Chief Financial Officer Search for Superior Farms

Dec 2, 2025

Framing The Search Assignment

Position: Chief Financial Officer

Client: Superior Farms

About the Company
Superior Farms, founded in 1964, is North America’s leading domestic lamb processor and marketer. With approximately 400 employee-owners across multiple facilities, the company partners with ranchers nationwide and is recognized for its commitment to quality, sustainability, and responsible stewardship.

The Challenge

Superior Farms engaged 3P Partners to recruit a Chief Financial Officer to support a complex, multi-site food manufacturing business with an employee-ownership model. The role required a relationship-driven financial leader who could strengthen financial discipline, improve reporting capabilities, and support operational decision-making in a dynamic agricultural environment.

Key deliverables:

  • Enhancing financial governance, reporting processes, and cost accounting across a vertically integrated production model.
  • Assessing capital structure and supporting long-term financial planning.
  • Improving ERP utilization, data visibility, and analytics to support operational and commercial decision-making.
  • Partnering closely with the CEO and executive team as a trusted advisor.

The ideal candidate needed strong ethics, humility, and the ability to lead in an ESOP culture while managing the complexity inherent in food manufacturing.

The Solution

3P Partners conducted a targeted search focused on finance executives from food, agribusiness, and manufacturing environments with experience in multi-site operations and vertically integrated supply chains. The goal was to identify a leader with strong technical depth, operational partnership capability, and a grounded, collaborative style aligned with an employee-owned culture.

3P ultimately placed Scott Sherburne, an accomplished finance leader with extensive experience supporting complex, commodity-driven manufacturing businesses. Scott brought the right blend of financial discipline, hands-on leadership, and commercial insight to partner effectively with the CEO and executive team.

What set Scott apart:

  • Broad leadership experience across finance, accounting, treasury, audit, and risk within a vertically integrated food manufacturing environment, with a proven ability to strengthen financial governance and support operational decision-making.
  • Demonstrated success developing and leading high-performing teams, and a hands-on, collaborative approach.
  • Strong strategic and commercial capability, including long-term planning, cost-structure analysis, and banking relationship management.

Scott’s combination of technical depth, operational fluency, and people-centered leadership positioned him as a strong long-term partner for the CEO and a valuable addition to the Superior Farms leadership team.

The 3P Difference

3P Partners leveraged sector knowledge in food and agribusiness to calibrate quickly on the competencies and leadership traits needed for success in this role. Our headhunting approach allowed us to engage experienced finance leaders who were not active in the market but were drawn to the opportunity with Superior Farms. We presented a curated slate of candidates that balanced technical capability with cultural fit.​

The Results

Since joining Superior Farms, Scott has made a meaningful impact across the finance function and the broader business.
In the client’s words:

“Scott Sherburne has made significant and immediate positive contributions since joining Superior Farms as Chief Financial Officer. He has quickly absorbed the complexities of our unique business model and applied his deep background in manufacturing and agriculture to strengthen our financial foundation and strategic capabilities.

Under Scott’s leadership, the accounting and finance team has grown in both skill and confidence, enabling us to close financial statements more quickly, accurately, and with greater clarity than ever before. He has proactively partnered with each of our operating divisions to understand the business at a deeper operational level, positioning himself and the finance team as true collaborators in driving plant efficiency and profitability.

Scott has also brought exceptional strength to our banking relationships. His ability to evaluate financial structures, negotiate effectively, and build strategic partnerships has opened new opportunities while reinforcing our connections with existing institutions.

In addition, his comprehensive overhaul of our annual budgeting process is transforming how we plan and execute financially. The new approach provides clearer transparency, tighter accountability, and better visibility into key financial inputs, ultimately empowering leadership to make stronger decisions that improve overall results.

Culturally, Scott has been an excellent fit and has quickly become a trusted and respected member of the leadership team. His collaborative style, steady guidance, and commitment to the success of the organization make him an invaluable partner in all we do.”

— Karen Ellis, EVP, Human Resources

Is your business looking for a finance leader who balances financial rigor with humility and hands-on leadership? Reach out to the 3P team to explore how we can support your next hire.