Controller

Chemstar Water

Chemstar WATER, established in 1999, is a leader in industrial water treatment, serving data centers, industrial facilities, power plants, healthcare, government, and food and beverage manufacturers. Our mission is to protect our customers' assets, minimize water and energy use, and safeguard their health and safety. We are a small, close-knit company where every role has real impact and every person is trusted to do meaningful work. Chemstar WATER was proudly named one of the Top Workplaces by the Baltimore Sun in 2021, and we pledge 1% of our profits and 1% of our employees' time to enriching our local communities.

Our Core Values

• Care Deeply ("Give a Damn") We take pride in our work and go above and beyond for our customers and each other.
• Get It Done Right We deliver results with excellence, ownership, and accountability.
• Do the Right Thing We act with integrity and embrace radical truth, transparency, and strong ethics.
• Stronger Together We put customers first and collaborate with respect, optimism, and shared support.
• Think Smart, Act Smart We use clear thinking and factual data to make sound, safe decisions.
• Champion Growth We lead with initiative, push boundaries, and continually improve.

Position Overview

The Controller is the top finance role at Chemstar WATER, reporting directly to the CEO and owning the company's accounting, reporting, planning, and financial operations end to end. This is a hands-on, small-company role for a seasoned professional who is just as comfortable closing the books and building a forecast as coaching the team that does the day-to-day work. You will lead and mentor a three-person finance team a Payroll & Accounts Receivable Specialist, a Staff Accountant, and a Financial Analyst while serving as the CEO's right hand on the numbers that drive the business.

In practice, this role carries the scope of a finance manager: you set the standards, own the close and the forecast, partner with outside tax, banking, and insurance firms, and turn financial data into decisions. It is an ideal fit for an experienced controller who values doing the job well, teaching the next generation, and building clean, dependable financial operations without the overhead of a large corporate environment. Chemstar manufactures and assembles equipment, blends chemicals, and rents out assembled equipment, so manufacturing and cost-accounting know-how is especially valuable in this role.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Lead, develop, and mentor a three-person finance team (Payroll/AR, Staff Accountant, Financial Analyst), setting clear expectations and raising the bar on quality.
• Coach team members hands-on teaching best practices in accounting, costing, and analysis so the team grows under your guidance.
• Ensure deliverables are completed accurately and on schedule, and that proper segregation of duties is followed at all times.
• Build a culture of accountability, accuracy, and continuous improvement within the finance function.

Financial Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead and complete the annual financial planning and budgeting process.
• Maintain a rolling 18-month forecast, with monthly touch-ups using the most current information and quarterly full refreshes.
• Provide 12-month cash flow projections on a regular basis.

Month-End Close & Financial Reporting

• Develop, own, and continuously improve a disciplined month-end close process.
• Lead monthly Business Review meetings with a comprehensive financial reporting package.
• Prepare and present monthly financial statements to the leadership team and advisory board.
• Audit the books quarterly and perform reconciliations to ensure accuracy and integrity.

KPI Reporting & Analysis

• Develop and maintain real-time KPI reporting to support the company's EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System).
• Conduct top- and bottom-line variance analysis against budget and explain the drivers.

Job Costing, Inventory & Margin Management

• Ensure jobs are costed accurately with appropriate journal entries, and oversee the costing process completed by the finance team.
• Develop costing strategies that improve cost calculations and give the business better visibility into profitability.
• Identify cost-savings and improvement opportunities and partner with the CEO and other departments to implement them.
• Ensure proper asset and inventory tracking is in place across raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, and rental/leased equipment.
• Perform occasional asset and inventory audits to confirm records match reality.

Cash, Banking & Payroll Oversight

• Manage and audit banking activities (currently handled by a team member who reports to this role).
• Own payroll process improvement; payroll is currently processed by a team member who reports to this role.

Accounts Receivable & Payable

• Oversee AR/AP tasks including state sales tax reporting, vendor payments, credit card management, and collections.
• Ensure accurate application of customer check payments and ACH receipts in QuickBooks.

Compliance, Process & Documentation

• Keep documentation of finance and IT processes current across all business locations.
• Maintain corporate charter documents and ensure business licensing is current with state and local authorities.
• Support legal and contract reviews, coordinating with the CEO and outside counsel as needed.

Stakeholder & Partner Management

• Partner with the CEO to manage relationships with tax firms, insurance, banking, and payroll partners.
• Oversee the year-end financial review and annual tax return preparation with third-party accounting firm support.

Strategic Financial Support & Special Projects

• Provide financial insights and analysis to support strategic business decisions.
• Improve gross margin visibility by including all variable labor cost in COGS, which is not the case today.
• Calculate the company's annual labor burden rate to sharpen job profitability and gross-margin accuracy.
• Lead a project to move delivery cost and bake it into per-pound chemical cost.
• Transition chemical management and tracking in QuickBooks from per-gallon to per-pound.

What Success Looks Like

• A reliable, repeatable month-end close and a financial reporting package leadership trusts.
• A finance team that is more capable and confident than the day you arrived.
• Accurate job costing and margin reporting that reflects true labor burden and delivery costs.
• Clean books, sound controls, and proper segregation of duties throughout the function.
• A rolling 18-month forecast and dependable cash flow visibility that informs real decisions.
• Accurate asset and inventory records including rental equipment that reconcile cleanly to the books.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Proven track record as a Controller or senior accountant in a small company, ideally in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• Extensive hands-on experience with QuickBooks Enterprise.
• Advanced Excel skills pivot tables, VLOOKUP, complex formulas, and database-building fundamentals.
• Strong experience in job costing, inventory management, cost control, FP&A, and cash flow management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and make sound, independent decisions.
• Willingness to work onsite from the Baltimore, MD office, with minimal travel (<10%).

Preferred

• CPA designation (a plus, not required).
• Experience with MS Access or other database tools.