Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Role: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) 

Reporting To: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), working closely with the Board. 

Location: Flexible/Hybrid working, with a mix of office‑based (Sheffield) and remote working in line with Sitehop policy. 

About the Company 

Sitehop is a technology startup building a faster, better, greener alternative to the encryption options on the market today. Unlike software, our product delivers super-fast encryption and is easily deployed onto network hardware. Sitehop is disrupting the cybersecurity and networking market by developing hardware products and solutions that deliver ultra-high speed, low latency, cryptography solutions for Cloud Infrastructure, 5G Telecom, and Industry 4.0 solutions.   

We seek talented and driven individuals to be an impactful part of our journey. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurial innovators who are comfortable working in a dynamic environment on game-changing technology.  

About the Role 

The CFO is a core member of Sitehop’s executive leadership team and will be the company’s first senior finance leader. 

This is a hands-on role suited to a builder: someone who can operate tactically day-to-day while setting the financial foundations required to scale through Series A and beyond. 

The CFO will own financial strategy, fundraising support, cash management, and governance, while building the finance function, systems, and team as the company grows internationally across the US, EMEA, and APAC. 

This role requires comfort operating in a product-led, hardware-enabled, security-critical environment with manufacturing, inventory, and long sales cycles. 

What You Will be Responsible For 

Strategic Leadership 

• Lead Sitehop’s financial strategy to support Series A fundraising, valuation growth, and disciplined scaling. 

• Be a trusted sparring partner to the CEO and Board on runway, burn, unit economics, and strategic trade-offs. 

• Own investor readiness: data room, financial narrative, models, diligence, and post-raise reporting. 

• Shape international expansion decisions (US, EMEA, APAC), including entity setup, pricing, tax, and go-to-market economics. 

Financial Management & Reporting 

• Own budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning in a scaling, multi-entity environment. 

• Manage cash flow, burn rate, and working capital, including inventory and manufacturing-related cash cycles. 

• Deliver accurate and timely monthly management accounts, board packs, and investor reporting. 

• Develop financial models covering unit economics, hardware margins, manufacturing costs, and deployment at scale. 

• Manage complex cash cycles including inventory, manufacturing lead times, and customer payment terms. 

• Design financial models that reflect long sales cycles, lumpy revenue, and deployment-driven growth. 

• Ensure capital efficiency in a hardware environment with tight working-capital constraints.   

Governance, Risk & Compliance 

• Establish pragmatic financial controls and governance appropriate for a venture-backed, scaling business. 

• Ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions, including tax, statutory reporting, and regulatory requirements. 

• Oversee audits and manage relationships with external auditors, legal advisors, banks, and insurers.   

Commercial & Operational Support 

• Partner closely with product, engineering, operations, and supply chain teams to improve margins and cost efficiency. 

• Provide financial oversight on manufacturing partners, hardware sourcing, and security-related investments. 

• Support commercial decision-making including pricing models, contracts, customer economics, and international deals. 

• Evaluate new markets, partnerships, and deployment models from a financial and risk perspective.   

Team Leadership 

• Build and lead the finance function over time, starting hands-on and hiring as scale demands. 

• Implement systems and processes that scale without slowing the business down. 

• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and collaboration. 

• Ensure finance processes scale effectively as the business grows. 

Skills & Experience 

Essential 

• Proven experience in a venture-backed business with constrained runway. 

• Direct ownership of cash management and board-level financial reporting. 

• Experience partnering closely with founders in ambiguous, fast-moving environments. 

• Demonstrated experience supporting fundraising, ideally through Series A or equivalent growth stage. 

• Strong understanding of financial strategy, cash management, and unit economics in complex product-led environments. 

• Experience working with international operations, including the US and at least one of EMEA or APAC. 

• Confident executive presence with the ability to influence founders, boards, and investors. 

• Experience in hardware, manufacturing, deep tech, or security-critical environments. 

Desirable 

• Experience managing inventory, supply chain finance, and manufacturing cost structures. 

• Exposure to international expansion, cross-border tax, and multi-currency environments. 

• Experience with investor reporting post-fundraise and board-level governance. 

Qualifications 

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent) or equivalent experience. 

• Relevant degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business. 

Personal Attributes 

• Strategic, analytical, and commercially minded. 

• Calm, credible, and confident decision‑maker. 

• High integrity with a strong sense of ownership and accountability. 

• Collaborative leader who can balance detail with big‑picture thinking. 

Why join Sitehop? 

At Sitehop, we’re building cutting-edge hardware to protect the world’s most critical networks at a time when performance, sustainability, and post-quantum security all matter. 

This is a rare opportunity to join a deep-tech company at a pivotal moment, shape its financial foundations, and play a defining role in scaling a globally relevant business from Series A onwards.