Its not too unusual for someone to make a move out of staff...

Its not too unusual for someone to make a move out of staff position like CFO into a line management role, particularly if they have the operational confidence of the CEO. I don't see this as negative at all....if he was a real dud they wouldn't put him in an operating P&L accountable role. I see this as a CFO who has far more capability than is being utilised in his current role so while its a slight demotion technically, a line manager is far more influential in a business than the CFO, and his upside is probably greater.