Financial Controller

Published: 6/14/2022

Job Description

About the Role

The Financial Controller is AOS’s senior internal finance leader and a member of the Executive Staff. Reporting directly to the President / CEO, the Controller is responsible for the integrity of the Company’s accounting, financial controls, cash management, cost accounting, financial planning, forecasting, and management reporting. This position has a broader mandate than a conventional controller role: it must translate accurate financial data into forward-looking insight that supports executive decisions, profitable growth, capital planning, and effective project execution. The Controller will establish a disciplined finance function suited to a project-driven precision manufacturing business. The position will work closely with Project Managers to improve project budgets, cost-to-complete forecasts, earned-value visibility, and corrective action; partner with Operations and Engineering on labor, material, overhead, inventory, and capacity economics; supervise the Company’s bookkeeper and financial analyst; and serve as AOS’s principal interface with external audit, tax, and accounting support firms.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Financial Leadership and Executive Decision Support

Serve as the principal financial advisor to the President / CEO and Executive Staff, bringing an independent, fact-based financial perspective to strategy, operating plans, major commitments, pricing, hiring, capital expenditures, and risk decisions.

Develop concise executive reporting that links bookings, backlog, revenue, gross margin, operating expense, working capital, cash, capacity, and project performance.

Translate financial results into actionable recommendations, clearly identifying assumptions, sensitivities, risks, and decision points.

Support annual business planning and the development of scalable financial processes, policies, systems, and management routines as AOS grows.

Accounting, Close, and GAAP Compliance

Own the integrity of the general ledger, chart of accounts, accounting policies, and monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes.

Ensure timely, accurate, and GAAP-compliant accounting, including appropriate revenue recognition, expense matching, accruals, reserves, capitalization, depreciation, inventory valuation, work in process, and account reconciliations.

Prepare and review financial statements, management schedules, balance-sheet reconciliations, variance analyses, and supporting documentation.

Establish an efficient close calendar with defined responsibilities, review controls, materiality thresholds, and deadlines.

Maintain complete, audit-ready records and enforce consistent accounting practices throughout the organization.

Cost Accounting and Manufacturing Economics

Lead detailed job and project cost accounting for custom optical components, telescope assemblies, research and development efforts, and manufacturing programs.

Maintain reliable methods for capturing and allocating direct labor, material, outside processing, burden, overhead, scrap, rework, and other production costs.

Develop, validate, and periodically update labor rates, overhead pools, allocation bases, standard costs, and other cost-model assumptions.

Analyze actual-to-estimate cost performance, gross margin by project and product group, manufacturing variances, utilization, inventory movement, and cost of poor quality.

Partner with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Sales, and Program Management to improve estimating feedback loops and convert actual performance into better future pricing and execution plans.

Ensure appropriate accounting treatment and visibility for research and development, nonrecurring engineering, tooling, customer-funded assets, capital equipment, and internally developed process capability.

Project Financial Management and Earned Value

Partner with Project Managers to establish financially sound project baselines, budgets, work breakdown structures, cost accounts, milestones, and time-phased performance plans.

Develop practical earned-value and project-control methods appropriate to AOS’s size, contractual obligations, and program complexity, without imposing unnecessary administrative burden.

Produce and review budget-versus-actual, earned-value, estimate-to-complete, estimate-at-completion, schedule/cost variance, margin-at-completion, and cash-profile reporting.

Facilitate recurring project financial reviews; challenge unsupported assumptions; identify emerging cost, schedule, billing, and margin risks; and help owners define corrective actions.

Reconcile operational project data with the accounting system so management reporting and the books remain aligned.

Support customer financial reporting, contract audits, change-order analysis, claims support, and contract closeout when required.

Cash Flow, Treasury, and Working Capital

Own short- and medium-term cash forecasting, including a routinely updated 13-week cash forecast and scenario-based longer-range liquidity outlook.

Actively manage receivables, payables, billing schedules, customer deposits, milestone collections, vendor commitments, payroll funding, debt obligations, and capital expenditures.

Identify cash constraints early and recommend actions involving collections, purchasing timing, project billing, financing, spending, or investment priorities.

Maintain appropriate banking controls, payment authorization practices, cash safeguards, and executive visibility into liquidity.

Improve working-capital performance through disciplined management of billing, collections, inventory, work in process, vendor terms, and project cash profiles.

Planning, Simulation, and Forecasting

Lead the annual budget and rolling forecast processes, integrating revenue, backlog, project schedules, labor capacity, hiring, procurement, capital spending, and cash requirements.

Build and maintain driver-based financial models for revenue, margin, headcount, utilization, overhead absorption, capacity, capital investment, working capital, and liquidity.

Develop base, upside, downside, and stress-test scenarios to evaluate growth plans, project delays, cost overruns, customer concentration, changes in backlog, investment decisions, and financing needs.

Compare forecasts with actual results, explain variances, assess forecast accuracy, and continuously improve model assumptions.

Support make-versus-buy decisions, pricing and margin analysis, capital-equipment justification, contract risk evaluation, and other cross-functional business cases.

Internal Controls, Compliance, and Risk Management

Design, document, implement, and monitor internal controls appropriate for a growing privately held manufacturer, including segregation of duties, approval authorities, purchasing, expenses, payroll, inventory, journal entries, payments, and system access.

Establish and enforce finance policies and standard work while maintaining an appropriate balance between control, efficiency, and organizational scale.

Qualifications

Essential Requirements — Must Have

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a closely related field.

At least 8 years of progressively responsible accounting and finance experience, including meaningful responsibility for close, financial reporting, controls, planning, and management decision support.

Demonstrated command of U.S. GAAP and the ability to research, document, explain, and enforce appropriate accounting treatment.

Substantial cost-accounting experience in a manufacturing, engineering, project-based, or similarly complex operating environment.

Proven ability to build budgets, cash forecasts, rolling forecasts, scenario models, and executive-level financial analyses.

Experience developing project-level budgets and forecasts, analyzing cost-to-complete and margin-at-completion, and partnering effectively with project or program managers.

Experience leading a disciplined month-end and year-end close and preparing audit-ready schedules and reconciliations.

Demonstrated ability to supervise accounting staff and coordinate effectively with outside audit, tax, and accounting professionals.

Strong systems capability, including advanced spreadsheet modeling and effective use of accounting, ERP/MRP, project-accounting, and reporting systems.

High professional integrity, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the confidence to challenge assumptions or escalate concerns constructively.

Ability to communicate financial information clearly to executives, engineers, operations leaders, project managers, and other non-financial stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications — Strong Advantages

CPA, CMA, MBA, or master’s degree in accounting, finance, or business administration.

Prior experience as a Controller, Assistant Controller, Director of Finance, or comparable senior finance leader in a small or midsize company.

Experience in aerospace, defense, space systems, precision optics, advanced manufacturing, government contracting, or low-volume/high-complexity production.

Working knowledge of earned-value management, work breakdown structures, estimate-at-completion methods, percentage-of-completion or over-time revenue recognition, and project-accounting controls.

Experience with inventory, work in process, overhead absorption, standard costing, timekeeping, purchasing, and engineering/manufacturing change environments.

Experience scaling finance processes and systems during rapid organizational and revenue growth.

Familiarity with banking relationships, credit facilities, capital planning, insurance, and contractual financial risk.