Why the advertised market is the weakest part of the market
If you are working a job board for finance director roles, you are seeing the least interesting slice of what is available. When I go to market for a senior finance role, I am not posting and waiting for applications, I am reaching into a network built on real relationships.[1] Most senior finance placements originate from the passive or dormant candidate market rather than active applicants, which means the roles you most want are filled from conversations that started before the vacancy existed.
A concrete version of what that looks like from the inside: I once delivered a shortlist of five candidates for a CFO role within six business hours, and that does not happen from a job board or a generalist recruiter. It happens when the trust is already there.[2] If a search closes in six hours, the advert never existed. That is not unusual at this level, it is the norm.
The practical conclusion is not to stop applying, it is to stop treating applications as the strategy. Being known before the role exists is the strategy. Applications are the mop-up.
Where the roles actually sit right now
Be realistic about conditions before you calibrate expectations. 2025 was tough for jobseekers in the Australian accounting and finance market, with heavy competition for fewer roles, longer interview processes and constant talk of budget constraints.[3] The top end of the finance job market has felt quiet.[4] Finance Manager roles specifically have been drying up across Australia on the job ad data.[5]
One consequence worth naming, because it changes how you read the market: candidates have been applying for roles more junior than their previous level, moving CFO to FD, FD to FC and FC to FM.[6] If you are a finance director competing against former CFOs, that is the pressure you are feeling and it is not about you. It also means the title on the ad is a poor guide to who else is in the process.
The countervailing force is retention. In our Q2 2026 State of the Market report of over 350 finance professionals, 52% said they would walk away from their current role today regardless of what their employer offered to keep them.[7] A market that is quiet on advertised roles and simultaneously full of people ready to move is a market that runs on approach, not application.
What the money looks like
Australian salary bands for the segment I work in, for calibration. A Finance Manager sits at $140-170k plus super and a Financial Controller at $160-200k plus super, depending on industry, business size and location.[8] At around $180k a founder can find an excellent first finance hire capable of significantly advancing the business.[9] A Series B CFO in Australia commands $325-375k-plus base plus equity, for someone who has raised capital, hired a team and sat in board meetings before.[10]
A finance director in a startup or scale-up typically prices between those poles, and where it lands depends far more on scope than title. Equity matters here in a way it does not in corporate roles, and it is worth pushing for detail on the strike price, the vesting and the last round rather than accepting a percentage as an answer.
| Finance director in a large business | Finance director in a startup or scale-up | |
|---|---|---|
| What the role is | A functional head under a CFO. Deep in reporting, control and compliance, with a defined remit. | Often the entire finance function. Frequently the first senior finance hire the business has ever made. |
| What gets you hired | Track record at comparable scale, technical depth, and a clean run in similar businesses. | Evidence you can think with no playbook. Size of previous business matters far less than that. |
| How the role is filled | Often advertised, with a structured process and an internal talent team involved. | Usually never advertised. Filled from a network, sometimes within days of the decision to hire. |
How to be found for the roles that never get posted
Three things move the needle, and none of them are your CV format.
First, be visible in a way that is legible to hirers. In the Q2 2026 report, 60% of finance professionals said an executive's online presence positively influenced their decision to join a business.[11] That runs both ways. If a founder cannot find any evidence of how you think, you are a CV rather than a person.
Second, be specific about stage, not just seniority. 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.[12] If you have that evidence, lead with it, because it is the thing startup founders are actually screening for and almost nobody puts it on a CV.
Third, build the recruiter relationship before you need it. I work across senior finance leadership roles including CFO, VP and SVP Finance, Heads of Finance, Finance Directors, Heads of FP&A and Financial Controllers,[13] and the conversations that lead to placements almost never start with someone applying to something. My specific lane is the first finance hire and the first CFO at Australian VC-backed startups and scale-ups,[14] so if that is your direction, an early conversation is worth more than an application later.
If you want the fuller picture of how we work with senior finance candidates rather than just place them, it is set out here.
Common questions
Does Story Recruitment list finance director jobs?
No, and deliberately. We are not a job board. We run retained searches for Australian VC-backed startups and scale-ups, and most of those roles are never advertised anywhere. The way candidates come into those processes is through an existing relationship, not an application. If you want to be considered for that kind of role, the useful move is a conversation now rather than watching a listings page.
What does a finance director earn in Australia?
It depends far more on scope than title. For calibration in the segment we work in: a Finance Manager sits at $140-170k plus super and a Financial Controller at $160-200k plus super, depending on industry, size and location. Around $180k a founder can find an excellent first finance hire. A Series B CFO commands $325-375k-plus base plus equity, for someone who has raised capital, hired a team and sat on a board. A startup finance director typically prices between those poles.
How competitive is the Australian finance director market in 2026?
Tight on advertised roles, active underneath. 2025 was tough for jobseekers, with heavy competition for fewer roles and longer processes, and the top end has felt quiet. Candidates have been applying a level down, moving CFO to FD and FD to FC, so the title on an ad is a poor guide to who else is in the process. At the same time, 52% of finance professionals in our Q2 2026 report said they would leave their current role today regardless of what was offered. Quiet advertised market, restless underlying market.
How do I get in front of roles that are never advertised?
Three things. Be visible enough that a founder can see how you think, since 60% of finance professionals in our Q2 2026 report said an executive's online presence influenced their decision to join a business, and it works the same way in reverse. Be specific about stage rather than seniority, because the best first finance hires are defined by the ability to think with no playbook, not by the size of their last employer. And build the recruiter relationship before you need it, because searches at this level can close in days.
References
- Tom Hunter on senior finance search: not posting and waiting for applications, but reaching into a network built on real relationships.
- 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 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.
- Tom Hunter market observation: the top end of the finance job market currently feels quiet.
- Tom Hunter's deep dive into Australian accounting and finance job ad trends: Finance Manager roles are drying up across Australia.
- 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 salary data: Finance Manager $140-170k + super, Financial Controller $160-200k + super, depending on industry, business size and location.
- Tom Hunter: around $180k, a founder can find an excellent first finance hire capable of significantly advancing the business.
- Story Recruitment 2026 data: a Series B CFO in Australia commands $325-375k+ base plus equity, expected to have raised capital, hired a team and sat on a board.
- 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.
- 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.
- Story Recruitment coverage: senior finance leadership roles including CFOs, VP/SVP Finance, Heads of Finance, Finance Directors, Heads of FP&A and Financial Controllers.
- Story Recruitment focus: the first finance hire in a startup and the first CFO hire in a scaling business, at Australian VC-backed startups and scale-ups.