Job description

American Operator is seeking a Vice President, F&A to lead financial planning and analysis across our portfolio of operating companies. Reporting to the CFO, this role will partner directly with portfolio company leadership to analyze performance, develop recommendations, and drive key decisions around margins, pricing, hiring, and growth. The ideal candidate is a hands-on finance leader who thrives in a fast-moving, PE-backed operating environment and is comfortable rolling up their sleeves and building through ambiguity. This person will be a player-coach, personally owning critical analysis and operator relationships while building and developing a broader FP&A team over time. This role will be based in NYC and report directly to the CFO. RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning across approximately 50 portfolio companies, developing models that reflect the unique operating drivers of each business. - Own regular forecast updates and twice-monthly performance conversations with portfolio company CEOs and operators, identifying risks, opportunities, and recommended actions. - Analyze revenue, gross margin, labor, operating expenses, and other key drivers to identify opportunities to improve profitability and operating performance. - Analyze actual performance against budget and forecast, conducting variance analysis and clearly communicating key drivers and recommendations. - Serve as a strategic finance partner to portfolio company CEOs and operators, translating financial performance into actionable recommendations and supporting critical business decisions. - Develop financial analyses and business cases for headcount, capital allocation, expansion initiatives, and other operating investments. - Analyze customer-level economics, pricing, mix, retention, concentration, and revenue opportunities to inform commercial strategy and improve profitability. - Build strong relationships across value creation, portfolio performance, and operating-company teams to drive alignment and execution. - Develop consistent reporting, KPIs, dashboards, and analytical frameworks that give portfolio leadership and American Operator management clear visibility into business performance. - Establish scalable FP&A processes, operating cadences, forecasting methodologies, and analytical frameworks across the portfolio. - Adapt financial models and reporting as new businesses are acquired and help integrate new portfolio companies into American Operator's financial planning processes. - Operate as a player-coach, remaining hands-on while hiring, developing, and leading an FP&A team as the portfolio scales. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - 8+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, operational finance, or related roles, with meaningful experience owning financial planning and analysis. - Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field required; MBA or similar advanced degree is a plus. - Experience supporting multiple operating businesses, ideally within a private equity, multi-entity, roll-up, portfolio operations, or interim CFO environment. Private equity or PE-backed experience strongly preferred. - Strong operational finance orientation with demonstrated experience using financial analysis to influence pricing, margins, hiring, resource allocation, and business performance. - Advanced financial modeling skills and experience building driver-based forecasts, updating forecasts, and conducting detailed variance analysis. - Experience partnering directly with CEOs, CFOs, GMs, or other senior operators and communicating financial insights and recommendations to non-finance stakeholders. - Strong understanding of unit economics, customer and revenue analytics, gross margin drivers, and operating leverage. - Ability to move fluidly between high-level strategic questions and detailed, hands-on financial analysis. - Highly organized and capable of managing planning, forecasting, and stakeholder relationships across multiple businesses simultaneously. - Comfortable rolling up their sleeves and building processes and infrastructure from the ground up in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment with ambiguity. - Experience building, coaching, or managing an FP&A team preferred. COMPENSATION The anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Total compensation will also include a discretionary performance-based bonus and equity. Please note that compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, education, skills, and other qualifications specific to the role. $150K - $200K BENEFITS Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance, a company-matched 401(k), unlimited PTO, paid holidays, and paid parental leave. LOCATION & TRAVEL Candidates based in Austin, New York City, or the surrounding areas will be expected to commute to and work from our local office. Candidates outside of these regions may work remotely. Periodic travel to both Austin and New York City will be required regardless of location. ABOUT THE TEAM American Operator exists because we believe the American Dream is worth protecting, and that small businesses are the backbone of our communities. To do this well, we need a team that reflects the real world: operators, builders, investors, and problem-solvers from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. MISSION-DRIVEN Every company claims to be mission-driven, but our mission is simple, tangible, and urgent: preserve the legacy of America’s small businesses and create more pathways to meaningful ownership. We partner with operators who want to step into leadership, take responsibility for great companies, and continue the work that founders spent decades building. When we succeed, communities keep their employers, families keep their livelihoods, and operators get the chance to build wealth through real ownership. We work hard because we know what’s at stake: generational businesses that deserve to thrive, and talented operators who deserve the chance to lead them. And while we measure our success in deals closed and businesses grown, the real reward is seeing these companies continue to serve their people and their towns, stronger than before. Where else do you get the opportunity to help someone become a CEO, preserve a founder’s life’s work, and strengthen a community, all in the same job? That’s what makes our work both serious and incredibly fulfilling.

Requirements

Must-haves

Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning across approximately 50 portfolio companies, developing models that reflect the unique operating drivers of each business.
Own regular forecast updates and twice-monthly performance conversations with portfolio company CEOs and operators, identifying risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
Analyze revenue, gross margin, labor, operating expenses, and other key drivers to identify opportunities to improve profitability and operating performance.
Analyze actual performance against budget and forecast, conducting variance analysis and clearly communicating key drivers and recommendations.
Serve as a strategic finance partner to portfolio company CEOs and operators, translating financial performance into actionable recommendations and supporting critical business decisions.
Develop financial analyses and business cases for headcount, capital allocation, expansion initiatives, and other operating investments.
Analyze customer-level economics, pricing, mix, retention, concentration, and revenue opportunities to inform commercial strategy and improve profitability.
Build strong relationships across value creation, portfolio performance, and operating-company teams to drive alignment and execution.
Develop consistent reporting, KPIs, dashboards, and analytical frameworks that give portfolio leadership and American Operator management clear visibility into business performance.
Establish scalable FP&A processes, operating cadences, forecasting methodologies, and analytical frameworks across the portfolio.
Adapt financial models and reporting as new businesses are acquired and help integrate new portfolio companies into American Operator's financial planning processes.
Operate as a player-coach, remaining hands-on while hiring, developing, and leading an FP&A team as the portfolio scales.
8+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, operational finance, or related roles, with meaningful experience owning financial planning and analysis.
Strong operational finance orientation with demonstrated experience using financial analysis to influence pricing, margins, hiring, resource allocation, and business performance.
Advanced financial modeling skills and experience building driver-based forecasts, updating forecasts, and conducting detailed variance analysis.
Experience partnering directly with CEOs, CFOs, GMs, or other senior operators and communicating financial insights and recommendations to non-finance stakeholders.
Strong understanding of unit economics, customer and revenue analytics, gross margin drivers, and operating leverage.
Ability to move fluidly between high-level strategic questions and detailed, hands-on financial analysis.
Highly organized and capable of managing planning, forecasting, and stakeholder relationships across multiple businesses simultaneously.
Comfortable rolling up their sleeves and building processes and infrastructure from the ground up in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment with ambiguity.
Every company claims to be mission-driven, but our mission is simple, tangible, and urgent: preserve the legacy of America’s small businesses and create more pathways to meaningful ownership.

Nice-to-haves

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field required; MBA or similar advanced degree is a plus.
Experience supporting multiple operating businesses, ideally within a private equity, multi-entity, roll-up, portfolio operations, or interim CFO environment. Private equity or PE-backed experience strongly preferred.
Experience building, coaching, or managing an FP&A team preferred.

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Benefits

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Dental

Vision

401(K)

Pto

Parental Leave