Finance Director

Finance Director

Auburn Hills, MI

Job Description

The Finance Director will lead and scale the finance function during a major growth period, reporting directly to the CFO and serving as the hands-on finance lead for the business. Early in the role, you will focus on tactical responsibilities, including owning FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, reporting, QuickBooks, journal entries, and day-to-day finance operations. As the company continues to win contracts and expand, you will build out the finance function and may eventually add junior finance or accounting support, laying the foundation for a broader finance and accounting team.

Responsibilities

• Own FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting for a fast-growing defense drone business.

• Maintain cash planning and forecasting, including runway visibility, working-capital needs, upcoming payments, and risk assessment.

• Support the CFO with cash flow planning, capital needs, equity fundraising, investor reporting, and decision support for key business initiatives.

• Run and improve the monthly close process, including hands-on accounting work, journal entries, reconciliations, and general ledger review.

• Own and enhance QuickBooks processes, the chart of accounts, accounting workflows, and financial controls that can scale with the business.

• Build and maintain financial models for headcount planning, contract delivery, capital equipment, pricing, margin analysis, and fundraising scenarios.

• Track program-level cost, burn rate, margin, and contract performance against project expectations and delivery timelines.

• Partner with the CFO, CEO, program leads, engineering, production, and procurement teams to provide clear financial visibility across the business.

• Manage accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll-related finance workflows, vendor payments, and other day-to-day finance operations as needed.

• Coordinate with outside accountants and advisors on tax, compliance, and reporting requirements.

• Help establish the foundation for a broader finance and accounting team as transaction volume and business complexity increase.

Essential Skills

• Approximately 510 years of finance and accounting experience, ideally with exposure to smaller companies, high-growth environments, manufacturing, hardware, technology, or project-based businesses.

• Strong hands-on accounting skills, including working directly in the general ledger and reviewing journal entries.

• Proven ability to own budgets, forecasts, cash models, and management reporting that leadership can use to run the business.

• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, with the ability to build practical, driver-based models from scratch.

• Comfort operating as a one-person finance function initially, with the ability to grow into a broader leadership role as the company scales.

• Clear and effective communication style, with the ability to translate financial information into practical business insights for non-finance leaders.

• QuickBooks experience strongly preferred, including managing and improving accounting workflows and controls.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in high-growth, manufacturing, hardware, technology, or project-based environments.

• Exposure to ERP implementation or process-improvement initiatives.

• CPA or MBA is helpful but not required.

• Experience with defense, manufacturing, inventory management, cost accounting, or government contracts is beneficial.

• Ability to collaborate effectively with executive leadership and cross-functional teams.

• Strong analytical mindset and attention to detail in financial reporting and modeling.

Work Environment

This is an onsite role, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The first 36 months may involve overtime as the organization progresses through a major expansion. You will work closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, high-growth environment focused on defense drone manufacturing and related technologies. The role involves extensive use of QuickBooks, Excel, and financial modeling tools, as well as collaboration with external accounting and advisory partners. The setting is professional and operations-driven, with a strong emphasis on accuracy, transparency, and scalable financial processes.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Auburn Hills, MI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $85000.00 - $120000.00/yr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Benefits Health Insurance: We cover 100% of health insurance premiums for our employees. 401(k): Company retirement plan with employer match.

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Auburn Hills,MI.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 15, 2026.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email View email address on click.appcast.io (%View email address on click.appcast.io) for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.