regards,
J***e
Hi J***e, thanks for reaching out. The CFO role at A***p sounds intriguing,happy to have a quick chat to learn more about the strategic planning and M&A scope. When would suit you?


Hi F***o,
Great to hear you’re interested. I’d be happy to walk you through the CFO opportunity at A***p,specifically how you’d lead strategic financial planning (capital structuring, long-term forecasting), oversee board-level governance, and drive end-to-end M&A integration across our robotics and AI portfolio.
Would you be available for a 30-minute call? Here are a few slots in CET that work on my end:
• Tuesday, May 28th , 10:00 to 11:00
• Wednesday, May 29th , 14:00 to 16:00
• Thursday, May 30th , 09:00 to 10:30
If none of these suit, just let me know your preferred times and I’ll do my best to accommodate. Looking forward to our conversation!
Best regards,
J***e
HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain
Tuesday the 28th at 10:00 CET works great. To be candid, I’m seeing silos in our long-term forecasting and capital allocation across multiple deep-tech ventures, and our board processes rely too much on manual reconciliations. I’m curious how A***p’s integrated portfolio approach and governance framework could tackle these issues.


Hi F***o,
Great,looking forward to our call on Tuesday the 28th at 10:00 CET. To give you a preview:
1. Centralized FP&A & Digital Platform
• We run a cloud-based planning and consolidation tool that pulls real-time forecasts from each automation, robotics and AI venture.
• This replaces fragmented spreadsheets with standardized drivers and capital allocation templates.
2. Governance Framework & Board Processes
• Quarterly board committees use interactive dashboards to review KPIs, cash flow projections and funding requests,eliminating manual reconciliations.
• You’d lead the design of these governance workflows and ensure consistency across all portfolio companies.
3. Strategic Impact & Growth
• As CFO, you’ll partner with the CEO and venture heads to align financial strategy with R&D roadmaps and scale-up plans.
• This role sits on the Executive Committee, giving you direct influence on M&A integration, risk frameworks and long-term value creation.
4. Resources & Rewards
• You’ll have a dedicated FP&A team, a budget for ERP/BI enhancement, and support from external advisors.
• Competitive salary, annual bonus, and participation in our equity plan reflect the strategic importance of this position.
In short, you’d own the end-to-end financial architecture for a 250+-employee deep-tech portfolio, transforming fragmented processes into an integrated, transparent system.
Does this overview address your key questions? Happy to dive deeper on any of these points during our call.
Best regards,
J***e
HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain
Thanks, J***e,that’s helpful. Could you share a bit more on the current maturity of your cloud-based planning & consolidation tool and the size/skillset of the FP&A team I’d be inheriting? Also, how live are your governance dashboards today versus still under development?


Hi F***o,
Happy to dive into the details:
1. Cloud-based planning & consolidation tool
• Live for just over a year across all 8 portfolio companies
• Current scope: driver-based rolling forecasts, monthly actual vs. plan, real-time consolidation and basic what-if scenario modeling
• Roadmap: Q3 rollout of advanced allocations (profit-center attribution), zero-based budgeting modules and predictive analytics
2. FP&A team you’d inherit
• Team size: five
, FP&A Manager (7+ years in deep-tech venture environments)
, Consolidation Specialist (background in Swiss GAAP and group reporting)
, Two Business Analysts (proficient in data modeling, dashboard design and ERP/BI integration)
, Systems Coordinator (drives tool administration, user training and data governance)
• Skillset highlights: financial modeling, cap table analysis, KPI design, BI visualization (P***I/T***u), process automation
• Growth plan: budget approved to hire 1,2 additional analysts to support M&A integration and advanced analytics
3. Governance dashboards
• Group-level dashboards are live today,updated weekly for cash flow/runway, capex vs. budget, key performance drivers,and feed directly into our quarterly board packs
• Subsidiary-level and venture-specific dashboards are ~60% complete and targeted for full deployment by end of Q3
• You’d lead final design tweaks, user acceptance and rollout to ensure consistency across all entities
Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like before our call on Tuesday. Looking forward to discussing how you can shape the next phase of our FP&A and governance journey!
Best,
J***e
Thanks, this is really helpful. Could you share how the tool’s rolling forecasts have tracked against actuals so far and how flexible it is for multi-scenario what-if modeling at the board level? Also, what level of mandate will I have to refine KPIs and reshape the FP&A team or dashboard templates as needed?


Hi F***o,
Here’s a bit more color on those points:
1. Forecast vs. Actuals
• Over the past year our rolling forecasts have landed within a 90,95% accuracy band on key metrics (cash flow, revenue drivers), thanks to monthly reviews and continuous calibration of driver assumptions.
2. Multi-Scenario What-If Modeling
• The platform currently supports up to three parallel scenarios (base, upside, downside) at the board level. You can tweak principal drivers,capex, burn rate, revenue ramps,and instantly see consolidated P&L, cash runway and funding needs across all ventures.
• We’re also rolling out in Q3 an enhanced scenario-comparison view to layer side-by-side dashboards, making executive discussions even more seamless.
3. Your Mandate on KPIs & Team Structure
• As CFO, you’ll have full ownership to redefine or add KPIs and reshape dashboard templates to align with strategic priorities.
• You’ll also control the FP&A org design,hiring new analysts or shifting roles as you see fit,and drive any tool enhancements, backed by a dedicated budget and executive-committee support.
Let me know if you’d like any further details before our call. Looking forward to diving deeper on Tuesday!
Best,
J***e
Great to see that 90,95% accuracy,could you walk me through how you’re calibrating those driver assumptions each month and which ones tend to give you the biggest variance? And on the upcoming scenario-comparison view, will I have the flexibility to embed venture-specific non-financial KPIs (like OEE or throughput) alongside the core financial metrics?


Hi F***o,
Here’s a quick snapshot before our call:
1. Monthly Driver Calibration
• At each month-end we run a short “forecast review” workshop with FP&A, venture heads and operations leads. We compare actuals vs. forecast on the top 6,8 drivers, diagnose root causes (e.g. pilot-line ramp delays, material cost swings, machine uptime) and update our driver assumptions directly in the planning tool.
• The biggest variances we’ve seen are:
, Revenue ramp timing when a new automation pilot moves into production
, OEE/throughput shifts tied to unplanned downtime or maintenance cycles
, Variable cost drivers (labor rates, raw-material price spikes)
• These calibrated factors then feed into the next month’s rolling forecast, keeping us within that 90,95% accuracy band.
2. Scenario-Comparison View & Non-Financial KPIs
• In Q3’s enhanced comparison view you’ll be able to pull in any data field from our underlying data warehouse , financial or operational. That means you can embed venture-specific KPIs like OEE, throughput, quality yield or cycle-time alongside P&L, cash runway and funding metrics.
• You’ll have full control to define new KPI blocks, map the data feeds and tweak dashboard layouts so each venture’s unique performance indicators sit right next to your core financials.
As CFO, you’ll own both the calibration process and the dashboard templates, with a dedicated BI budget and support from our Systems Coordinator. Looking forward to diving deeper on Tuesday,let me know if you’d like any sample dashboards or calibration artifacts in advance.
Best,
J***e
Thanks, J***e,this mirrors my N***p process. Could you share what a typical driver-calibration template looks like and how you validate non-financial data (OEE, throughput) before feeding it into the forecast?


Hi F***o,
Happy to share a high-level view of our calibration template and data-validation process.
1. Driver-Calibration Template
• Layout (in Excel or our BI tool) typically includes:
, Driver Name & Unit (e.g. “OEE %,” “Throughput units/hr”)
, Current Assumption vs. Last Month’s Actual
, Variance (%) and Root-Cause Notes
, Source System (e.g. MES, SCADA, ERP)
, Proposed Adjustment & Responsible Owner
, Impact on P&L / Cash Flow (sensitivities)
• Workshops are run monthly: FP&A, operations leads and venture heads review each line, agree on the root cause, and lock in the next assumption.
2. Non-Financial Data Validation
• Automated Feeds: OEE and throughput are pulled directly from each venture’s MES/IoT platforms via secure API into our data warehouse.
• Reconciliation Rules: We run nightly checks against ERP production logs (volume counts, runtime hours) and flag any outliers (±5% threshold) for manual review.
• Data Steward Review: Our Systems Coordinator and Ops FP&A analysts jointly audit flagged points, confirm true values with the plant team, then push the cleansed numbers into the rolling forecast.
• Governance: All adjustments are logged in an audit table (who changed what, when, why) to ensure transparency at board-pack level.
If you’d like to take a look at a sanitized template or sample validation report before Tuesday’s call, just let me know and I’ll send it over. Otherwise, we can walk through a live example together.
Looking forward to diving in on Tuesday!
Best,
J***e
Thanks J***e,this looks a lot like what we ran at N***p. Could you share a sanitized calibration template and sample validation report so I can see exactly how root‐cause notes and P&L sensitivities are laid out? Also, once an outlier is flagged, what’s your typical SLA for remediation before numbers hit the rolling forecast?


Hi F***o,
Please find attached a redacted version of our driver‐calibration template and a sample validation report. You’ll notice:
• Variance & Root-Cause Notes: Each row captures the driver name, last month’s actual vs. assumption, a brief “Variance Explanation” with timestamp and owner.
• P&L Sensitivities: Side columns show the revenue, margin and cash‐flow impact for each adjustment.
• Data Source & Sign-Off: We log whether the data came from MES, ERP or manual entry and who validated it.
Regarding SLA, once an outlier is flagged by our nightly reconciliation:
• Day 0,1: Data Stewards and Ops FP&A review and correct or escalate (within 24 hours)
• Day 1,2: Updated figures flow into the rolling forecast, with completed adjustments in our next daily roll (within 48 hours)
Let me know if you’d like to walk through any of these details before our call.
Looking forward to diving in on Tuesday!
Best regards,
J***e