Details
Robert Baker
27th November 2025
Insights
Snakes and Ladders has become a board game of choice for my 5-year-old daughter over the last few months. Somewhere between taking another inevitable defeat, it struck me that it’s a surprisingly fitting metaphor for the journey many finance professionals take on the path to becoming a CFO.
The CFO Practice specialises in CFO and Finance Director recruitment for high-growth, transformational businesses, often backed by Venture Capital and Private Equity investors. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with a wide range of finance professionals navigating very different routes to a Chief Financial Officer role, some progressing quickly, others taking a more complex path.
While starting a career in finance is relatively straightforward, building a successful CFO career, particularly within investor-backed or high-growth businesses, is far less linear. Like Snakes and Ladders, progression is rarely a straight climb. The key lies in making the right moves at the right time, while avoiding the setbacks that can slow or derail long-term progression.
Which CFO career path are you?
When it comes to career progression to CFO, there is no single route. Over the course of my work in CFO and Finance Director recruitment, I tend to see three distinct types of finance professionals, each taking a different approach to reaching a Chief Financial Officer role.
- Type 1: The 100m Sprinter
The first type are the “sprinters”, finance professionals who view their career progression as a race to become CFO as quickly as possible. These candidates are highly motivated to reach a Chief Financial Officer position, often with less focus on the type of business, sector, or long-term strategic fit. - Type 2: The Marathon Runner
Type 2 candidates take a more considered approach to their CFO career path. They recognise that building the right experience to succeed as a CFO takes time, often planning their progression across several roles. These individuals typically have a clear roadmap, carefully selecting opportunities that will prepare them for a CFO role within mid-market or larger organisations. - Type 3: The Steeplechaser
While Type 1 and Type 2 sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, most finance professionals fall somewhere in between adopting a more agile and adaptable approach to their finance leadership career.
Like a steeplechaser navigating hurdles and water jumps, these candidates understand the experience required for long-term success as a CFO, while recognising that progression is rarely linear. They build flexibility into their careers, actively seeking opportunities to develop their financial leadership within high-growth or changing environments, even if it means taking a sideways move to gain critical experience.
They are typically more entrepreneurial in their thinking, open to unconventional career paths, and comfortable progressing both vertically and horizontally depending on their motivations, strengths, and ability to identify the right opportunities at the right time.
So, can a sideways or downward move support your career progression to CFO?
Yes, absolutely. However, any sideways or downward move needs to be the right one and, importantly, one that strengthens your experience and helps position you for a future Chief Financial Officer role.
The traditional CFO skillset blends financial operations, commercial finance, strategy, and leadership experience. While we are seeing an increasing number of candidates move into CFO roles directly from banking and consulting backgrounds, most still build a broad range of experience before securing their first board-level position. This is why finance leaders should continually assess their experience against what is required to become a CFO.
Type 1 candidates, the 100m sprinters, can sometimes find themselves pigeonholed after becoming Finance Directors or CFOs within smaller, privately owned businesses. This can create a ceiling when progressing into CFO roles within larger, listed, or investor-backed organisations, where greater scale and complexity are required.
That’s why it’s important for Type 3 steeplechasers progressing towards a CFO role to regularly review their career path, ensuring they are building experience within businesses that offer the right mix of scale, complexity, and ownership structure.
It is less common for Type 2 candidates to take a sideways or downward step, given their clearly defined CFO career path, although this can still happen if longer-term priorities or motivations evolve.
So, what should you do if you’re Number 2 or 3 in finance but lack some of the key skills required to become a CFO?
One of the most effective ways to progress towards a Chief Financial Officer role is to broaden your skill set beyond financial control or commercial finance. However, senior-level exposure and the right operating environment are equally important.
Experience
A sideways move into a role with greater exposure to commercial decision-making, pricing strategy, or operational efficiency can be a defining step in your CFO career path. It’s not about stepping back, it’s about building the broader experience required to become a CFO. Those who take this approach are typically better prepared to step into a CFO role and operate confidently across both finance and the wider business.
Exposure
Leadership scope and visibility at senior level are also critical. Moving into a role that offers greater boardroom exposure, direct investor interaction, or involvement in transformation programmes can significantly strengthen your CFO skillset. CFOs in private equity and venture capital-backed businesses are often expected to lead M&A activity, restructures, and exit processes.
Environment
If your experience has been within a steady-state business, a sideways or downward move into a more dynamic, high-growth environment, particularly within venture capital or private equity-backed companies, can accelerate your progression to CFO. These experiences, rather than job title alone, are often what differentiate candidates when securing the right CFO opportunity.
Chris’ story
I have worked with Chris Musgrove for over 20 years, placing him on multiple occasions and partnering with him on recruitment projects. Chris is a Big Four-trained Chartered Accountant and is currently the CFO of a Business Growth Fund-backed business.
In 2015, Chris found his career at a crossroads. He was very much a Type 3 Steeplechaser in a senior commercial finance role working at a high-growth services business but couldn’t see an obvious path to CFO. He recognised that his career lacked hands-on operational finance experience, a skillset highly valued by private equity firms when appointing CFOs into portfolio companies.
Chris took a sideways move in 2016, joining Reevoo, an investor-backed marketing solutions business, as Financial Controller. He saw this as an opportunity to deepen his financial operations experience before climbing the ladder towards CFO.
By 2018, Chris was formally appointed CFO of Reevoo, and in 2021, he successfully led the sale process to Feefo. Today, Chris is the CFO of Techspert, an AI-driven technology platform specialising in healthcare and life sciences. He has played a pivotal role in scaling the business, expanding into the US, and delivering projects across 100+ global locations.
Final thoughts
While a sideways or downward move can support your career progression to CFO, it’s not the right decision in every situation. In some cases, continuing to develop your experience internally and actively seeking increased responsibility can be just as effective in preparing you for a future Chief Financial Officer role. I would always encourage candidates to maintain open communication with their CFO, CEO, and key board stakeholders before exploring external opportunities.
Here are some key factors to consider when evaluating your CFO career path:
- Lack of development opportunities – Does your current role provide a clear route to building the broader experience required to become a CFO?
- Framing the move strategically – Hiring managers and investors may question sideways or downward moves unless you can clearly articulate how the role strengthens your long-term progression to CFO.
- Short-term financial gain – If the decision is driven primarily by salary rather than long-term career development, this can be viewed negatively and may impact future CFO opportunities.
- Assess the role’s value – Will the position provide meaningful exposure to areas such as commercial finance, investor relations, M&A, or transformation programmes? If so, it could be a highly strategic step towards a CFO role.
Right, time for me to return to my most important opponent: a 5-year-old who’s worryingly good at Snakes and Ladders. If only career progression to CFO came down to a dice roll and a smile.
The CFO Practice
At The CFO Practice, we understand that no two journeys to CFO are the same. Whether your path involves sprints, marathons, steeplechases, or the occasional sideways move. We work with high-growth, investor-backed businesses across the UK to build exceptional senior finance teams and help finance leaders unlock the experience and opportunities needed to reach CFO. You can find out more about how The CFO Practice support this through our Executive Search services.
If you’re considering your next move or looking to strengthen your finance leadership team, get in touch with Rob Baker at rob@thecfopractice.co.uk.