Why you cannot find CFO jobs by searching for them
The senior end of the Australian finance market runs on relationships, and the speed makes that obvious. I once posted a CFO role at 1pm on a Friday and had a shortlist of five immediately available, top-tier candidates met and sent within six business hours by Monday morning.[1] That does not happen from a job board or a generalist recruiter. It happens when the trust is already earned.[2] A search that closes on Monday never reaches an advert.
When I go to market for a CFO role, I am not posting and waiting for applications, I am reaching into a network built on real relationships.[3] Most senior finance placements come out of the passive or dormant candidate market rather than active applicants. The consequence for you is uncomfortable but simple: if the first you hear of a role is the advert, you are seeing the roles that the network could not fill.
What the market actually looks like in 2026
Set expectations honestly. The top end of the finance job market has felt quiet.[4] 2025 was tough for jobseekers in Australian accounting and finance, with heavy competition for fewer roles, longer interview processes and constant talk about budget constraints.[5] Candidates have been applying a level down, moving CFO to FD, FD to FC and FC to FM,[6] which compresses everyone and means the title on a role tells you little about who else is in it.
Underneath that, movement is high. In our Q2 2026 State of the Market report of over 350 Australian finance professionals, 52% said they would walk away from their current role today regardless of what their employer offered.[7] And 81% of finance leaders pause to reassess a role before replacing a resignation, with only 5% replacing like-for-like immediately.[8] That reassessment is where the interesting roles come from. Businesses are redesigning the seat rather than refilling it, and the redesigned seat is rarely advertised.
| An advertised CFO role | A networked CFO search | |
|---|---|---|
| How it reaches you | A public listing. Usually a role the network could not fill, or one with an internal process to satisfy. | A direct approach, often before the vacancy is formalised. Some searches shortlist within six business hours. |
| Who you compete with | Everyone who saw the ad, including candidates applying a level down from CFO to FD in a tight market. | Four to six people, met and assessed, selected because they fit the mandate rather than because they replied. |
| What decides it | Screening against a written specification, then a panel. | Whether you can think with no playbook, and chemistry with the CEO. Both are assessed in conversation, not on paper. |
What CFO roles pay in Australia
Bands for the VC-backed segment, which is the market I work in. A late Series A CFO runs $275k to $325k base plus equity. A Series B CFO commands $325k to $375k-plus base plus equity, for someone who has raised capital, hired a team and sat in board meetings before.[9] Below that, at the first finance hire level, a Financial Controller sits at $160-200k plus super and a Finance Manager at $140-170k plus super, depending on industry, size and location.[10]
Two things to negotiate harder than base. Equity, where the strike price, the vesting schedule and the last round valuation matter far more than the headline percentage. And the mandate, because a CFO title at a business that actually needs a Head of Finance is a career risk, not a promotion. For context on the ceiling of the fractional alternative, arrangements typically break down at $20M-plus ARR where a full-time CFO becomes effectively mandatory.[11]
The first-CFO mandate, and who wins it
My lane is specific: the first CFO hire at Australian scale-ups of 50-plus heads and $10M-plus ARR, alongside the first finance hire at 10 to 20 headcount startups.[12] First-CFO mandates are a different job from succeeding a CFO in a built function, and the screening reflects that.
What founders screen for is not scale on the CV. The best hires at this end are not defined by the size of their previous business, but by their ability to think when there is no playbook.[13] If you have built something from nothing, that evidence is worth more than a bigger logo, and almost nobody leads with it. If you are arriving from a large market overseas, be aware that the Australian market carries a bias towards recent local experience that is rarely openly discussed,[14] so do the translation into local scale and stage terms yourself.
One more thing, and I say it to every candidate at this level. Do not ignore discomfort with a CEO's communication, decision-making or energy during interviews. Chemistry is not a nice-to-have at this level, it is a must-have, and discomfort will intensify in the role.[15] A CFO seat with the wrong CEO is a two-year problem you can see coming in week two.
If a first-CFO seat is what you are aiming at, I set out what those mandates involve and how the process runs here.
How to be in the conversation before the role exists
Visibility is the cheapest lever. In the Q2 2026 report, 60% of finance professionals said an executive's online presence positively influenced their decision to join a business.[16] Founders apply the same test in reverse: if there is no evidence of how you think, you are a CV. Sharing how you approach problems, not job hunting, is what makes you findable.
The other lever is the recruiter relationship, built before you need it. I run permanent retained search, and the conversations that end in a placement almost never start with an application. If your next move is a first CFO seat at an Australian VC-backed business, a conversation now is worth more than watching for a listing that will not appear.
For how Australian CFOs actually got there, in their own words, the podcast archive is worth a look here.
Common questions
Where are CFO jobs advertised in Australia?
Mostly they are not. There is no meaningful advertised CFO market here, and the roles that do get advertised tend to be the ones a network could not fill. Searches at this level move fast: I have delivered a shortlist of five met and assessed CFO candidates within six business hours of a Friday afternoon brief. That does not come from a job board, it comes from trust already earned. If the advert is the first you hear of a role, you are late by design.
What does a CFO earn in Australia?
In the VC-backed segment, a late Series A CFO runs $275k to $325k base plus equity, and a Series B CFO commands $325k to $375k-plus base plus equity, for someone who has raised capital, hired a team and sat in board meetings. Below that, a Financial Controller sits at $160-200k plus super and a Finance Manager at $140-170k plus super. Negotiate equity terms and the actual mandate harder than base, because a CFO title on a Head of Finance job is a career risk.
What do founders screen for in a first CFO?
Not the size of your last employer. The strongest hires at this end are defined by their ability to think when there is no playbook, so evidence that you have built something from nothing outweighs a bigger logo. If you are arriving from a larger overseas market, translate your experience into Australian scale and stage terms yourself, because there is a bias towards recent local experience here that is rarely discussed openly and it will quietly cost you otherwise.
How do I get in front of CFO roles that are never advertised?
Be visible in a way that shows how you think, and build the recruiter relationship before you need it. In our Q2 2026 report, 60% of finance professionals said an executive's online presence influenced their decision to join a business, and founders apply that test in reverse when they assess you. Beyond that, note that 81% of finance leaders now pause to reassess a role before replacing a resignation, so the interesting roles are redesigned seats, and those surface in conversation long before they surface anywhere public.
References
- Story Recruitment CFO search: role posted Friday 1pm, shortlist of 5 immediately-available candidates met and sent within 6 business hours by Monday.
- Tom Hunter: delivering a shortlist of 5 candidates within 6 business hours for a CFO role does not happen from a job board or a generalist recruiter, it happens when the trust is already earned.
- Tom Hunter on CFO search: not posting and waiting for applications, but reaching into a network built on real relationships.
- Tom Hunter market observation: the top end of the finance job market currently feels quiet.
- Tom Hunter on 2025: a tough year for jobseekers in the Australian accounting and finance market, with heavy competition for fewer roles, longer interview processes and constant talk of budget constraints.
- Story Recruitment market data: candidates are applying for roles more junior than their previous level, moving CFO to FD, FD to FC and FC to FM.
- Story Recruitment Q2 2026 State of the Market report, over 350 Australian finance professionals: 52% would walk away from their current role today regardless of what their employer offered.
- Story Recruitment Q2 2026 State of the Market report: 81% of finance leaders pause to reassess a role before replacing a resignation, with only 5% replacing like-for-like immediately.
- Story Recruitment 2026 salary data: late Series A CFO $275-325k base plus equity; Series B CFO $325-375k+ base plus equity, expected to have raised capital, hired a team and sat on a board.
- Story Recruitment salary data: Finance Manager $140-170k + super, Financial Controller $160-200k + super, depending on industry, business size and location.
- Story Recruitment guidance: at $20M+ ARR a full-time CFO becomes effectively mandatory, as fractional arrangements typically break down at that stage.
- Story Recruitment focus: the first finance hire in a startup (10 to 20 headcount) and the first CFO hire (50+ heads, $10M+ ARR).
- Tom Hunter: the best first finance hires are not defined by the size of their previous business, but by their ability to think when there is no playbook.
- Tom Hunter: the Australian market carries a bias towards recent local experience that is rarely openly discussed, and undervalues significant international careers.
- Tom Hunter's advice to CFO and senior finance candidates: do not ignore discomfort with a CEO's communication, decision-making or energy during interviews, because chemistry is a must-have at this level and discomfort will intensify in the role.
- Story Recruitment Q2 2026 State of the Market report: 60% of finance professionals say an executive online presence positively influences their decision to join a business.