Finance Director

Director of Finance

We are seeking a Director of Finance to lead and scale the finance function during a major growth period. Reporting directly to the CFO, this role involves being the hands-on finance lead for the business. Initially, the position will focus on tactical responsibilities such as FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, reporting, QuickBooks, journal entries, and day-to-day finance operations. As the company continues to grow, there will be opportunities to expand the finance function and possibly add junior finance or accounting support.

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 risks.
• Support the CFO with cash flow planning, capital needs, equity fundraising, investor reporting, and business decision support.
• Run and improve the monthly close process, including hands-on accounting work, journal entries, reconciliations, and general ledger review.
• Own and improve QuickBooks processes, 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, and fundraising scenarios.
• Track program-level cost, burn, margin, and contract performance against project expectations and delivery timelines.
• Partner with the CFO, CEO, program leads, engineering, production, and procurement to provide clear financial visibility across the business.
• Manage AP, AR, 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 needs.
• Help establish the foundation for a broader finance and accounting team as volume and complexity increase.

Essential Skills:

• Approximately 5–10 years of finance and accounting experience, ideally with exposure to a smaller company, high-growth environment, manufacturing, hardware, technology, or project-based business.
• Strong hands-on accounting ability, including comfort working directly in the general ledger and reviewing journal entries.
• Ability to own budgets, forecasts, cash models, and management reporting that leadership can use to run the business.
• Strong 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, while also having the ability to grow into a leadership role as the company scales.
• Clear communication style and ability to translate financial information into practical business insight for non-finance leaders.
• QuickBooks experience strongly preferred; ERP implementation or process-improvement experience is a plus.

Additional Skills & Qualifications:

• CPA, MBA, defense, manufacturing, inventory, cost accounting, or government contract exposure is helpful but not required.

Work Environment:

The position requires onsite work from Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. During the first 3-6 months, overtime may be necessary as the company progresses through a major expansion.

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 7, 2026.