Chief Growth Officer Jobs

About Ascend

Backed by Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm, Ascend is a new type of accounting services firm, providing strategic partnership, growth capital, shared resources, technology and more to accounting firms of roughly $10-50m in revenue led by growth-minded leaders who want a strategic partner to help them reach their goals. By doing so, we bring the benefits of a large firm to entrepreneurial CPAs while preserving the independence and culture of their local firm.

The Opportunity

Ascend is seeking a Chief Growth Officer at our partner firm, ATKG, to implement the Ascend Growth Model. The CGO, alongside the CEO of ATKG, will be responsible for the firm P&L and will drive achievement of KPIs and business growth through targeted collaboration with the MP and Regional President (their skip-level manager). Notably, the CGO will play a critical role in continually iterating on the organic growth playbook for the firm to realize double digit EBITDA growth.

The CGO will report to the CEO of ATKG and will work on site at ATKG’s office in San Antonio, TX.

Why Ascend & Why Now

The accounting industry faces headwinds across talent, technology and strategic growth. Talent is hard to come by because many firms do not have good cultures, strong financial incentives or human capital professionals focused on talent acquisition and retention. Furthermore, technology investments are required to modernize existing firms and firms want to grow their service offerings and client reach. All of these problems require investment, but existing partnership structures distribute out all profits, so there is no capital to invest. Most firms feel as though the only option is to sell to a larger firm, giving up their leadership position.

Ascend is the only platform offering the benefits of a large firm - capital and resources for talent, technology and strategic growth - while preserving the independence and culture of each regional firm we acquire. We take a people-first approach, with the goal of empowering entrepreneurial CPAs to reach their goals.

With ATKG and Ascend You’ll:

Implement the Ascend Growth Model

• Build and maintain KPI dashboards and reports to provide insight and transparency into performance; review these dashboards regularly with the CEO of ATKG as well as the Regional President and flag any potential negative leading indicators for slowing growth or other revenue quality issues
• Build an in-depth understanding of the Ascend Growth Model (including, pricing, offshore, CAAS, marketing, M&A, etc.) and make strategic suggestions for how to prioritize and adapt growth levers to be most effective for ATKG
• Implement and help drive adoption of the PeopleFirst Operating Rhythm, ensuring the firm leverages weekly project/issue tracking methods as well as quarterly and annual planning
• Bring a continuous improvement mindset, consistently evaluating current processes/procedures and seeking opportunities to improve efficiency
• Work alongside the CEO at ATKG to achieve the firm’s P&L targets, driving key operational initiatives to achieve financial goals for the firm
• Implement the Ascend Growth Model, driving key operational initiatives for the firm and demonstrating excellent cross-functional project management expertise

M&A Integration

• Develop an integration playbook for tuck-in acquisitions at ATKG; serve as the owner to ensure seamless integration of acquisitions and help accelerate the path to realized value
• Implement operational changes and initiatives to sustain and improve an eNPS of 70+

Relationship & Team Management

• Serve as a thought partner to the CEO and RP on all regional operational matters
• Ensure the firm has the right talent in all key roles for driving future growth
• Effectively build relationships with Ascend and ATKG, ensuring seamless collaboration on projects and day-to-day business operations

Qualifications:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify opportunities and make data-driven decisions
• Strong organizational, critical thinking and communication skills
• Track record of driving revenue growth
• Excellent leadership abilities with the capacity to inspire and motivate cross-functional teams
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, MBA preferred

What You Can Count On:

We live by our values:

• Own it. We seize growth opportunities with the passion, speed and accountability of an entrepreneur.
• Serve whole-heartedly. We love our people and serve them with positivity and kindness.
• Be excellent. We set a high bar because our mission matters.
• Win together. We stay in sync, achieve as a team and celebrate each other.
• Bring the sunshine. We have fun and bring enthusiasm to make the journey joyful.

At Ascend, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Ascend hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.