CFO Leadership: Business Partner for Growth

Who should attend

This program is designed for CFOs and senior finance leaders operating in growth capital environments.

Module dates:

25,26 September & 9,10 October

Format

4 modules

Program co-created with ROPEA

Growth capital changes the nature of financial leadership. When capital enters the business, flexibility decreases. Decisions become harder to reverse. Cash discipline becomes non-negotiable. Performance is no longer interpreted only internally, but constantly examined, compared and priced by external stakeholders.

In this environment, the role of the CFO expands structurally. The CFO is no longer only the guardian of reporting and control. The CFO becomes responsible for something far more
demanding: ensuring that growth translates into durable enterprise value. Strategic value creation begins long before capital enters the business. It is shaped by the quality of growth, the
efficiency of reinvestment, the resilience of margins, the predictability of cash and the maturity of governance.

This program is designed for experienced finance leaders who operate in this reality. It follows the full journey of growth capital, from understanding transaction logic and investor expectations to
managing post-investment execution, creating sustainable enterprise value under pressure, communicating performance credibly and institutionalising the finance function for long-term
resilience.

The focus is not on financial theory or technical modelling. It is on decision quality, capital discipline and leadership maturity in environments where value is constantly tested.

This program is right for you if:

You are a CFO operating in a company preparing for, navigating, or already working within a growth capital environment.
You are increasingly involved in decisions around capital allocation, growth strategy, governance, reinvestment, and long-term value creation, not just financial reporting.
You are preparing for a growth capital round, strategic transaction, accelerated scaling phase, or a more demanding investor and board environment.
You want to better understand how enterprise value is created, measured, protected, and communicated under increased shareholder expectations and capital pressure.
You are a CFO in a founder-led, family-owned, private equity-backed, or investor-backed company going through a period of growth and organisational transition.
You want to become more confident navigating the tensions between growth, operational performance, cash discipline, risk, and shareholder alignment.
You are looking for a program that focuses not only on finance, but on the strategic, operational, and leadership dimensions of the modern CFO role in growth-oriented businesses.

Download the brochure

What you will learn

Module 1: Understanding Growth Capital and Transaction Logic

Growth capital changes the logic behind financial leadership
This module helps CFOs understand how private equity funds operate, how transactions are structured, and how investor expectations reshape governance, performance evaluation, and decision-making.
Participants explore transaction mechanics, due diligence, valuation assumptions, and the role finance leaders play throughout the process.

Module 2: Digitalization as a Driver of Control and Scalability

As organisations scale, complexity increases and weak systems begin to distort performance visibility.
This session examines digitalisation not as operational optimisation, but as a structural driver of control, scalability, and disciplined capital allocation.
Participants explore forecasting capability, scenario modelling, data integrity, and the systems required to support faster and more reliable decision-making in growth capital environments.

Module 3: Value Creation Under Capital Pressure

Growth alone does not create value
This module focuses on how CFOs translate expansion into durable enterprise value through disciplined reinvestment, capital allocation, and risk management.
Participants examine how growth quality, cash flow resilience, return on invested capital, and financing decisions influence long-term value creation under increasing shareholder and investor pressure.

Module 4: Value Communication and Shareholder Alignment

Identify and strengthen opportunities for value creation.
Set long-term strategic objectives and plan effectively for succession.
Manage the transition from a founder-centric organisation to a scalable and sustainable leadership system.
Understand how key stakeholders and governance structures evolve as the organisation matures and adopts more structured growth.
Learn how to sustain and accelerate growth throughout the transition process.

Module 5: Leadership and Succession in Growth Capital Environments

Sustainable value creation depends on institutional strength, not individual dependency.
This final session examines how CFOs can help build resilient finance functions, stronger governance structures, and scalable leadership systems capable of operating effectively under increasing complexity and scrutiny.
Participants explore succession discipline, second-line capability, and the evolving dynamics between founders, investors, and boards.

Who should attend

This program is designed for CFOs and senior finance leaders operating in growth capital environments.

Becoming part of a community

Our programs create the conditions for real connection. They help people and organizations deepen existing relationships, while making space for new ones to form. Participants leave not just with contacts, but with lasting professional relationships and genuine friendships.

The program is delivered in Romanian.

In exceptional cases involving participants who do not speak Romanian, it will be delivered in English, and all participants will be notified in advance.

Experience and format

The program is delivered in person over four days and combines interactive discussions, expert insights, reflective work and advanced practitioner perspectives.

Participants engage with multiple viewpoints while progressing through a structured journey designed to build clarity, confidence and readiness for growth capital engagement.

Lecturers

Alexandra Bran is an experienced finance executive with more than two decades of experience at the intersection of technology, retail, and investment. Her career spans financial analysis, CFO leadership, and portfolio management, and this exposure to different structures and business environments has sharpened both her strategic thinking and her ability to influence across complex organisations.

Currently, Alexandra works as an advisor supporting companies through their scale-up phase. Most recently, she led finance strategy for a $3B eCommerce portfolio at Prosus, one of the world’s largest technology investment groups. Prior to that, she served as Group CFO at eMAG, one of Eastern Europe’s leading e-commerce platforms, where she played a central role in the company’s growth journey. Her ability to move fluidly between finance operations and portfolio management has given her rare exposure to diverse stakeholders, business models, and growth contexts.

Alexandra’s expertise spans financing structures, M&A and organic growth, scalable operational processes, and strategic finance leadership. She combines a broad, holistic perspective with the ability to dive deep into critical topics when needed most.

She also completed the International Directors Programme at INSEAD, further strengthening her leadership perspective through structured executive education.

Beyond the numbers, Alexandra is a people-first leader focused on developing and empowering her teams, helping individuals grow within organisations and navigate new career opportunities. A constant learner by nature, she is driven by challenges that push her forward, both professionally and personally.

Alexandra Florea is an investment professional with almost 25 years’ experience in international M&A and an in-depth, holistic understanding of the private investments ecosystem. She started her career as an M&A lawyer focusing on Central and South-East Europe, initially at Linklaters and then as a private equity partner with CMS Cameron McKenna, where she covered both cross-border private equity-backed M&A and fund structuring and set-up.

Following her MBA from London Business School (2014, distinction), she moved to the investment side and has since been involved in several growth and buyout investments in geographies ranging from CEE/SEE to Israel, Western Europe and India.

During her MBA studies, Alexandra also obtained a coaching qualification from the NeuroLeadership Institute in London. Since then, she has combined her work in private equity with supporting high-performing professionals and entrepreneurs through coaching, helping them pursue ambitious goals while remaining aligned with their values.

Currently based in Vienna, Alexandra maintains an active connection to the CEE start-up scene and is involved in several educational and training programs for start-up founders and young entrepreneurs in Romania, Austria and the Netherlands as a lecturer, trainer and mentor.

For the past 15 years, she has combined this demanding career with motherhood, a balancing act that has fuelled a lifelong fascination with how one can build a fulfilling career alongside a thriving personal life.

Andrei Bica is a senior finance and transformation executive with over two decades of experience leading complex organisations through growth, integration, and large-scale change. He joined Profi five years ago as Chief Financial Officer, progressively expanding his responsibilities to include IT, Digital and Cybersecurity, currently also embedding the CTO role.

Andrei believes that sustainable competitive advantage comes from staying ahead of technological and data-driven trends, and from applying innovation pragmatically to deliver better outcomes for customers, employees and business partners.

Starting from 2025, Andrei further broadened his scope by assuming the role of Chief Transformation & Integration Officer for Ahold Delhaize in Romania, where he leads organisational transformation, business momentum, and the delivery of integration synergies following major strategic transactions. He is a strong advocate of data-driven decision making, combining forward-looking business intelligence with disciplined learning from past performance. In his work, he actively integrates process automation, advanced forecasting and ordering, and AI-based personalisation to drive operational excellence and scalable value creation. Previously, Andrei served as Deputy CFO at Telekom, Finance Director at Vodafone, and held senior roles with METRO, PwC and Saatchi. Across these roles, he has built a proven track record in M&A, finance leadership, IT and cybersecurity oversight, and enterprise transformation, consistently improving EBITDA, cash performance, and long-term business resilience across multiple markets.

His family is his main source of motivation and balance. He values teamwork and collaboration, and believes in building sustainable results through collective effort, continuous learning, and thoughtful use of technology.

Course calendar

The program takes place over four in-person days on 25 – 26 September and 9 – 10 October.

Friday sessions run from 14:00 to 21:00, and Saturday sessions from 9:00 to 16:00.

Location: Dacia Boulevard, 3rd floor.

Who should attend

Module dates:

Format

Program co-created with ROPEA