Counting on Success: Finding a Director of Finance for a Leading SaaS Platform

>The Background 

Succeeding by the Numbers 

A world-leading customer success platform helps businesses drive efficient growth by unifying the post-sales customer journey. Their innovative suite of solutions—including customer success, customer education, product experience, community management, and conversational AI insights—are trusted by companies of all sizes and industries, including nearly 200 publicly traded organizations. With this platform, businesses can leverage AI-driven insights from real-time customer interactions to enhance engagement, improve retention, and drive expansion. 

The platform makes it easier for customer success, product, and community teams to scale efficiently and gain a holistic view of their customers, driving product adoption and building thriving customer communities. The company joined the Vista Equity Partners portfolio in 2020. In 2021, they won their Excellence in Engineering award in recognition for their product and engineering advancements. 

>The Challenge 

Balancing the Books and Beyond 

Our firm was retained to conduct an executive search for a Director of Finance in India, prompted by the evolving scope of finance as a function. The mandate came with several complexities. The global leadership expressed a preference for candidates with exceptional experience in a GCC ecosystem with specific skills including USGAAP, IGAAP combined with strong knowledge of global tax, audits, SAP expertise, and finance automation—adding a layer of selectivity to the search. The expectation was that this individual would spearhead the ERP implementation at a global level. 

>The Solution 

Accounting for All Possibilities 

To address the client’s specific mandate, we began with a data-driven scan of finance talent in India across the BFSI segment and within the GCC ecosystem. While the market offered brilliant leaders, few possessed all the required skills. We expanded our search beyond purely financial expertise and sought candidates with strong experience in financial shared services, considering the complex blend of functional and technical requirements needed. 

We narrowed our search to eight candidates and conducted initial conversations to evaluate their leadership capabilities, people management skills, cultural fit, ERP automation expertise, and alignment with client expectations. We presented six carefully selected candidates—including a 70:30 diversity ratio—whose competencies matched the role requirements. Working closely with the client, we shortlisted these candidates for further interviews and consideration. 

>The Result 

Investing in the Right Talent 

Our process narrowed the field to three exceptional candidates from the initial group of six. While all candidates completed thorough assessments, these top three nearly equally matched our selection criteria, creating a positive dilemma in determining the ideal fit. 

Our proprietary leadership assessments became the deciding factor. We evaluated all three finalists using this methodology and presented detailed results to our client. Through collaborative discussions about these insights, we identified a standout candidate who showed genuine enthusiasm for the opportunity and demonstrated commitment to making an impact beyond finance, across the entire organization. 

Having built a strong relationship with this candidate from our first interaction, we confidently recommended him as the perfect fit. The client agreed with our assessment after their comprehensive interview process. They successfully hired this finance professional, concluding.