As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I offer this VP of Finance job description template as a working document, not a formality. The template below covers responsibilities, requirements, and KPIs; the sections after it explain how to adapt each element to your mandate, because the specification is the search’s first act of persuasion.
Key Takeaways: Writing a VP of Finance Job Description That Works
- The VP of Finance leads the finance function’s daily command, FP&A, accounting oversight, reporting, and business partnership, as the CFO’s deputy or the company’s senior finance leader.
- Write the spec for the candidate you want to attract, not the file you need to complete; strong leaders read job descriptions as evidence of how the company thinks.
- Separate true requirements from preferences ruthlessly; inflated requirement lists shrink slates without improving them.
- Publishing the success metrics up front attracts operators and deters narrators, exactly the sorting you want.
- State whether the seat is the top finance role or the CFO’s deputy; the two versions attract different candidates with different succession expectations.
About the VP of Finance Role
The seat typically answers to the Chief Financial Officer or Chief Executive Officer, with FP&A, accounting/controller, and finance business partners reporting in. Organizations structure the role differently at the edges; the template below captures the market-standard center, and the guidance after it handles your edges.
VP of Finance Job Description Template
Position Summary
[Company] is seeking a VP of Finance. The VP of Finance leads the finance function’s daily command, FP&A, accounting oversight, reporting, and business partnership, as the CFO’s deputy or the company’s senior finance leader. The position reports to the Chief Financial Officer or Chief Executive Officer.Key Responsibilities
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting
- Oversee accounting operations and close quality
- Deliver board and investor reporting materials
- Drive finance business partnership with operating leaders
- Own cash forecasting and working-capital visibility
- Support financings, diligence, and transaction workstreams
- Improve finance systems and process automation
- Develop the finance team and its succession
Requirements & Qualifications
- 10+ years progressive finance; FP&A and accounting exposure both
- CPA or MBA preferred
- Board-grade reporting and modeling craft
- Transaction or fundraising support experience
- Systems fluency: ERP and modern planning tools
- Business-partnership orientation, verified by operators
- Team leadership at manager level or above
Key Performance Indicators
- Forecast accuracy
- Close timeliness and reporting quality
- Budget-process effectiveness
- Cash-forecast reliability
- Finance-partner satisfaction from business leaders
- Systems/automation milestones
- Team development and retention
Compensation
Mid-market base salaries for this role typically run $200,000-$275,000, scaling substantially with company size and mandate; see our VP of Finance Salary Guide 2026 for full benchmarks by revenue tier, ownership structure, and industry.
How to Customize This Template
Treat every element above as a default awaiting your specifics. State whether the seat is the top finance role or the CFO’s deputy; the two versions attract different candidates with different succession expectations. Then prune the requirements to the honest minimum, rank the responsibilities so the first three carry the mandate’s weight, and confirm the KPI list matches how the executive will actually be reviewed, because candidates will hold you to it.
Common Mistakes in VP of Finance Job Descriptions
The recurring specification failures are predictable. Requirement inflation: fifteen must-haves that describe a unicorn and guarantee a thin slate. Responsibility laundry lists with no hierarchy, leaving candidates unable to tell what actually matters. Missing success metrics, which signals the company has not decided what it is hiring for. Internal jargon that reads as noise to outsiders. And compensation silence in markets where transparency is now expected or required. Each mistake is cheap to fix in the document and expensive to discover in the search.
From Job Description to Hire
A locked spec sets up the two decisions that follow: pricing the role against the real market, and building an interview process that tests the requirements rather than admiring them. For the interview stage, our VP of Finance interview questions guide pairs directly with this template.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: What does a VP of Finance do?
- A: The VP of Finance leads the finance function’s daily command, FP&A, accounting oversight, reporting, and business partnership, as the CFO’s deputy or the company’s senior finance leader. Day to day, the role centers on lead budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting and oversee accounting operations and close quality.
- Q: Who does the VP of Finance report to?
- A: Most commonly the Chief Financial Officer or Chief Executive Officer, with the role leading FP&A, accounting/controller, and finance business partners. Reporting-line choices signal the seat’s real weight, and candidates read them that way.
- Q: How many years of experience should a VP of Finance have?
- A: Market-standard specifications ask for 10+ years of relevant progressive leadership, but treat tenure as a proxy: the requirement that matters is demonstrated ownership of the outcomes in the KPI list at comparable scale.
- Q: How does VP of Finance pay compare with CFO pay?
- A: Where a true CFO sits above the role, the gap runs 40-80% on total compensation; where the VP of Finance is the company’s senior finance executive, price against the small-company CFO market, because that is the talent pool you are actually shopping in.
- Q: How long should a VP of Finance job description be?
- A: A page externally, with the fuller internal profile behind it. Length signals indecision; precision signals a company worth joining.
- Q: What requirements should we include for a VP of Finance?
- A: Only requirements that would genuinely disqualify an otherwise excellent candidate. Everything else is a preference, and labeling preferences as requirements shrinks slates without improving them.
![](https://www.jrgpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tanya-gallardo.jpeg")
Tanya Gallardo
Managing Director, Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy
Tanya Gallardo is the Managing Director of Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy at JRG Partners, leading C-suite and Board engagements across key growth sectors including Technology, Financial Services, and Manufacturing.
With over 18 years of experience specializing in disruptive technology leadership, Tanya is recognized as a leading authority on talent architecture for future-focused executive roles, such as the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO). Her expertise lies in accurately assessing the cultural fit and technical depth required to ensure a high return on investment (ROI) for critical leadership appointments.
Prior to her role at JRG Partners, Tanya held senior roles directing global talent acquisition strategies at a major publicly-traded technology firm, advising on organizational design and succession planning for emerging executive functions. She is a recognized speaker and contributor to industry events, sharing data-driven insights on executive compensation, leadership development, and the measurable business impact of C-suite talent.
