Life Sciences - Managing Director

Life Sciences - Managing Director Managing Directors at CFGI are senior leaders who serve as trusted advisors to CFOs, Chief Accounting Officers, Controllers, Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and other executive stakeholders. They lead complex client engagements, build lasting relationships, develop high-performing teams, and play a central role in the continued growth of the firm. This Managing Director will help expand CFGI’s Finance & Accounting Advisory presence across the life sciences sector, supporting biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and other healthcare-related organizations. The role requires deep accounting and financial-reporting expertise, strong industry relationships, and an understanding of the challenges facing companies across the life sciences lifecycle—from venture-backed and clinical-stage businesses to commercial and publicly traded organizations. Take ownership of your career at CFGI: Serve as a strategic advisor to life sciences executives navigating complex accounting, financial-reporting, operational, and transaction-related matters. Lead high-impact engagements for emerging, growth-stage, pre-commercial, commercial, and publicly traded life sciences companies. Build and expand long-term relationships with clients, investors, auditors, attorneys, and other participants in the life sciences ecosystem. Help grow CFGI’s life sciences market presence through business development, thought leadership, recruiting, and practice-building activities. Lead and mentor high-performing teams in a collaborative environment composed of experienced accounting and advisory professionals. Gain exposure to a broad range of organizations, transactions, accounting matters, and stages of the corporate lifecycle. Make a measurable impact on clients while helping shape the continued growth of CFGI’s Finance & Accounting Advisory practice. What you might expect: Serve as the senior relationship owner and trusted advisor to CFOs, Chief Accounting Officers, Controllers, Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and other executives. Lead accounting and financial-reporting engagements for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and other life sciences companies. Advise clients on technical accounting matters, including: Research and development costs. Clinical trial and contract research organization accruals. Contract development and manufacturing arrangements. Revenue recognition and commercialization arrangements. Licensing, collaboration, co-development, and milestone agreements. Stock-based compensation and equity transactions. Debt, convertible instruments, warrants, and preferred equity. Business combinations, asset acquisitions, and in-process research and development. Impairment, consolidation, leases, and other complex U.S. GAAP matters. Guide clients through SEC reporting and public-company requirements, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, S-1, S-3, and other registration statements. Lead IPO readiness, public-company readiness, reverse-merger, de-SPAC, financing, acquisition, divestiture, and other capital-markets or transaction-related engagements. Support clients with audit readiness, financial-statement preparation, close optimization, internal-controls development, and remediation initiatives. Oversee all aspects of engagement delivery, including scoping, staffing, budgeting, project execution, quality, risk management, and profitability. Review and approve technical accounting memoranda, financial statements, SEC filings, presentations, and other client deliverables. Identify new opportunities, lead proposals, expand existing relationships, and develop business across the life sciences ecosystem. Collaborate across CFGI’s broader capabilities, including FP&A, Finance Effectiveness, Data & Analytics, ERP/EPM, Valuation, Tax, Transaction Advisory, and Risk Advisory. Recruit, mentor, develop, and retain Managers, Senior Managers, Directors, and other professionals. Contribute to internal training, industry events, thought leadership, service development, and other firm-building initiatives. What you must have: 14+ years of experience in public accounting, accounting advisory, consulting, and/or corporate accounting and finance. A minimum of two years of experience with Deloitte, EY, KPMG, or PwC. Significant experience serving life sciences companies, such as biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, or healthcare technology organizations. Experience serving as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, including CFOs, Chief Accounting Officers, Controllers, Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and external auditors. Experience leading significant client portfolios, business units, industry verticals, or service lines, including responsibility for engagement delivery, economics, staffing, quality, and client relationships. Experience applying U.S. GAAP and financial-reporting requirements to complex accounting and business matters. Experience leading multiple concurrent client engagements and senior-level engagement teams. Demonstrated client-facing experience in an advisory, professional-services, or comparable leadership environment. CPA license. What sets you apart: Deep relationships across the life sciences ecosystem, including CFOs, Controllers, Audit Committee members, investors, attorneys, auditors, and other referral sources. Experience originating new client relationships and generating meaningful advisory revenue within the life sciences sector. Experience advising companies at multiple stages of development, including venture-backed, clinical-stage, pre-commercial, commercial-stage, and publicly traded organizations. Experience with life sciences-specific accounting matters, including clinical trial accruals, research and development arrangements, contract manufacturing, collaboration and licensing agreements, milestone payments, and in-process research and development. Experience leading SEC reporting, IPO readiness, registration-statement, reverse-merger, financing, or public-company readiness engagements. Experience advising clients on complex accounting matters such as revenue recognition, business combinations, asset acquisitions, stock-based compensation, debt and equity transactions, consolidations, leases, and impairment. Experience overseeing engagement economics, including pricing, budgeting, staffing strategy, scope management, utilization, collections, and profitability. Experience developing and leading teams across multiple engagements, offices, or geographic markets. Experience identifying opportunities to introduce clients to complementary accounting, finance, transaction, systems, data, tax, valuation, and risk capabilities. A record of contributing to practice growth through recruiting, talent development, thought leadership, market activities, or service-line development. Nice to have: Prior leadership experience within an accounting advisory practice such as FAAS, CMAAS, AAS, Capital Markets Advisory, or a comparable professional-services group. Corporate leadership experience as a Chief Accounting Officer, Controller, Principal Accounting Officer, or senior finance executive within a life sciences organization. Experience working with private equity, venture capital, or other investors active in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, or healthcare businesses. Familiarity with SEC reporting and financial-reporting platforms such as Workiva or ActiveDisclosure. Experience with accounting and reporting considerations associated with collaborations, licensing arrangements, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and commercialization. Experience speaking at industry events, publishing technical content, or developing life sciences-focused training and thought leadership. An established professional network in one or more major life sciences markets. Who thrives here: A relationship-oriented leader who builds credibility quickly with executives, clients, teams, and referral partners. An entrepreneurial professional who enjoys developing business and building a growing industry practice. A commercially minded advisor who can connect technical accounting issues to broader business objectives. A decisive leader who exercises sound judgment and remains composed in complex or high-pressure situations. An effective communicator who can translate technical matters into clear, practical guidance for executive and nontechnical audiences. A collaborative leader who works effectively across service lines and brings the right capabilities to each client. A committed mentor who develops professionals, delegates effectively, and creates opportunities for others to grow. A highly organized individual who can balance client delivery, business development, team leadership, and firm responsibilities. A self-motivated, ethical, dependable professional with a strong commitment to quality and client service.