Overview

Ember Search placed Sacheu’s CFO in 55 days, a LA based beauty finance leader with deep retail expertise and proven transaction experience.

At a glance

Days to 
first introduction

Days to 
completion

Candidates mapped 
and approached

Inbound
reviewed

Ember 
screens

Shortlisted
candidates

Client
interviews

The outcome
Hire

The company

Sacheu is a PE backed beauty and CPG brand that scaled from 0 to approximately $85M revenue and NO ARR in four years. With Petersen Partners’ investment and a credible near term transaction path, the team needed finance leadership that could both professionalize the function and confidently run an exit process.

Stage: PE backed growth

HQ and operating cadence: Los Angeles, onsite requirements

Team: lean senior leadership group, retail channel focus, product driven growth

The challenge

Sacheu had strong accounting leadership in place, but needed a true board ready CFO to own the next phase. The CEO had been carrying CFO responsibilities alongside a long tenured VP Finance who skewed controller focus. With a year end audit cycle approaching and transaction planning on deck, the mandate was clear.

Own audit readiness, tax compliance, and financial credibility with investors

Lead sell side prep including quality of earnings planning and execution

Build a best in class FP&A cadence without adding corporate drag

Be an active operator and CEO partner, not a delegator

Process

How Ember Search ran the search

We treated the first week as a rapid calibration sprint, intentionally presenting a range of profiles from high end “been through multiple exits” CFOs to ambitious VP and SVP finance leaders ready to step up. That gave the CEO and PE stakeholders real time market data on compensation, tradeoffs, and the experience level required for the expected timeline.

Built a targeted market map focused on high growth beauty and CPG brands, especially those with transaction exposure

Partner led outreach only, no junior handoffs

Prioritized candidates who combined transaction readiness with operator mindset and LA presence

Ran a tight funnel to maintain speed while preserving a high bar for fit

Result

Why this hire worked

Connie is an experienced beauty finance executive, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Topicals, a VC backed skincare brand. Prior to that, she was a senior leader at Unilever Prestige, where she led diligence on more than a dozen acquisition targets and supported multiple completed beauty transactions. Earlier in her career, she held roles at Google and McKinsey.

Connie Kim, Chief Financial Officer

Testimonial

“We had a great experience working with Ember. They really understood our industry and what we needed in a CFO. The process moved quickly thanks to their network, and we’re thrilled with the person we ultimately hired.”

Quinn Roukema, CEO

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