Fractional CFO - 3 Days a week - Oxford area.

Oxford Global: Fractional CFO

About Oxford Global

Oxford Global runs conferences for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. It has been operating for about 20 years and is profitable. Revenue for FY26 was about £7.6m, almost all of it from sponsorship.

The portfolio has been consolidated from more than 20 small events to 8 to 10 large ones in the UK, Europe and the US. Sales and production for the US events are run from the UK alongside a US-based team. Speakers and most delegates attend free. Sponsors pay for access to them, and Oxford Global is one of the few organisers that delivers pre-arranged one-to-one meetings at scale.

The shareholders intend to sell the business by 2030 and plan to get there through organic growth from the current portfolio. A new commercial leadership team has been built over the past year.

The role

We are looking for a part-time CFO to lead Oxford Global's finance function from 1 January 2027 through to a sale planned by 2030, supported by a bookkeeper or management accountant. The CFO reports to the CEO, attends every board meeting, works closely with the Chair and shareholders, and represents the business to advisers and, in time, buyers.

The board has chosen a fractional model deliberately. A business of this size does not need a full-time CFO. It does need someone senior who has seen how good events and other forward-booked B2B businesses are run and measured, and who can set up reporting the board and management can make decisions from.

The CFO will shape the plan to exit and give the board an independent view of performance and risk. The role needs board-level judgement and the ability to influence, as well as technical finance skill.

The board meets monthly to review finance, with full in-person boards through the year. The CFO is responsible for the monthly pack and presents it, with the finance team preparing the numbers.

The first twelve months

The board has a clear view of what it wants from finance in the first year. A candidate who has done this before will have views on how to get there. The CFO will set the approach and the framework, and the finance team will deliver much of the detailed build.

• Gross profit, not revenue. Report each event on fully costed gross profit, with all variable costs including sales salaries. Targets for 2027 onwards will be set on this basis.
• Customer economics. Build acquisition cost and lifetime value measures for sponsors and for delegates, on a cohort basis.
• Retention on a consistent cohort. Sponsor rebooking measured like for like, by volume and value, at the same point in each year's sales cycle.
• Event-level revenue accounting. Deferred income, revenue recognition and cash phasing tied cleanly to each event code.
• Working capital and cash. Bring down debtor days and keep a rolling 13-week cash forecast, together with a monthly cash forecast 12 to 18 months ahead.
• A three-year plan. An integrated profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow plan to 2030, linked to the exit value the shareholders want, with clear growth assumptions the board can test and update each year.
• A budget built on outturn. The FY27 budget and forecasts compared against actual results, set as year one of the three-year plan.
• Board reporting. A monthly pack the board can keep, including a static snapshot of the KPI dashboard.
• An exit roadmap. An early view of likely buyers, the equity story, normalised earnings and the risks a buyer will find, with a timeline for vendor due diligence. Accounts, data and controls that will stand up to buyer due diligence ahead of a sale.
• A finance function that uses AI well. Use AI and automation to cut the time spent on routine work, such as reconciliations, month-end, first drafts of commentary and checks on CRM data, so a small team can deliver board-quality reporting to a fixed timetable. Set the controls that make sure the output is accurate and the data is secure.

Responsibilities

Leads personally

• The three-year plan and the value case for exit, with milestones for each year to 2030
• Annual budget and a rolling full-year forecast, built with the CEO and event teams, as year one of the three-year plan
• Cash strategy, the 12 to 18-month cash forecast and banking relationships
• Board and shareholder reporting, including the commentary, judgements and recommendations
• Relationships with the Chair, shareholders, auditors and corporate finance advisers
• Finance support for pricing, new event launches and investment decisions, and the choice of measures the business runs on
• Exit planning, including timing, the equity story and quality of earnings, and management of the sale process through the data room and vendor due diligence
• Leadership of the bookkeeper or management accountant, and management of external advisers
• Use of AI and automation across finance, including choice of tools, team training, and rules for data security and review

Sets up and oversees, delivered with the finance team and external advisers

• Monthly management accounts and production of the board pack, delivered to a fixed timetable
• Credit control and collection, working with the sales team
• Rolling 13-week cash forecast
• Statutory accounts, audit, corporation tax and VAT, with external advisers
• UK and US finance, including foreign currency and any US filings
• Payroll, commission schemes and expense controls
• Financial controls, systems and data, including the link between the CRM and the ledger

Working with the board and shareholders

The board includes a Chair, shareholders who plan to sell, and CEO and COO. The CFO will need to work well with all of them, and later with advisers and buyers.

• Gives the Chair and shareholders an independent and trusted view of performance and risk
• Challenges management constructively, and supports the new COO
• Manages different shareholder interests and helps the board reach clear decisions
• Represents the business to auditors, corporate finance advisers and potential buyers, and plays an active part in negotiations alongside the board and its advisers

Experience and qualities

Events finance experience is a strong advantage. The right person understands sponsorship sold a year ahead, deferred income, event phasing, forward booking and rebook rates without needing them explained. Board-level judgement, experience of a sale process and the ability to influence shareholders and advisers matter most.

Essential

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA)
• CFO or finance director experience at board level in a business with external shareholders, private equity investors or an independent Chair
• Has led, or been central to, a sale or investment process on the company side
• Has built management reporting that changed how a leadership team made decisions
• Has built multi-year plans and forecasts that a board used to make strategic decisions
• Willing to get into the detail with a small team where it matters
• Clear, direct and persuasive communicator with a board, shareholders, external advisers and non-finance managers
• Practical experience of using AI tools in a finance function to improve the speed and quality of reporting, forecasting or analysis, with a clear view of where human review is still needed

Strongly preferred

• Experience in B2B events, conferences or media, or in another business with revenue booked well ahead of delivery
• Experience of UK and US operations
• Unit economics work: cohort analysis, customer lifetime value, acquisition cost
• Familiarity with HubSpot or a similar CRM as a source of financial data

Salary: £80k-£85k per year for a three day week, plus Equity & Benefits