Defense Finance Manager

NALEJ Corporation is seeking an experienced Defense Finance, Contracts & Funding Manager to lead and support the financial execution of the company’s defense portfolio. This role is finance-focused and is responsible for managing the financial, contractual, budgetary, and funding requirements associated with defense contracts, cleared programs, and emerging capital opportunities. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in defense finance, government contracting, contract financial management, budgeting, forecasting, invoicing, compliance, proposal pricing, and funding strategy. This individual must understand how defense contracts are funded, how appropriated funds and “colors of money” shape execution, how contract values and obligations translate into company revenue, and how to support leadership with accurate financial insight across active and future defense programs. This role will work closely with Corporate Operations, Finance, Contracts, Business Development, Capture, and executive leadership to ensure NALEJ has the financial discipline, contract visibility, and funding awareness needed to scale responsibly. The position is intended to relieve senior leaders of a meaningful portion of day-to-day defense finance work while enabling them to focus on broader company priorities, including go-to-market operations, capture strategy, strategic initiatives, fundraising, and corporate growth. Because this role will support cleared and potentially SAP-related contracting and financing activity, an active Top Secret clearance is required. TS/SCI and SAP eligibility are strongly preferred. Responsibilities Own and maintain financial visibility across NALEJ’s active defense contracts, including funded value, ceiling value, obligated funds, period of performance, burn rate, invoice status, option periods, and revenue forecast. Develop and manage contract-level budgets, spend plans, burn rate tracking, financial forecasts, and program-level financial reporting for active defense work. Track contract funding status, including obligated amounts, remaining funds, funding gaps, option periods, incremental funding actions, and potential contract modifications. Coordinate invoice preparation, submission, payment tracking, and issue resolution in partnership with internal finance, accounting, program, and contract stakeholders. Provide leadership with recurring financial updates on contract performance, cash flow timing, revenue expectations, funding risks, and near-term financial decisions. Support revenue forecasting, backlog analysis, pipeline-to-revenue visibility, and contract financial planning across the defense portfolio. Support the financial and contractual lifecycle of NALEJ defense contracts from proposal support and award through execution, modification, invoicing, and closeout. Assist with contract administration activities, including deliverable tracking, funding documentation, contract modifications, option-year planning, and closeout preparation. Serve as a key internal partner for understanding contract terms, financial obligations, funding constraints, invoicing requirements, and compliance obligations. Support interactions with government Contracting Officers, Contracting Officer Representatives, program offices, finance offices, and other government stakeholders as needed. Ensure financial documentation and contract records are maintained in a manner that supports audit readiness, DCAA awareness, internal controls, and government review. Monitor relevant FAR, DFARS, agency supplements, and contract-specific financial requirements that may affect NALEJ’s contract execution and financial posture. Advise internal stakeholders on defense budget cycles, appropriations categories, funding timing, and colors of money, including RDT&E, O&M, Procurement, and other relevant funding sources. Translate defense funding information into practical recommendations for leadership, finance, contracts, capture, and program execution. Support financial planning for classified, SAP-related, and other sensitive programs where funding visibility, clearance access, and disciplined financial controls are required. Support proposal pricing, ROM development, cost estimates, labor category pricing, basis-of-estimate inputs, and cost volume development for defense opportunities. Partner with Business Development and Capture teams to assess whether opportunities are financially viable, fundable, properly structured, and aligned with NALEJ’s execution capacity. Support bid/no-bid decisions by providing financial, contractual, and funding analysis, including assessment of contract type, funding pathway, margin potential, risk, and execution requirements. Assist with responses to RFIs, sources sought, draft RFPs, white papers, ROM requests, and formal proposals where finance, pricing, budget, or contract input is required. Identify, research, and help structure potential capital and funding sources across federal, state, local, DoD, public, private, and agency-sponsored programs. Support leadership in evaluating non-dilutive funding opportunities, government-backed funding mechanisms, grants, strategic funding programs, and other capital sources relevant to NALEJ’s mission and growth strategy. Job Requirements / Skills Active Top Secret clearance required; TS/SCI strongly preferred; SAP eligibility or prior SAP support experience desired. 7+ years of experience in defense finance, government contract financial management, federal budgeting, acquisition finance, contract management, program finance, or related GovCon financial operations. Demonstrated experience managing or supporting the financial execution of government or defense contracts, including budgets, burn rates, invoices, funded values, contract ceilings, financial forecasts, and contract modifications. Strong working knowledge of FAR, DFARS, government contract structures, contract funding, invoicing requirements, and compliance obligations. Experience supporting contract financial management across common contract types and vehicles, including FFP, T&M, cost-reimbursable contracts, IDIQs, task orders, OTAs, BAAs, or similar defense acquisition pathways. Understanding of DoD budget cycles, appropriations categories, colors of money, and funding pathways, including RDT&E, O&M, Procurement, unfunded requirements, and end-of-year funding dynamics. Ability to translate complex financial, contractual, and budget information into clear recommendations for senior leadership. Strong Microsoft Excel skills and experience building financial trackers, models, dashboards, budget reports, or contract financial reporting tools. Experience supporting audits, DCAA/DCMA reviews, contract file documentation, or government financial compliance activities. Familiarity with SAM.gov, GovTribe, FPDS, USAspending, agency forecasts, budget justification books, and other tools used to assess federal opportunity and funding pathways. Experience identifying or supporting non-dilutive funding, government-backed funding, grants, strategic capital sources, or public/private funding mechanisms preferred. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to coordinate across finance, contracts, capture, BD, program, and executive stakeholders. Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Contract Management, Acquisition, or a related field required. Advanced degree or relevant certification preferred. Professional certifications such as CFCM, CPCM, DAWIA/FAC-C, CPA, PMP, CGFM, or similar credentials are preferred. Ability to work in-person at NALEJ’s Arlington, VA office. Key Tasks Conduct a full financial health review of all active NALEJ defense contracts, including funded value, ceiling value, burn rate, invoices, period of performance, deliverables, options, and contract financial risks. Establish and maintain a master defense finance and contracts tracker covering contract funding, revenue forecast, invoice status, obligations, modifications, option periods, and upcoming financial actions. Build a standard contract financial reporting package for Corporate Operations, Finance, and the CEO. Review current invoice processes and recommend improvements to ensure accuracy, timeliness, documentation, and payment follow-up. Develop and implement repeatable pricing, ROM, and cost-volume support templates for defense proposals and funding opportunities. Identify near-term funding risks, cash flow issues, option-year considerations, or contract actions requiring executive attention. Assess NALEJ’s current readiness to support TS/SAP-related contract financial management and identify process, documentation, or access gaps. Create an initial capital and funding source map covering relevant federal, state, local, DoD, public, private, and agency-sponsored opportunities. Support DCAA-audit-ready financial recordkeeping and documentation standards for all contract-related financial activity. Partner with Finance, Corporate Operations, BD, Capture, and executive leadership to clarify roles, decision rights, reporting cadence, and handoff points for defense finance work. Provide contract and pricing input to the BD team for active pursuits, including competitive analysis and should-cost modeling. Maintain and update all contract and financial records in NALEJ's internal systems, ensuring data integrity and executive accessibility. #J-18808-Ljbffr NALEJ.ai Corporation