Financial Controller

Location: Carlsbad, CA

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Base Salary: $160,000–$180,000 annually

Bonus: 20% annual target bonus, prorated based on start date

Position Overview

A rapidly growing advanced manufacturing company in Carlsbad is seeking an accomplished Controller to oversee the financial operations of its fast-paced manufacturing facility. This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership role working closely with leadership, corporate finance, operations, and private-equity investment partners. The ideal candidate is an ambitious manufacturing finance leader who can take ownership, strengthen financial performance, and establish scalable processes. This opportunity offers substantial visibility and advancement potential for someone interested in progressing toward a future VP of Finance or comparable senior leadership role.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead the financial operations of the Carlsbad manufacturing facility.

- Maintain responsibility for financial statements, balance-sheet activity, general ledger, banking, cash management, and financial reporting.

- Oversee month-end and year-end close, account reconciliations, budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting.

- Lead standard costing, product costing, inventory accounting, and manufacturing-variance analysis.

- Analyze labor, materials, overhead, margins, inventory, cash flow, and other operational performance drivers.

- Provide direction and process support for accounts receivable, accounts payable, vendor payments, purchase orders, and payroll-related activities.

- Manage and develop two onsite accounts receivable employees while partnering with the onsite FP&A Manager and HR representative.

- Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Commercial, HR, and corporate finance to improve business performance.

- Develop and communicate financial and operational KPIs, including EBITDA, gross margin, cash flow, inventory turns, and labor efficiency.

- Evaluate capital investments, equipment expansion, pricing, customer profitability, and other business cases.

- Present financial insights and recommendations to executive leadership and private-equity investment partners.

- Build scalable accounting procedures that may be adopted across additional company locations.

- Strengthen internal controls, improve reporting, and identify opportunities for process automation.

- Support physical inventory, external audits, tax preparation, and sales-and-use tax reporting.

- Ensure compliance with GAAP, company policies, and applicable regulatory requirements.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline.

- At least 10 years of progressive accounting and finance experience.

- Controller or comparable senior accounting leadership experience.

- Manufacturing and cost-accounting experience is required.

- Strong knowledge of standard costing, product costing, inventory accounting, manufacturing variances, balance sheets, AP, AR, banking, and cash management.

- Experience supporting financial operations within a fast-paced manufacturing or complex production environment.

- Proven ability to translate financial data into practical business recommendations.

- Experience leading and developing accounting employees.

- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and proficiency with ERP and financial reporting systems.

- Strong executive communication, analytical, and cross-functional business-partnering skills.

- Ability to take initiative and manage changing priorities with minimal supervision.

- Authorization to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship.

- Ability to satisfy applicable U.S. Person requirements associated with the organization’s regulated customer base.

Preferred Qualifications

- CPA and/or MBA a plus.

- Experience in additive manufacturing, aerospace, defense, medical devices, industrial manufacturing, or another complex production environment.

- Experience within a private-equity-backed or rapidly scaling organization.

- Experience supporting facility expansion, capital investments, or post-acquisition integration.

- Familiarity with SyteLine ERP, Forecast Pro, Vena, Salesforce, ProcessMaker, or comparable platforms a plus.

Direct experience with the company’s systems is not required. Training will be provided on SyteLine, Forecast Pro, and other internal platforms.

Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate will be a proactive, high-performing finance leader who thrives in a demanding and rapidly evolving manufacturing environment. This individual will go beyond reporting historical results by identifying risks, improving processes, influencing operational decisions, and creating financial structure that supports continued growth.

This is an excellent opportunity for a driven Controller who wants to make a measurable impact, gain exposure to executive and investment leadership, and position themselves for significant long-term career growth.

Manufacturing Accounting, Cost Accounting, Standard Costing, Product Costing, Inventory Accounting, Manufacturing Variance Analysis, Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Preparation, Balance Sheet Management, General Ledger Accounting, Month-End Close, Year-End Close, Budgeting, Forecasting, Cash-Flow Management, Banking, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll Support, GAAP Compliance, Internal Controls, Financial Modeling, KPI Reporting, EBITDA Analysis, Gross-Margin Analysis, Capital Investment Analysis, Customer Profitability Analysis, Process Improvement, ERP Systems, SyteLine, Forecast Pro, Advanced Microsoft Excel, Audit Support, Tax Preparation, Sales and Use Tax, Team Leadership, Staff Development, Executive Communication, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Private-Equity Reporting, Strategic Planning

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disabled / Protected Veterans

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For temporary assignments lasting 13 weeks or longer, AppleOne is pleased to offer major medical, dental, vision, 401k and any statutory sick pay where required.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact your staffing representative who will reach out to our HR team.

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We also consider for employment qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements, including, if applicable, the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. Pursuant to applicable state and municipal Fair Chance Laws and Ordinances, we will consider for employment-qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, including, if applicable, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For Los Angeles, CA applicants: Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.