Dairy Business - Assistant Vice President - Finance - CA

About the client: Our client is a digitally-led dairy business that has built one of the strongest direct-to-consumer subscription franchises in the category. Through an app-led model, it delivers high-protein milk and a differentiated range of dairy products to households across multiple metros - with a repeat customer base built almost entirely without the discounting playbook typical of the sector. The business has scaled substantially while remaining capital-efficient, a rare combination in Indian D2C and a reflection of genuine unit economics rather than funded growth. Processing is currently carried out through partner dairy units. As the business scales, the company intends to build far greater ownership and control over this manufacturing ecosystem, including the possibility of operating plants directly. That shift makes cost, yield and cash-flow visibility across the processing chain a central finance priority. Role Overview: The AVP - Finance will build out the finance function from the ground up, moving beyond accounting and compliance to create a strong business finance, FP&A and analytics capability. This is a builder role, suited to a finance professional who is comfortable operating in a high-growth, entrepreneurial environment and can combine analytical depth with hands-on execution. The individual will work closely with the promoters and leadership team, providing structured financial insight, business dashboards, planning frameworks and decision support as the company scales. Key responsibilities: 1. FP&A, Planning & Business Finance: - Own the annual operating plan, budgeting and forecasting process. - Build robust financial models to support business planning and growth decisions. - Develop meaningful KPIs and performance metrics across revenue, subscriptions, customer acquisition, contribution margin, working capital and cash flow. - Track actuals versus budget and provide clear variance analysis and actionable insight. - Support the leadership team in evaluating new business initiatives, channels and expansion opportunities. 2. Management Information & Dashboards: - Build a strong MIS and management reporting framework for the promoters and leadership team. - Create dashboards that provide real-time visibility into business and financial performance. - Work with large volumes of business data and translate it into meaningful management insight. - Leverage SQL and analytics tools to independently pull, analyse and interpret information. - Improve the quality, timeliness and depth of reporting available to the promoters. 3. Manufacturing & Plant Economics: - Own costing and inventory control across the partner manufacturing ecosystem - raw material procurement, conversion charges, WIP and finished goods held at partner units. - Build visibility into costs, margins, working capital and cash flows associated with processing operations. - Partner with operations and business teams to assess plant-level profitability and investment requirements. - Support the promoters as the company evaluates greater involvement in operating and managing dairy processing plants. 4. Finance Function Build-Out: - Build and institutionalise the finance function as the organisation scales. - Strengthen processes across accounting, reporting, controls, taxation, working capital and cash-flow management. - Define the appropriate finance organisation structure and build the team over time. - Move the function from a largely accounting-oriented setup to a business finance and analytics-led capability. - Establish scalable systems, processes and controls to support the next phase of growth. 5. Tax, Controls & Compliance: - Bring greater structure and analytical rigour to taxation and finance-related decision-making. - Identify opportunities for tax optimisation and better financial structuring. - Strengthen internal controls and financial processes as the organisation scales. - Ensure timely and accurate financial reporting and statutory compliance, in partnership with the existing accounting team and external advisors. 6. Promoter & Leadership Reporting: - Act as a key finance partner to the promoters. - Convert complex financial and operational data into clear, actionable insight for decision-making. - Establish a regular cadence of promoter and management reviews. - Support the promoters in understanding the financial implications of strategic and operational decisions. Ideal Candidate: - CA, with at least 6 - 12 years of relevant post-qualification experience. - Hands-on experience in manufacturing and plant finance, including RM, WIP and FG costing, yield and wastage. - Strong experience across FP&A, business finance, management reporting and financial analytics. - Demonstrated ownership of AOP, budgeting, forecasting, MIS and variance analysis. - Comfortable working with large datasets and using SQL or equivalent analytics tools to extract and interpret information. Sector Background: - Exposure to D2C, consumer, e-commerce, subscription or digitally-led businesses would be highly relevant. Key Competencies: - Demonstrated ability to build a finance function, rather than operate only within an established large-company structure. - Strong commercial orientation, with the ability to connect financial numbers to underlying business drivers. - Experience working directly with founders and promoters in an entrepreneurial environment. - Sound understanding of taxation and financial controls. - Comfortable being hands-on and working closely with a lean team.