Controller

Overview

Full-time role reporting directly to the CFO. This leadership position owns the organization’s accounting ecosystem and guides a dedicated team consisting of a Senior Accountant and Program Controller.

You will partner with Director-level leaders across every department, not just Finance, and will be expected to communicate clearly with both finance and non-finance stakeholders on financial, compliance, and operational topics.

Responsibilities

Financial Management & Reporting

• Own the monthly close process, delivering accurate and compliant financial statements within a 5-business-day close.
• Own the annual close and the integrity of the financial statements.
• Review and approve A/P payments, payroll runs, outgoing cash transactions, GL entries, and monthly balance sheet reconciliations.
• Own the accuracy of the short-term cash forecast, ensuring cash-impacting activities across departments are captured.
• Analyze financial data to identify trends and produce reporting commentary that is accurate, relevant, and useful to leadership decision-making.
• Partner with the Program Controller to ensure best practices for project/program setup and control, including revenue recognition and billing.

Audit, Compliance & Tax

• Maintain accounting practices fully compliant with FAR, DFARS, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), and GAAP as standards and business needs evolve.
• Oversee and facilitate completion of incurred cost submissions (ICS) prepared by the team.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for annual financial statement compilation/audit, 401(k) plan audit, DCAA audits, and workers’ compensation and sales/use tax audits; oversee the process to ensure work (primarily handled by the Senior Accountant) is accurate, complete, and appropriately scoped.
• Establish and enforce internal controls that safeguard assets and protect the integrity of financial records.
• Lead coordination of annual tax return preparation with an outside CPA firm, including familiarity with R&D tax credit calculations.

Technology, Automation & Process Improvement

• Serve as the internal Unanet expert, including configuring reports, workflows, and system settings.
• Identify and lead process improvements across the finance function.
• Evaluate and adopt new tools or automation where they demonstrably improve accuracy or speed, based on a clear understanding of how systems work.
• Lead responsible adoption of AI within the team to improve outcomes, rather than adopting “AI-driven” approaches by default.

Strategic Leadership & Team Development

• Partner with Director-level leaders across every department, staying informed about what is happening across the organization beyond the books.
• Lead, develop, and grow the Senior Accountant and Program Controller.
• Run the weekly Finance meeting and connect team work to company priorities.
• Share expertise, help less experienced teammates improve, and explain compliance requirements to non-finance stakeholders in ways that build trust.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Active CPA license.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Accounting, or Finance.
• 7+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 4 years in a GovCon environment.
• 2+ years of experience specifically with CPFF (Cost-Plus Fixed-Fee) contracts.
• Deep working knowledge of FAR, DFARS, GAAP, and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), including staying current with regulatory changes.
• Proven experience navigating DCAA audits as the responsible party.
• Deep, hands-on Unanet expertise, including configuration and administration (not just report-level use); comfortable serving as the go-to resource for other staff.
• Strong understanding of how finance systems and processes interconnect, with judgment to think through how changes may affect other teams.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable translating financial and compliance topics for audiences ranging from the accounting team to the whole company.
• Self-motivated leadership with strong ownership and the ability to empower the team.
• Advanced Excel skills, including data extraction, transformation, and financial modeling.
• Experience leading process improvement initiatives within a finance function.
• Experience coordinating annual tax return preparation with an outside CPA firm, including familiarity with R&D tax credit calculations.
• Experience overseeing a 401(k) plan audit and an annual financial statement compilation or audit.
• Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with leaders outside of finance.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills, particularly in producing financial commentary that holds up to scrutiny.
• Strong work ethic, high attention to detail, and uncompromising integrity.
• Genuine enjoyment of teaching and mentoring others, especially less experienced teammates.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading a finance team through a transition, turnaround, or systems change.
• Experience training or mentoring non-finance staff on compliance requirements.
• Comfort evaluating and implementing new technology or automation with real technical understanding (not trend-chasing).
• Hands-on experience with AI tools or workflow automation in a finance context.
• Experience integrating Unanet data with third-party analytics or automation platforms.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive benefits (details not specified in the posting).

Notes on Application/AI Use

• Applications are reviewed by real people.
• Use of AI tools or other external assistance during interviews is not permitted.
• Screener questions should be answered honestly and thoroughly (avoid writing “see resume”).