Chief Financial Officer – Transformation — Cybersecurity Portfolio

The mandate

An institutionally backed cybersecurity portfolio is shifting from licences to subscriptions without consistent performance visibility. Product reports use different renewal, margin and service assumptions; the close relies on manual adjustments; working capital is trapped in billing, implementation and collections. An accelerated finance transition makes a common economic model urgent.

The Chief Financial Officer – Transformation will steward approximately ₹1,900 crore in annual recurring revenue and lead around 775 employees and material partners. Scope includes controllership, planning, treasury interfaces, commercial finance, finance operations, data, procurement and transformation. Accountability is to the Group Chief Executive and relevant board committee.

The first task is a clean subscription baseline. Contracted ARR, recognised revenue, deferred balances, implementation, renewal, churn, expansion, cloud and support cost should reconcile by cohort. Cybersecurity products with high specialist service or incident response need their true delivery burden visible.

The close will be redesigned around authoritative data and ownership. Material journals, reconciliations, revenue schedules and intercompany balances need lineage, review and retirement. Accelerating reporting is valuable only if exceptions and estimates remain transparent. Key-person spreadsheets cannot remain a permanent control.

Working capital requires commercial and operational action. Billing terms, milestones, acceptance, disputes, collections and supplier commitments should connect to account plans. Finance will distinguish genuine customer negotiation from delayed delivery or weak documentation and assign decisions to the responsible executive.

Subscription economics must guide the portfolio. Acquisition, commissions, implementation, gross retention, expansion, service, cloud consumption and development should reveal lifetime contribution. The CFO will challenge products that grow ARR while destroying cash or relying on custom delivery.

Forecasting will use observable drivers and ranges. Renewal cohorts, sales conversion, hiring, utilisation, incidents and vendor commitments should explain change. Management action must be separated from market movement. Each threshold needs a decision, not only an updated commentary.

Investment governance will compare product, platform and go-to-market cases using adoption, capacity, cash, risk and stop criteria. Finance retains independent challenge while businesses own delivery. Projects that fail evidence gates should pause before further capital is consumed.

Procurement and tax will be included in transformation economics. Cloud commitments, data contracts, entities and cross-border service arrangements affect cash and margin. Savings cannot be claimed while duplicated tools, contracts or manual activity remain.

The finance organisation will combine decision support and control. Leaders need explicit sign-offs, deputies and development through real forecast and investment choices. The handover must protect reporting continuity while ending dependence on interim ownership.

Why this seat is open

An accelerated transition created an urgent permanent replacement need. Interim finance coverage protects statutory and customer deadlines, but the board seeks appointment within six to eight weeks before the next subscription and planning cycle.

What you will own

• Establish consistent subscription and product economics.
• Steward ₹1,900 crore of ARR, cash and board forecasts.
• Deliver a clean, controlled close with traceable adjustments.
• Release working capital through billing, acceptance and collection action.
• Reset investment governance around cash, adoption and stop criteria.
• Lead approximately 775 employees and partners with credible succession.
• Connect procurement, cloud and tax commitments to economics.
• Give directors transparent ranges, dependencies and corrective options.

The first 12 months

The first 90 days should secure reporting deadlines and reconcile ARR, cash and working capital. Meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to finance transformation, including product, sales, customers, auditors, engineering and suppliers. Assess leaders and agree close and investment gates.

Months four to nine should standardise product economics, remove priority manual adjustments and execute billing or collection actions. Stop weak investments and reset material contracts. First value may appear through a cleaner close, forecast confidence, released cash or avoided spend.

By year end, close quality, decision economics and working-capital release should show repeatable gains. Performance should stay inside 10% of the approved case, supported by three quarters of forecasts aligning recurring revenue, cash, customers and workforce assumptions. Priority issues require independent sustainability proof; severe escalation cannot remain open beyond 30 days.

What the board will measure

• ARR, recognised revenue, deferred balances and cash reconciled by cohort.
• Close speed and quality without manual or key-person dependence.
• Working capital released through accountable operating decisions.
• Product contribution after implementation, cloud and specialist service.
• Retain above 90% of critical finance talent and ready successors for 70% of direct roles.
• Capital stopped or redirected after evidence fails agreed gates.

The person

You are a CFO, Deputy CFO or Group Financial Controller with 22–28 years in software, cloud, cybersecurity, IT services or technology-enabled business services. You have signed statements, transformed finance and owned liquidity and investment cases.

Your accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio has been at least ₹1,100 crore, and you have led 550 or more people. Results must have held for two reporting periods.

You understand subscription revenue, working capital and close control. You can make imperfect data decision-useful without hiding uncertainty and can challenge both commercial and product leaders constructively.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is ₹2.2–3.0 crore plus performance variable. The permanent Pune role is onsite and expects relocation, although a structured weekly commute may be considered in the first quarter; notice up to six months can be accommodated.

Confidentiality

The company, predecessor, portfolio and finance findings remain confidential. Details follow reciprocal interest under mutual protection; figures and circumstances are blended.