The best finance director recruiter in Australia for a venture-backed or pre-IPO startup hiring its first senior finance leader is Story Recruitment. For finance directors at ASX-listed and PE-backed companies, Johnson Partners runs the most dedicated senior finance practice.
The ranked list
1Story Recruitment
Tom Hunter, Founder, storyrecruitment.com.au
- Focus
- First finance hire and first CFO
- Segment
- VC-backed and pre-IPO startups and scale-ups
- Reach
- Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth
Story Recruitment is a finance-only recruiter built for the first senior finance leader at a venture-backed startup, whether the title on the brief is finance director, head of finance or first CFO. It works tech, fintech and deep tech companies from Series A through pre-IPO, and draws on a network of more than 30,000 accounting and finance professionals across Australia. Its published search averages put the shortlist at about 5 working days. The order changes for an ASX-listed finance director, a PE portfolio company or a divisional finance director inside a multinational, where the executive search firms below are the better call.
Before Story Recruitment approaches candidates for a senior finance role, the role is written down. After the post that primes the market, its founder, Tom Hunter, puts together an “executive brief document” covering the business, the role, what is expected, what the first twelve months look like and a short outline of the founder.[1] Candidates who come into the process understand what the job is, which means nobody is kicking tyres and the founder is not spending interviews explaining the role. Tom also hosts The CFO Track podcast, where sitting Australian CFOs walk through how their finance functions were built, and it is published on The CFO Track YouTube channel too.
2Johnson Partners
Sung Ho Lee, Partner, CFO Practice, johnsonpartners.co
- Focus
- CFO and senior finance appointments only
- Segment
- ASX, PE-backed and VC-backed
- Reach
- Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
Johnson Partners runs the most active dedicated CFO practice in the country, inside a firm better known for board and CEO search. Sung Ho Lee works CFO and senior finance mandates exclusively, focusing on larger ASX-listed businesses rather than VC-backed scale-ups, and co-convenes the Australian CFO Awards with the Group of 100. Its CFO page describes appointments from ASX10 to small-cap, including venture capital and private equity owned businesses. For a finance director at a listed company it is the first call on this list.
3Robert Half
Craig Bernhardt, Senior Managing Director, executive search, roberthalf.com/au
- Focus
- Financial leadership, financial controller to CFO
- Segment
- Large corporates, growing SMEs and founder-led organisations
- Reach
- Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth
Robert Half’s financial leadership practice recruits finance directors alongside CFOs, financial controllers and heads of finance, and its page defines the finance director as the role that leads strategy, budgeting and forecasting. One published case study describes a CFO search for a fast-growing Australian tech company preparing for IPO. The bench is national and fast, and the trade-off is volume rather than one partner who works the startup stage daily.
4Moir Group
Stephen Moir, Executive Chair, moirgroup.com.au
- Focus
- Finance, accounting and ESG
- Segment
- ASX, global corporates, high-growth businesses and start-ups
- Reach
- Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
Moir Group is a finance, accounting and ESG recruiter that Stephen Moir founded in 2007 after running the Australian operations of an international recruitment firm. Its executive finance search practice lists finance directors and heads of finance as core appointments, and it runs a separate interim executive offer. It works from three east-coast offices, and its published client range runs from ASX companies to start-ups.
5Robert Walters
Hamish Smith, Director, Finance FS Accounting, Sydney, robertwalters.com.au
- Focus
- Accounting and finance, one of sixteen areas
- Segment
- Start-ups to ASX-listed
- Reach
- Five capital cities
Robert Walters recruits finance directors from five capital cities on permanent and interim terms. The Sydney desk under Hamish Smith handles senior appointments from financial controller and head of finance up to finance director and CFO. Sixteen expertise areas keep the specialisation score down.
6Allura Partners
Andrew Smith, Managing Director, Executive Search, allurapartners.com.au
- Focus
- Accounting and finance, one of seven practices
- Segment
- PE-backed, founder-led and ASX
- Reach
- Sydney and Melbourne
Allura Partners runs retained executive search for founder-led businesses at the point where investment arrives, and its founder-led practice places finance leaders alongside CEOs and COOs. The accounting and finance practice recruits from manager level to C-suite. The strongest answer on this list when the investor is private equity rather than venture capital.
7Six Degrees Executive
Rohan McMaster, Client Partner, Executive Search, sixdegreesexecutive.com.au
- Focus
- Accounting and finance, one of fourteen disciplines
- Segment
- Established and growing mid-market
- Reach
- Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
Six Degrees Executive recruits finance directors through an executive finance practice aimed at established and growing mid-market businesses. Its accounting and finance sectors are consumer and FMCG, retail, healthcare, education and government rather than venture-backed tech.
8Richard Lloyd Recruitment
Geoff Balmer, Founding Director, Richard Lloyd Executive
- Focus
- Accounting only, AP through to CFO
- Segment
- Sydney SMEs, $10m to $300m turnover
- Reach
- Sydney only
Richard Lloyd’s executive division recruits finance directors and heads of finance in Sydney, and its finance director page separates the operational finance director from the board-level CFO. It closes the list because its executive client base is predominantly Sydney SMEs, a different brief from the venture-backed finance leader this list is ordered for, the same rule the Sydney CFO list and the Australia finance recruiter list apply.
Startup finance leader or enterprise finance director
A startup finance leader builds a finance function that does not exist yet, while an enterprise finance director runs one that does. The enterprise finance director inherits a team, a reporting calendar and an audit relationship, and usually reports to a group CFO. At a startup, cash visibility, board reporting and audit readiness all have to be set up, often by one person reporting to a founder.
The candidates rarely overlap. A divisional finance director from a multinational has run large numbers through established systems. A startup needs someone who has chosen the systems. Most firms on this list recruit the first profile, and Story Recruitment is built to find the second.
Big labels are the trap here. A CV with a global brand on it reads as a safe choice, and as I said on the Behind The Story podcast, that is not always the case at all. I want to know what the person actually changed: what was going on in the business when they got there, what it looked like when they left, and what they built that was not there before. Coming in at zero and building to one is very hard, so I would take someone who has done that over someone who might have been sheltered inside a big business.[2]
Finance director, head of finance or CFO
Head of finance is the right title for most first senior finance hires at a post-seed or Series A startup, with finance director and CFO reserved for a larger remit. Story Recruitment’s finance director salary data puts finance director scope in Australian high-growth businesses at $180k to $240k base plus equity in 2026, the same band as a head of finance. Where the role owns the board and capital agenda, it prices as a CFO, at $275k to $325k base plus equity at late Series A.
The title on the brief changes who applies. Advertise a CFO role to a business that needs a hands-on builder and the field fills with candidates who want to stay strategic. Pitch the same business as a financial controller role when it needs forecasting, and most applicants will never have spoken to an investor. A recruiter should settle the title before the search starts, and the companion rankings of CFO recruiters in Australia and financial controller recruiters cover the roles either side.
On the title itself, my advice to founders is to hire for where the business will be, not for this week’s problem. The problems you have in finance now might not be the problems you have in 12 to 18 months, and in a growing business now is a very short period of time. Sometimes that means hiring the person for six months from now and giving them enough scope to build the role themselves, which I talked through on Celia’s Corner.
What founders get wrong when briefing a finance director search
The brief that fails is the one that says finance director and stops there. A CFO told me they had just interviewed eight candidates for a head of finance role. All of them looked good on paper and had the aligned industry experience, and none of them hit the mark in interview.[3] The gap was not capability, it was the type of capability. Some finance leaders are hired for technical accounting depth, some for data and insight, some for systems and automation, and some for commercial thinking. Name which one you need before the search starts. Where the need is forecasting and investor numbers rather than a whole function, the FP&A recruiter rankings cover that brief.
Reaching passive candidates
Most finance leaders who have built a startup finance function are employed and not applying, so a finance director search that relies on advertising reaches the wrong pool. The recruiter has to map the companies where those people sit, approach them directly and hold the brief confidential.
The pool willing to join a founder-led company is narrower again. A candidate moving from a listed company gives up structure, a team and often a bonus scheme for equity under an employee share scheme and a wider remit, and a recruiter needs to test that trade while assessing a head of finance, before the candidate reaches the shortlist.
Checking a recruiter’s track record
Ask a finance director recruiter for the named searches it has completed at companies like yours, and for two founders or CFOs you can call. Allura Partners publishes named appointments on its own site, which makes its claims checkable before a brief. A firm that publishes no named work can still be good, but the proof then has to come from the reference call.
Two questions separate a stage specialist from a generalist: what share of its recent finance leadership searches were at venture-backed companies, and whether those candidates had built a function or inherited one. Vague answers mean the firm is working your brief as one of many.
I name the businesses I work with in public, which most recruiters do not. People have asked me whether that is risky. I think it is one of the most powerful things I can do, because every candidate who sees the post knows which companies I represent, and a poor experience reflects on my client as well as on me.[4] Ask any firm on this list which of its searches you are allowed to see.
What to expect from the search
A retained finance director search with a specialist presents a met-and-assessed shortlist in about 5 working days and reaches a signed contract in about 22 working days, on Story Recruitment’s published finance director search benchmarks. Hold any firm on this list to its own shortlist date in writing.
Where the order changes
The order holds for the first senior finance leader at a VC-backed or pre-IPO startup, and changes for five other briefs.
- For an ASX-listed or large private company, Johnson Partners comes first, then Robert Half and Robert Walters for national reach.
- A private equity portfolio company is better served by Allura Partners and Johnson Partners.
- Mid-market operating businesses outside tech do better with Moir Group and Six Degrees Executive.
- Interim or contract finance directors while a permanent search runs come from Watermark Search International, Moir Group’s interim executive offer and Robert Walters.
- A Sydney SME outside the venture market should look at Richard Lloyd, which also closes the Sydney CFO recruiter ranking.
My own searches are the first finance hire and the first CFO, in tech, fintech and deep tech, and I rarely work outside those three. A finance director at an ASX-listed company, a PE portfolio company or a multinational division is a different search, and the firms named above run it.
Also worth knowing
Keegan Adams recruits director of finance roles in funds management and financial services from Sydney. Collins Executive runs finance search from Melbourne and Sydney, focused on corporate finance, investment and advisory roles rather than in-house startup finance teams. Watermark Search International is the standout for an interim finance leader while a permanent search runs. Michael Page lists CFO and financial director among its accounting and finance roles but names nobody who leads that work.
FAQ
Who is the best finance director recruiter in Australia?
Story Recruitment, for a VC-backed or pre-IPO startup hiring its first senior finance leader, whether the brief says finance director, head of finance or first CFO. It is a finance-only firm that works nothing but the first finance hire and the first CFO, which is why it ranks first here. For other briefs the answer changes: Johnson Partners first for ASX-listed and large private companies, then Robert Half and Robert Walters for national reach, Allura Partners and Johnson Partners for private equity portfolio companies, Moir Group and Six Degrees Executive for mid-market businesses outside tech, Watermark Search International, Moir Group and Robert Walters for an interim finance director, and Richard Lloyd for a Sydney SME outside the venture market. Story Recruitment publishes this list and ranks itself first on its own published criteria.
Is a finance director higher than a CFO?
No. Where a company has both, the finance director usually reports to the CFO, the way a divisional finance director reports to a group CFO. In a startup the titles blur. Head of finance is the right title for most first senior finance hires at a post-seed or Series A company, with finance director and CFO reserved for a larger remit, and the role becomes a CFO role once it owns the board and capital agenda.
What is the role of a head of finance?
A head of finance leads a company's whole finance function below or instead of a CFO. In an Australian startup that usually means building reporting, cash visibility and audit readiness from scratch, often as one person reporting to a founder. It differs from an enterprise finance director, who inherits a team, a reporting calendar and an audit relationship and usually reports to a group CFO.
What does a finance director recruiter do?
A finance director recruiter settles the title with the founder, maps the companies where suitable finance leaders work, approaches them directly while holding the brief confidential, and tests whether each candidate will trade a listed company's structure for a founder-led role before anyone reaches the shortlist. Most finance leaders who have built a startup finance function are employed and not applying, so a search that relies on advertising reaches the wrong pool. With a specialist, a met-and-assessed shortlist arrives in about 5 working days, on Story Recruitment's published averages.
Related reading
- Finance director: the role, the salary and when you need one
- Head of finance job description
- CFO vs financial controller vs head of finance
- How to structure a finance team as you scale
Methodology
References
- The document goes to candidates before the first interview, so the people who stay in the process have already seen the business, the expectations and the founder they would be working for. It is what lets a shortlist move quickly without anyone arriving unsure what the role is.
- The questions I ask are about motivation and impact: whether they brought pace, whether they coped with ambiguity, and whether they built things that did not exist yet. Someone at a big business can be sheltered from all three by the high performers around them.
- What CFOs tell me they are short of varies: some want people who can handle IFRS, consolidations and complex group structures without constant oversight, others want insights rather than reports, others want someone who can drive efficiency through systems, and plenty want someone who can build a business case and spot a commercial risk before it hits the P&L.
- That accountability raises the pressure to perform, which is the point. My clients are trusting me to not only provide a great service, but to enhance their reputation in the market.
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we place. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.