Chief Financial Officer

Introduction

We are a small public company that combines the stability and expertise of an established advanced-materials manufacturer with the ambition and growth potential of a highly capable and well-funded entrepreneurial enterprise. We are seeking a Chief Financial Officer to guide CPS toward continued growth and profitability, built on a history of innovation and recent successes. Public company experience at any level is a plus but is not required.

If you are a candidate or know someone who could be, please see “Next Steps” for the target compensation, and how and when to respond to this opportunity.

The overarching objective of the CFO role is to make CPS a more valuable company, as reflected in the company’s share price. Our next CFO will be expected to support ongoing growth and improvement. The CFO will serve as the number two executive, partnering with the CEO. Roughly in order of importance, evidence of the new CFO’s positive impact will include:

• Improved gross margins, through greater clarity, discipline, and rigor in financial and operating data to inform strategic decisions and enable thoughtful execution. The key priorities are cost improvements and enhanced pricing discipline.
• Revenue traction from the many promising initiatives in our innovation pipeline. This includes guiding the management team to focus on the most promising initiatives and scale back or discontinue the less promising ones.
• An improved dynamic and working relationship with the board. This will be achieved when a) the board is confident that key questions are addressed proactively, and b) forecast variances are fully explained, including clear estimates of the dollar impact of each driver.
• Investor and analyst confidence. The CFO and CEO serve as the public face of the company. The CFO helps articulate the company’s strategy, performance and vision.

We seek candidates who are strategic and operational financial leaders. Our CFO will partner effectively with senior leadership in a manufacturing organization that is actively engaging with new customers, developing new technologies, and bringing novel offerings to market. Here is the experience that matters to us, roughly in this order:

• Primary responsibility for financial reporting for management team purposes in a manufacturing business of 150 to 1,000 employees, including providing analysis that supports decision making in operations, strategy, sales (including pricing), and marketing.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with the CEO in board-facing environments. This includes active participation in board meetings and the development of strong board relationships. Experience working with an active board is more important than experience in a public company.
• Experience in assessing, developing, and launching early-stage lines of business, especially achieving revenue traction by selectively commercializing a robust pipeline that applies advanced technology solutions to meet customer needs.
• Familiarity with public company compliance. The CFO must be able to engage effectively with key investors and equity analysts.
• Experience with SBIR (see more below) proposal development and project management, or other government contracting. This includes the accounting capabilities to support internal project management as well as compliance with external reporting and audit requirements.
• A strong, hands‑on grasp of the finance function as well as human resources. We need a CFO who is willing to be directly involved in the details as needed and who is not overly dependent on staff.

CPS went public in 1987 and trades on the NASDAQ under ticker CPSH. There are about 18 million shares outstanding, with institutional owners holding about 20% and insiders about 15%. CPS will announce 2025 results in late February. There are roughly 150 employees. Recent revenue and operating profit are shown below.

............................Revenue......Operating Profit

2021...................$22.4M............$0.5M

2022 ..................$26.6M............$2.2M

2023 ..................$27.6M............$1.7M

2024…