Benji Lepoutre

Mission-Driven Strategist & FP&A Leader | Chief of Staff | Business Coach (ACC)

New York, New York, United States

About

Iโ€™m Benji. A mission-driven ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜, ๐—™๐—ฃ&๐—” ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—–๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ, and ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐—ฟ with 12+ years of experience operating at the intersection of strategy, finance, operations, and people across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the U.S. Iโ€™ve partnered closely with C-level executives and leadership teams to scale businesses, manage multi-billion-dollar P&Ls, build high-performing teams, and drive complex transformations across finance, operations, marketing, sales, and growth. My background spans global corporations and entrepreneurial environments, giving me a full-spectrum view of how organizations actually function and how to help them grow sustainably. Alongside my executive career, Iโ€™m an ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐—ฟ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, supporting leaders and founders to think clearly, lead consciously, and build with intention. I mentor FP&A leaders and operators on strategic planning, forecasting, decision-making, and navigating ambiguity with confidence and integrity. Iโ€™m particularly passionate about ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ-๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€, and ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ-๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ. Iโ€™m motivated by missions that combine commercial rigor with positive impact and long-term value creation. International by nature and mindset, Iโ€™m ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น (French, English, Spanish) and bring a strong ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€-๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น lens to leadership, communication, and execution. I thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where clarity, trust, and conviction matter. Outside of work, Iโ€™m an ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ and ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ and ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜. Sport, movement, and challenge are core to how I think, lead, and stay grounded. Iโ€™m focused on building and supporting ventures, leaders, and organizations that are aligned, conscious, and impact-driven, where success is defined not just by growth, but by meaning, connection, and sustainability. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—œโ€™๐—บ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ: โ€ข Trusted executive partnership and strategic clarity โ€ข FP&A leadership, financial planning, and forecasting at scale โ€ข Entrepreneurial execution across finance, ops, marketing, and sales โ€ข Coaching leaders through complexity, growth, and transition โ€ข Building teams and cultures that perform sustainably If you want to build something meaningful and durable, Iโ€™m always open to thoughtful conversations. DM! ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ: You're only ever ๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ away from changing your life

Experience

  • Director of Operations at Gucci
    Mar 2026 - Present ยท 4 mos

  • Fractional CEO at Greentech Innovators
    Sep 2025 - Present ยท 10 mos

    Fractional CEO & GTM lead for a norwegian waste-to-value biotech company [www.greentechinnovators.no]

  • Executive & Leadership Coach (ACC - ICF Certified) at Independent Coaching
    Nov 2024 - Present ยท 1 yr 8 mos

    ๐˜๐˜Š๐˜ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ (๐˜ˆ๐˜Š๐˜Š) ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ 300+ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ-๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—œ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต: ย ย โ€ข Early-stage founders navigating growth inflection points ย ย โ€ข Senior professionals in career or life transition ย ย โ€ข High-performers seeking clarity on what comes next ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€. Website: https://www.benjilifecoach.com/

  • Climatebase Fellow โ€“ Cohort 8 at Climatebase
    Sep 2025 - Dec 2025 ยท 4 mos

    ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ 12-๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜บ, ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜บ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜: ย ย โ€ข Deep dives across climate pillars (energy, agriculture, circular economy, decarbonization) ย ย โ€ข Worked on climate venture analysis and early stage memos as proof of projects ย ย โ€ข Built a network of 100+ climate professionals, founders, investors, and operators

  • DFS Group Limited (7 yrs 11 mos)
    • Head of Strategic Planning & Forecasting
      Jan 2022 - Jul 2025 ยท 3 yrs 7 mos

      Led post-COVID recovery strategy for U.S. travel retail: +300% top-line growth, $250M+ multiyear contractual relief, $20M incremental EBITDA through unlocking new business - all within 3 years. ๐—ฃ&๐—Ÿ & ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต: Directed strategic plans and forecasts for a P&L exceeding $500 million across 8 global markets. ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜: Prepared high-stakes financial narratives and Board proposals, directly supporting $50M+ in capital expenditure and ROI reviews.

    • Manager - Global Business Strategy
      Sep 2017 - Jan 2022 ยท 4 yrs 5 mos

      ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ: Directed the design and execution of a rolling 5-year growth strategy for a $5B business. ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜€: Pioneered an era of record profitability, delivering over $500M in operating income through strategic execution and operational efficiencies. ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€: Spearheaded CapEx and investment strategies across the portfolio, maximizing Return on Investment (ROI) and informing M&A screening.