Craig Griggs
Atlanta,GA
Summary
Transformational financial strategist with a proven track record of driving multimillion-dollar growth and optimizing operations for Fortune 10 to Fortune 500 clients. Expertise in managing full P&L as CFO at Sweetwater, along with significant experience at Campbell Soup, overseeing global supply chain and manufacturing teams. Instrumental in achieving remarkable revenue growth, elevating the company from the 11th to the 4th largest craft brewer in the U.S. by leading the acquisition of eight craft breweries. Enhanced forecasting accuracy from 62% to 88.5% and reduced processing time by 75% through automation of finance processes, resulting in substantial cost savings and improved operational efficiency.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
CFO
Americas & Caribbean Air Inhalation Rituals
Atlanta, GA
01.2025 - Current
- Led a full finance transformation across North America, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, positioning the company for a planned IPO within twelve months.
- Executed enterprise-wide change management, completely restructuring and modernizing Finance, Accounting, and Treasury through organizational redesign, leadership hiring, role redefinition, and process standardization.
- Built IPO-ready financial infrastructure and internal controls, aligning with SOX 404/302 requirements and establishing audit-ready policies, documentation, and governance.
- Directed all FP&A activities across the Americas, including annual operating plans, rolling forecasts, long-range strategic planning, cash flow modeling, and executive-level reporting.
- Developed and scaled high-performing teams across Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, Tax, SOX, and Commercial Finance to support rapid growth and public-company readiness.
- Launched a new Commercial Finance function, delivering pricing strategy, margin analysis, trade-spend governance, and customer profitability insights to tightly integrate Finance with Sales and Operations.
- Established a best-in-class month close process, materially accelerating close timelines while strengthening balance sheet integrity and P&L accuracy.
- Owned full P&L and balance sheet accountability, driving improvements in working capital, liquidity management, and capital allocation to fund growth initiatives.
- Partnered cross-functionally with Legal, Tax, IT, and Operations to ensure regulatory compliance, strengthen revenue recognition practices, and support scalable systems and controls.
VP of Finance / CFO
North America Tilray Brands/Sweetwater
Atlanta, GA
01.2022 - 01.2024
- Report directly to the North America President and Global CFO with priority on recruiting, building, and mentoring high-performing accounting, FP&A, and commercial finance teams, consisting of 11 direct reports and 38 dotted-line reports.
- Manage $250M budget across sales, marketing, supply chain, operations, and compliance, driving $800M in revenue with full P&L ownership and directing all financial operations, including budgeting, forecasting, auditing, and financial planning & analysis (FP&A).
- Provided growth-oriented financial guidance and strategic recommendations to CEO and leadership, enhancing decision-making processes.
- Maintained compliance with regulations, accounting principles, and standards across financial transactions, fostering key banking relationships in the U.S. and Canada.
- Lead financial and modeling support for tactical and strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of 8 craft brewers from Anheuser-Busch, propelling the company from the 11th to the 4th largest craft brewer in the U.S.
- Led due diligence for acquisitions and joint ventures, collaborating with cross-functional teams to assess financial, regulatory, and operational aspects, mitigating risks and ensuring successful project development and asset acquisition.
- North America Beer/Spirits
Head of Finance, Activation, eComm & Sponsorships
Reynold's American / British American Tobacco (BAT)
Atlanta, GA
01.2021 - 01.2022
- Managed an $800M budget, overseeing activation teams across casinos, marketing, airports, and all sales-related expenditures for a $35B multinational company.
- Directed global team of 25 direct reports and 68 indirect, including 35% international staff, to drive revenue growth impacting largest cost group in US without direct P&L responsibility.
- Guided eCommerce sales team to exceed targets while ensuring alignment with retail partners.
- Restructured international operations by enhancing the visibility and integration of the Costa Rica team, successfully transitioning 4 additional employees to the US to foster a collaborative global team.
- Streamlined operations, reducing 8-person procedure to 3-person operation, improving efficiency over 50%.
VP of Finance
Commercial Pabst Brewing Company
San Antonio, TX
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Established financial systems and analytical tools that enhanced decision-making for East Coast, Central, and West Coast regions.
- Influenced sales and marketing organizations to meet profit goals for $509M in revenue through comprehensive budget oversight.
- Coached and managed 12 teams of pricing experts and finance leaders across US and Mexico, driving finance and analysis for three large-scale U.S. divisions.
- Increased forecasting accuracy from 62% to 88.5% through streamlined accounting practices.
- Reduced forecast processing time from 20 hours to 5 hours monthly by automating core finance processes.
Sr. Consultant – Global FP&A & Integration
RGP Consultants
Atlanta, GA
01.2018 - 04.2020
- Liaised between business and IT departments, connecting regional CFOs and business units to enhance collaboration.
- Enhanced global enterprise data integrity by integrating 3 acquired companies and implementing a cutting-edge, companywide financial system; strengthened decision-making by unifying 3 siloed financial systems into a cohesive global FP&A group.
- Led global planning, forecasting, and consolidation for $3B P&L, defining system's global hierarchy to support end-user needs.
- Engaged continually with global business heads across APAC, LATAM, UK, and U.S. regions to foster alignment and communication.
Sr. Consultant – Global FP&A & Integration
McKesson / Change Healthcare
Atlanta, GA
01.2018 - 01.2020
- Directed 38-member team across the U.S., Canada, and Istanbul to complete a $75M implementation post-acquisition, transforming Change Healthcare from a private to a public company; drove corporate growth initiatives that scaled revenue $350M to $4B.
- Prepared organization for IPO by establishing GAAP financial processes, SOX compliance standards, and sharing best practices for annual planning and monthly reporting.
- Streamlined global reporting and financial system processes, enhancing user transition to new ERP system.
- Consolidated 335 unique Excel files into 12 automated forms, improving efficiency and decreasing download times.
Head of FP&A – Beverages
Simple Meals Campbell Soup Company
Camden, NJ
01.2016 - 01.2018
- Led team of 3 direct reports and 27 indirect analysts, managing FP&A for $1.5B in business value, contributing to revenue growth and enhancing brand awareness.
- Drove $60M bottle redesign for a Fortune 10 client, optimizing shelf space and protecting brands from significant loss by analyzing consumer behaviors and competitive intelligence.
- Increased offer acceptance from DEI conferences by 75% in 1 year, directly impacting profit margins by 12%.
Commercial Finance – Midwest/Southern States
Diageo Wine & Spirits
Chicago, IL
01.2012 - 01.2016
- Spearheaded FP&A and AOP processes for North American brands, recruiting and leading 7 Financial Analysts, while strategically managing and analyzing $800M in A&P and trade spend to drive financial optimization.
- Collaborated with 25 brand teams to generate $8B in annual sales, managing media brands valued at $250M, and overseeing P&L for distributors across 11 states to maximize profitability.
- Saved $8M in 1 year via analysis of 20 brands across 30 Las Vegas venues, driving $3M+ in annual savings and earning ‘CFO Award’.
- Increased military sales from $22M to $125M by partnering with VP of Multicultural Marketing and executing targeted special projects.
- Raised sales by 16% YoY through analysis of $250M in promotional programs, reallocating $45M to successful initiatives, and cutting celebrity partnership fees by $5M, leading to 12% growth in Smirnoff sales from $10M investment in EDM festivals.
Senior Finance Director – (Southeast Region)
Global Mortgage Lenders
01.2005 - 01.2012
- Led end-to-end financial operations for Southeast region, overseeing branch profitability and loan production.
- Ranked in top 1% of earners company-wide through sustained revenue growth and disciplined margin management.
- Drove regional growth strategy by aligning sales incentives and pricing discipline, maximizing loan volume while ensuring credit quality.
- Owned regional forecasting, budgeting, and performance reporting, delivering insights on production trends to support executive decision-making.
- Managed hiring and development of high-performing branch leadership and lending teams, emphasizing accountability and compliance.
- Implemented performance management frameworks that enhanced branch productivity and increased employee engagement.
- Collaborated with underwriting, risk, and compliance teams to ensure regulatory adherence and enhance deal velocity.
- Served as trusted senior leader, balancing aggressive growth targets with sound financial management.
- Additional Experience: Toys ‘R’ Us – Sr. Finance Manager, Sales Analytics (FP&A); Commercial Lending; Homeowners Loan Corporation – Finance Director, Marketing Strategy
Education
Executive MBA - Entrepreneurship & Org. Management
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA12-2011
Bachelor of Science - Finance
Monmouth University
West Long Branch, NJ05-2002
Skills
- P&L management
- Strategic financial planning
- Global business partnering
- Finance framework development
- Change management
- Cross-functional leadership
- Dynamics, SAP experience
- Audit coordination
- Cash flow management
- Financial process improvement
- Risk management proficiency
- Financial strategy development
- Change management expertise
- Mergers and acquisitions experience
- ERP system implementation
- Budget development
- Infrastructure development
- Operational management
- Strategic planning
- Accounting principles understanding
- Executive leadership
- Annual planning
- Organizational development
- Process improvement
- Revenue growth
- Forecasting Development
Certification
- Series 7 & 53 - 2004
- Life Accidental Insurance - 2004
- Accredited Investors Designation 2024
Timeline
CFO
Americas & Caribbean Air Inhalation Rituals
01.2025 - Current
VP of Finance / CFO
North America Tilray Brands/Sweetwater
01.2022 - 01.2024
Head of Finance, Activation, eComm & Sponsorships
Reynold's American / British American Tobacco (BAT)
01.2021 - 01.2022
VP of Finance
Commercial Pabst Brewing Company
01.2020 - 01.2021
Sr. Consultant – Global FP&A & Integration
RGP Consultants
01.2018 - 04.2020
Sr. Consultant – Global FP&A & Integration
McKesson / Change Healthcare
01.2018 - 01.2020
Head of FP&A – Beverages
Simple Meals Campbell Soup Company
01.2016 - 01.2018
Commercial Finance – Midwest/Southern States
Diageo Wine & Spirits
01.2012 - 01.2016
Senior Finance Director – (Southeast Region)
Global Mortgage Lenders
01.2005 - 01.2012
Bachelor of Science - Finance
Monmouth University
Executive MBA - Entrepreneurship & Org. Management
Georgia State University
ACTIVITIES AND HONORS
ACLU, 2019, Georgia State Alumni, 2018, National Black MBA Association, 2011, Asbury Park, NJ Police Department Neighborhood Outreach, 2011
WEBSITES, PORTFOLIOS, PROFILES
www.linkedin.com/in/craiggriggs