Head of Finance

Location: Hyderabad
Experience: 1215 Years
Qualification: Chartered Accountant (CA)

About Almond House

Almond House is a leading Indian sweets, savouries, bakery and food retail brand with a strong presence in Hyderabad and a growing multi-outlet retail network. The business operates across manufacturing, retail stores, distribution and other consumer-facing channels, with a strong focus on product quality, customer experience and operational excellence.

As the business continues to expand its retail footprint and strengthen its manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities, Almond House is looking to appoint a strategic and hands-on Head of Finance to lead the finance function and support the next phase of growth.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced finance leader with strong exposure to F&B;, food manufacturing, retail, QSR, restaurant chains or consumer businesses.

The role will be responsible for the overall finance function, including financial planning and analysis, P&L; management, taxation, statutory compliance, internal controls, working capital, banking, MIS and commercial decision-making.

The ideal candidate should be comfortable operating in a fast-growing, multi-location business environment, with the ability to establish systems and processes while remaining hands-on with day-to-day financial operations.

The Head of Finance will work closely with the Promoters, CEO and senior management to improve profitability, strengthen financial discipline and support business expansion.

Business Dynamics

- Fast-growing F&B; and retail business with multiple operating locations.
- Integrated food manufacturing and retail operations.
- Significant focus on cost control, gross margins, inventory management and working capital.
- Opportunity to build and strengthen finance processes, systems and controls.
- Increasing complexity as the company expands its outlet network and business operations.
- Role requires a combination of strategic thinking and hands-on execution.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning, Reporting & P&L; Management

- Lead the overall finance function and establish robust financial processes.
- Own and manage the company's overall P&L;, including revenue, gross margins, operating expenses and profitability.
- Lead annual budgeting, business planning, forecasting and periodic reforecasting.
- Prepare monthly MIS and management reports for the Promoters/CEO.
- Provide financial insights and recommendations to improve business performance.
- Analyse outlet-wise, product-wise and business-segment-wise profitability.
- Monitor key financial KPIs and identify areas for improvement.
- Support management in evaluating new outlets, locations, products and expansion opportunities.

2. Cost Management & Commercial Finance

- Drive cost optimisation across manufacturing, procurement, stores, logistics and corporate functions.
- Monitor food cost, material cost, wastage, shrinkage and inventory variances.
- Develop and monitor outlet-level unit economics.
- Support pricing decisions based on product margins, market positioning and cost structures.
- Analyse contribution margins and profitability by product/category/outlet.
- Identify opportunities to improve gross margins and operational efficiency.
- Establish appropriate financial controls around procurement, production, inventory and sales.

3.



Manufacturing & Inventory Finance

- Develop financial controls for manufacturing and production operations.
- Monitor raw material consumption, production costs and yield.
- Track inventory ageing, stock movement and inventory valuation.
- Strengthen controls around wastage, pilferage, expiry and production losses.
- Work closely with Operations, Procurement and Supply Chain teams to improve inventory turns and working capital efficiency.
- Ensure accurate product costing and BOM-based costing wherever applicable.

4. Retail & Outlet Finance

- Establish robust financial monitoring across the company's retail outlets.
- Track outlet-wise revenue, expenses, gross margins, EBITDA and profitability.
- Monitor daily sales reconciliation, cash management, payment gateways and POS settlements.
- Strengthen controls over cash, inventory and store-level expenses.
- Evaluate the financial performance of current and existing outlets.
- Support management with financial analysis for expansion, relocation or closure decisions.

5. Taxation & Statutory Compliance

- Ensure timely and accurate compliance with applicable Indian taxation and regulatory requirements.
- Oversee GST, TDS, Income Tax and other applicable statutory compliances.
- Ensure compliance under the Companies Act and other applicable regulations.
- Coordinate with statutory auditors, tax consultants and other professional advisors.
- Manage tax assessments, notices and related matters.
- Ensure appropriate accounting policies and compliance with applicable accounting standards/Ind AS.

6. Internal Controls & Governance

- Establish and strengthen internal financial controls across manufacturing, retail and corporate operations.
- Identify financial and operational risks and implement appropriate mitigation measures.
- Develop SOPs for finance, procurement, inventory, cash management and outlet operations.
- Ensure proper segregation of duties and approval mechanisms.
- Lead internal and statutory audit processes.
- Ensure timely closure of books and accurate financial reporting.

7. Banking & Working Capital Management

- Manage relationships with banks and financial institutions.
- Oversee working capital requirements and cash-flow planning.
- Monitor receivables, payables, inventory and overall cash conversion cycle.
- Negotiate banking facilities and financial arrangements where required.
- Ensure optimum utilisation of working capital.
- Support management in evaluating debt and other financing requirements.

8. ERP, MIS & Technology

- Drive implementation and optimisation of ERP/accounting systems.
- Improve integration between POS, inventory, procurement, manufacturing and finance systems.
- Ensure accuracy and timeliness of financial data.
- Leverage Excel, Power BI and other analytical tools for management reporting.
- Automate financial reporting and control processes wherever feasible.

9. Business Expansion & Strategic Finance





- Partner with the Promoters and senior leadership on business expansion plans.
- Develop financial models for new outlets, manufacturing capacity and other investments.
- Evaluate ROI, payback period, contribution margins and break-even for new initiatives.
- Support strategic decisions relating to pricing, procurement, product mix and expansion.
- Provide scenario analysis and financial recommendations to management.

10. Leadership & Stakeholder Management

- Lead, mentor and develop the finance and accounts team.
- Build a high-performance finance function capable of supporting rapid business growth.
- Collaborate closely with Operations, Procurement, Manufacturing, Retail, HR and Sales teams.
- Act as a strong business partner to the Promoters and senior management.
- Communicate financial information clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.

Key Requirements

- Chartered Accountant (CA) with 1215 years of relevant experience.
- Strong experience in F&B;, food manufacturing, retail, QSR, restaurant chains, FMCG or other consumer-facing businesses.
- Proven experience in managing the complete finance function.
- Strong hands-on experience in P&L; management, budgeting, forecasting and MIS.
- Experience managing multi-outlet / multi-location operations is highly preferred.
- Strong understanding of inventory, costing, gross margins and working capital management.
- Strong knowledge of GST, TDS, Income Tax, Companies Act and applicable statutory compliances.
- Experience in internal controls, audit management and financial process improvement.
- Strong banking and cash-flow management experience.
- Experience in ERP/accounting systems such as Tally, SAP, Oracle, Zoho Books or similar platforms.
- Advanced Excel skills; exposure to Power BI would be an advantage.
- Strong commercial acumen and analytical capability.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.

Preferred Background

Candidates from the following sectors would be particularly relevant:

- F&B; / Food Manufacturing
- Sweets & Confectionery
- Bakery / Desserts
- QSR / Restaurant Chains
- Multi-outlet Retail
- FMCG / Consumer Brands
- Food Distribution
- Hospitality with strong commercial finance exposure

Preferred Skills

- P&L; Management
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A;)
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Costing & Margin Management
- Inventory & Working Capital Management
- Retail / Outlet Finance
- Manufacturing Finance
- GST & Direct Tax
- Internal Controls & Audit
- ERP Implementation / Process Automation
- Financial Modelling
- Business Expansion Analysis
- Banking & Treasury
- MIS & Management Reporting
- Strategic & Commercial Finance

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate would be a commercially oriented CA who has progressed beyond traditional accounting and compliance and has demonstrated the ability to own the P&L;, improve margins, control costs, strengthen processes and partner with business leadership.

Experience in a multi-outlet F&B; or food retail business, particularly where the candidate has handled both manufacturing and retail finance, would be highly valuable.

The candidate should be comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment where processes are evolving and should have the capability to build structure, introduce financial discipline and support aggressive business expansion.

📌 Chief Financial Officer (Hyderabad)
🏢 Almond House
📍 Hyderabad