Director of Finance

Swarm Defense Technologies designs and builds small, unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Department of Defense. We are headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where electrical design, firmware, machining, assembly, and flight test all happen under one roof. Our current work is focused on moving production-ready small UAS from prototype to volume delivery on compressed program timelines, and we are building the engineering, manufacturing, and business team to do it.

Job Summary

Swarm Defense is hiring a Director of Finance to run our finance function day to day. You will own the numbers: the operating budget, the cash forecast, program-level cost and margin, and the monthly close that tells us where we stand. This is the person who knows at 8 a.m. how many months of runway we have, what is going out the door this week, and what has changed since Friday.

You report directly to the CFO and work closely with the CEO, program leads, and the production team. Your job is to make sure the operating picture is accurate, current, and understood by the people making decisions from it. Early on you will do much of the work yourself, and you will build the team as the company grows.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the annual operating budget and rolling forecast; reforecast as programs, headcount, and delivery schedules change.
• Manage cash; maintain a 13-week cash forecast, run AP and AR, and flag runway and working-capital risks early.
• Track program-level cost, margin, and burn against contract value; report variances and what is driving them.
• Run the monthly close and produce the management reporting package for the CEO, CFO, and others.
• Build and maintain the financial model used for hiring plans, capital equipment, pricing, and fundraising scenarios.
• Manage payroll, benefits administration, vendor payments.
• Own the accounting system and chart of accounts; put controls in place that fit a small company and scale with it.
• Coordinate with outside accountants and counsel on tax and compliance filings.
• Support the CFO on investor reporting, data room maintenance, and diligence requests.
• Hire and lead finance and accounting staff as volume and complexity increase.

Requirements

• 7+ years in finance or accounting, including 3+ years leading FP&A, controllership, or the finance function at a small or fast-growing company.
• Built and owned a budget, forecast, and cash model that leadership ran the business on.
• Strong command of GAAP and the monthly closing; comfortable in the general ledger, not just above it.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling; able to build a driver-based model from scratch and explain it.
• Communicates plain numbers to people who are not finance professionals.
• Comfortable operating as a one-person finance team before growing into a manager.

Bonus Points

• CPA, MBA or other designations.
• Experience at a venture-backed hardware or manufacturing company.
• Inventory and cost accounting experience in a build-to-order environment.
• Experience with QuickBooks, NetSuite, or a comparable ERP, including implementing one.
• Prior involvement in an equity raise, venture debt, or M&A diligence.
• Health Insurance: We cover 100% of health insurance premiums for our employees.
• 401(k): Company retirement plan with employer match.

Swarm Defense is an early-stage defense company, and the pace is set by what the mission requires. The work is hands-on, with engineers building what they design, testing it on real aircraft, and owning the result.

We reward initiative and give people ownership of their area. If you want to own the financial picture of a company that ships real hardware to the Department of Defense, and you are comfortable operating without a large support structure around you, this is the right environment.