Interim Chief Financial Officer — NBFC Liquidity Defence

The mandate

A two-notch rating downgrade followed covenant pressure in a wholesale facility, and the CFO resigned as several lenders paused fresh drawdowns. The company remains solvent, but its daily liquidity view, securitisation assumptions and collections-to-cash bridge no longer command external confidence.

The interim must take control within ten working days for an expected nine months. The permanent search will begin after a ninety-day funding plan is agreed; a limited extension may cover lender approvals if the chosen successor's start falls after the refinancing close.

The engagement ends when twelve-month liquidity is funded under board stress, at least two paused lender lines are restored or replaced, covenant reporting is independently reconciled, and the permanent CFO has signed the first monthly ALCO pack. A non-binding term sheet does not satisfy the handover test.

The interim may prioritise cash, negotiate facilities, hedge within policy and redeploy ₹5 crore of finance remediation spend. New borrowing above ₹250 crore, asset sales, covenant waivers with material control concessions, changes to origination appetite and permanent senior appointments require board approval.

The role does not own collections execution, credit underwriting or a strategic sale of the company. It will challenge cash assumptions arising from those areas without assuming their operating mandates.

Why this seat is open

The downgrade turned a planned CFO succession into an immediate liquidity issue. Treasury leaders can execute transactions but lack independent authority to reset assumptions previously endorsed by the finance chief. The board needs an interim who can restore lender credibility before a permanent leader inherits the balance sheet.

What you will own

• Establish a daily thirteen-week cash forecast reconciled to collections, disbursals, debt service and unencumbered assets.
• Decide drawdown and cash-preservation priorities within policy and escalate any projected minimum-liquidity breach immediately.
• Rebuild the ALM pack using behavioural cash flows, stress rollovers, concentration and collateral availability.
• Negotiate replacement facilities, securitisations and lender waivers with documented economics, covenants and downside consequences.
• Certify every covenant submission against source ledgers and retain independent review evidence for lender inspection.
• Present a board-funded twelve-month liquidity plan across base, downgrade and accelerated-runoff cases.
• Transfer lender positions, facility obligations, hedge exposures, finance controls and first-quarter decisions to the permanent CFO.

Candidate qualifications

• Served as CFO, treasury chief or finance director in a sizeable NBFC, bank or housing-finance institution.
• Managed a liquidity defence following downgrade, covenant stress or lender withdrawal.
• Raised secured, unsecured and securitised funding from Indian banks and capital markets under compressed timelines.
• Built cash and ALM forecasts that reconciled collections behaviour to legal facility terms.
• Presented downside funding choices directly to boards, rating agencies and lender credit committees.
• Understands Indian NBFC prudential, ALM, securitisation and financial-reporting requirements.

Non-negotiables

• Available in Delhi NCR within ten working days and able to travel frequently to Mumbai.
• No active mandate with a lender, rating agency or arranger involved in this situation.
• Will disclose every prior restructuring or covenant breach for which they held signing authority.
• Must accept exclusive full-time responsibility until the liquidity plan is funded.

1. 49 words maximum. State your earliest start and any lender relationship that requires conflict clearance.
2. 49 words maximum. Quantify a funding runway you extended after a downgrade and identify the transaction that created headroom.
3. 49 words maximum. Which assumption in an NBFC cash forecast do you challenge first during lender stress?