Director of Accounting

Position OverviewRED Hospitality & Leisure is seeking a seasoned, hands-on accounting leader to own the technical accuracy and integrity of the department's monthly close, drive the team's financial discipline, and serve as a trusted senior partner to the CFO. This is a leadership role first and a technical accounting role second: the right candidate has both the depth to catch and correct errors before they surface, and the directness to coach staff through difficult performance and technical conversations. Equally important, this candidate is genuinely energized by process optimization and AI/automation — someone who instinctively looks for the manual, repetitive, or error-prone step in a process and asks how it should be redesigned or automated, rather than simply absorbing more manual work. This role is best suited to a candidate who has already operated at this level elsewhere and is looking to lead, not to grow into leadership on the job.Duties (NOT ALL INCLUSIVE):Reviews balance sheet reconciliations and monthly close checklists across all business units to ensure closed and reported financials are accurate — this is a core, non-delegable function of the roleProvides direct oversight of the accounting team (controllers, senior accountants, bookkeeping staff), including regular 1:1 coaching, technical redirection, and performance managementEnsures the accounting team is cross-trained across core functions to maintain adequate coverage during PTO, leaves of absence, and other planned or unplanned absencesShares departmental budget oversight with the VP of Finance & Corporate Development — collecting, analyzing, and consolidating financial dataPartners with market and operational leadership, through the controller team and alongside the VP of Finance & Corporate Development, to evaluate financial performance and address key profitability and variance driversLeads the department's role in the annual financial audit (January–April), including managing document/support requests, timelines, and auditor relationshipsServes as the department's liaison for the Ashford Inc. (AINC) monthly close process, including AINC-specific reporting requirements and deadlinesOwns fixed asset and capital expenditure accounting, including capitalization decisions, construction-in-progress tracking, posting depreciation, disposals, and reconciliation of the consolidated fixed asset ledger to the general ledgerOwns lease accounting and related financial reporting, including lease schedules, recurring journal entries, and supporting documentation for financial statement disclosuresMaintains visibility into accounts receivable and accounts payable aging and overall health across all markets through a weekly review cadence with the controller team, ensuring collection and payment risk is identified and addressed earlyMaintains strong working knowledge of the payroll processing cycle and related accounting entries, given payroll is processed directly by the accounting team, to ensure accuracy and appropriate review controlsCoordinates recurring tax, licensing, and regulatory compliance requirements across operating jurisdictions, partnering with internal teams and external advisors to ensure timely and accurate filingsServes as controller reference point on the weekly performance report prior to consolidation and distributionGuides financial decisions by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing accounting policies and proceduresPossesses strong knowledge of and practices strict adherence to GAAP; serves as the team's technical resource on GAAP questionsAssists in development and implementation of financial systems, automation, and a strong internal control environment — including active use of AI/automation tools to improve departmental efficiencyProactively identifies manual, redundant, or error-prone accounting processes and leads their redesign or automation — this is an ongoing, expected part of the role, not a one-time projectChampions AI and automation tool adoption within the department, including evaluating new tools, piloting use cases, and driving team-wide adoption of approved technology and platformsCommunicates directly and proactively with the CFO on department health, risks, and personnel issues — does not defer or escalate issues that are within scope to resolveProtects operations by keeping financial information and plans confidentialOther projects and/or duties as assignedMinimum QualificationsBachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or related field, and a minimum of seven to nine years of progressive accounting experience, including direct supervisory experienceActive CPA license requiredPrior experience managing or reviewing month-end close across multiple entities or business units requiredPrior direct people-management experience required — including demonstrated experience having difficult performance and technical-correction conversationsMulti-jurisdiction accounting experience strongly preferred (multi-state or multi-territory)Hospitality, tourism, or multi-location service industry experience a plusExperience working with or reporting into a parent/public company accounting close process a plusDemonstrated track record of leading process improvement initiatives and/or implementing accounting automation or AI tools required — candidates should be prepared to speak to specific processes they've redesigned or automatedKnowledge, Skills, and AbilitiesSuperior technical accounting judgment — able to independently identify and resolve reconciliation and close errors without escalationDemonstrated ability to have direct, candid conversations with staff about performance and technical gaps, and to redirect work before it compoundsComfortable owning outcomes rather than attributing gaps to corporate or upstream decisionsGenuinely tech-forward — actively curious about AI and automation tools, quick to learn new platforms, and driven to eliminate manual work rather than tolerate itSuperior analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to prepare and maintain accurate and complete financial records and reportsConsiderable knowledge of GAAP, applicable territorial/state code requirements, and internal financial policies and proceduresProficiency with modern accounting software and a demonstrated interest in process automation and AI-enabled efficiency toolsAbility to exercise sound, independent judgment on accounting and reconciliation mattersAbility to communicate clearly and confidently, both orally and in writing, across all levels of the organizationAbility to handle sensitive matters on a confidential basisSkilled in working under pressure of deadlines while maintaining a professional demeanor and strong working relationships with employees, ownership, and outside partiesStrong interpersonal skills and a positive, solutions-oriented attitudeThis role is based in our Miami, Florida office and includes a 10% target annual bonus as part of the total compensation package. #J-18808-Ljbffr RED HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE LLC