Public Sector CFO to Commercial CFO (and Back): How the Market Reads the Move
Moving between the public and private sectors is common for finance leaders in Australia and New Zealand. Public sector CFOs move into commercial roles for broader scope, different challenges or higher pay. Commercial CFOs move into government, state-owned enterprises or not-for-profits for purpose, stability or a new kind of complexity.
Both moves can work well. But both involve being read by people who may not fully understand where you have come from. A commercial board may not know what a departmental CFO actually does. A public sector panel may not see how a private company CFO fits its accountability framework.
Understanding how each side reads the other is the first step to making the move successfully.
How commercial boards read a public sector CFO
When a commercial board or search firm reviews a public sector CFO, they usually see real strengths:
Experience managing large budgets and complex organisations
Strong governance, accountability and risk management
Experience working with ministers, audit offices and parliamentary or oversight bodies
Ability to manage many stakeholders with competing priorities
Experience with large-scale reform, restructure or systems change
But they often have concerns:
Commercial experience. Has this person managed revenue, margin, pricing and profit, or mainly budgets and appropriations?
Pace. Is this person used to the speed of decision-making in a commercial business?
Risk appetite. Will this person be comfortable taking commercial risk, or are they used to minimising risk?
Capital and funding. Has this person dealt with debt, equity, investors or lenders?
Culture. Will this person adapt to a commercial culture focused on performance and results?
How to present public sector experience to a commercial board
The key is to translate your experience into commercial language and outcomes. That means:
Emphasise commercial activity. Many public sector roles include commercial elements, such as user charges, commercial services, contracts, procurement, asset management, investment decisions or business cases. Put these first.
Show value and outcomes. Describe the financial outcomes you achieved, such as savings, efficiency gains, improved asset use or better value from contracts, in terms a commercial reader will recognise.
Explain the scale. Public sector budgets and asset bases can be very large. Give the numbers and explain what you controlled.
Translate terminology. Replace public sector terms that a commercial reader may not understand with plain equivalents. For example, explain what an appropriation or a portfolio budget statement means in practice, or avoid the term altogether.
Highlight any commercial entities. State-owned enterprises, government business enterprises and commercial statutory bodies operate much like commercial businesses. Experience in these is often more directly relevant to commercial boards.
Our piece on reframing your experience for a new audience covers the broader approach.
Before and after: translating a public sector line
Here is an illustrative example of how one line can be rewritten for a commercial reader.
Before: “Managed the department’s appropriation and led the budget bid process for new policy proposals, ensuring compliance with the relevant financial framework.”
A commercial board may not know what an appropriation is, and “budget bid” sounds like asking for money rather than managing it.
After: “Led finance for a large government agency with a multi-billion dollar operating budget and 3,000 staff. Built the business cases that secured funding for four major programs, and ran a savings program that redirected funds to front-line services without cutting service levels.”
The second version uses words a commercial board uses every day: business case, savings, scale and outcome. It still reflects public sector work accurately. It simply removes the barrier of unfamiliar terms.
The same principle works in reverse. A commercial CFO applying to a public sector role might change “grew EBITDA through a cost-out program” to “delivered a cost reduction program that protected service quality and funded reinvestment, reported to the board and audit committee throughout”.
Choose the right first commercial role
Some commercial CFO roles are more open to public sector candidates than others. These often include:
CFO roles in organisations with significant government revenue, contracts or regulation
CFO roles in infrastructure, utilities, health, education or other sectors with strong public sector links
CFO roles in not-for-profits, mutuals or member-owned organisations
CFO roles in businesses going through major transformation, where reform experience is valuable
Government business enterprises or state-owned enterprises, as a bridge between the two sectors
How public sector panels read a commercial CFO
When a public sector panel reviews a commercial CFO, it usually sees strengths too:
Commercial discipline and performance focus
Experience with capital, funding and investment decisions
Pace and decisiveness
Experience with transformation, systems and efficiency
But public sector panels also have concerns:
Public accountability. Does this person understand the level of scrutiny that comes with public money, including audit offices, parliamentary committees and the public?
Stakeholder complexity. Is this person used to working with ministers, central agencies and multiple government stakeholders?
Frameworks and legislation. Does this person understand the relevant financial management legislation, reporting frameworks and budget processes?
Motivation. Why does this person want to work in the public sector, and will they stay?
How to present commercial experience to a public sector panel
For public sector roles, focus on:
Governance and accountability. Show your experience with boards, audit committees, auditors, regulators and compliance.
Stakeholder management. Show your experience working with complex, multiple stakeholders, including government where relevant.
Public value. Where possible, connect your achievements to outcomes that matter in the public sector, such as service delivery, value for money or community benefit.
Motivation. Be clear about why you want to work in the public sector. Panels are cautious about candidates who seem to see it as a short-term move.
Selection criteria. Many public sector roles require responses to selection criteria or capability frameworks. Treat these seriously. Our guide to government board applications covers how panels score selection criteria, which applies to executive roles as well as boards.
In New Zealand, public sector panels may also ask about your understanding of the public service’s responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Our guide to answering Te Tiriti and cultural capability questions covers how to prepare.
Common mistakes in both directions
A pattern I see often is a capable CFO who assumes the other sector will understand their resume as written. It rarely does. Watch for these:
Keeping your own sector’s jargon. Public sector terms confuse commercial readers. Commercial shorthand can sound narrow or profit-only to a public sector panel. Write for the reader, not for your current colleagues.
Treating the move as a step down. Commercial CFOs sometimes present the public sector as a slower, easier option. Public sector CFOs sometimes present commercial roles as simpler because they have fewer rules. Panels on both sides notice, and neither reaction helps.
Ignoring the selection criteria. Commercial candidates often send a strong resume and a short cover letter to a public sector role that asks for a structured response. That can end the application early, however good the candidate.
Not explaining the why. Both sides want to know the reason for the move. A vague answer suggests you may not stay.
Leaving out governance. Commercial CFOs often have strong board and audit committee experience, and public sector CFOs often have deep accountability experience. Both are valuable across the divide. Make sure they are visible.
Questions to ask yourself before you move
A move between sectors is easier when you are clear about what you want from it:
What am I hoping to gain that I do not have now?
Which parts of my current role will transfer, and which will I need to learn?
Am I comfortable with the pace, scrutiny and style of decision-making on the other side?
Have I spoken to someone who has made the same move recently?
What would success look like after two years?
The clearer your answers, the stronger your story in interviews.
Moving back
Many finance leaders move between sectors more than once. That can be a strength. A CFO who has worked in both sectors often understands government, regulation and commercial pressures better than one who has stayed in a single sector.
Present your career as a deliberate pattern, not a series of unrelated moves. Show what each sector taught you and how the combination makes you a stronger CFO. Our piece on positioning a broad executive career covers how to create a clear story from varied experience.
Prepare for remuneration conversations
Remuneration can differ significantly between sectors. Public sector CFO roles are often paid less than comparable commercial roles, although this varies by jurisdiction, organisation and level, and public sector roles may offer other benefits.
Be realistic about the remuneration implications of your move, and be ready to discuss them. Our piece on salary expectations at senior level covers how to handle the conversation.
Make the translation
Moving between the public and private sectors is a well-trodden path for CFOs. The ones who succeed understand how the other sector reads their experience, translate their achievements into language that sector understands and choose a first role that suits their background.
If you want a CFO resume that translates your experience for a new sector, see how I approach CFO resume writing.
If you are considering a move between public sector and commercial CFO roles, book a complimentary Clarity Session and we will look at how the other sector is likely to read your experience.
