Accounting + Finance Manager (Food Services Company)

Accounting and Finance Leader

Our client is a mission-driven food company providing fresh, scratch-made meals to nearly 5,000 children daily across New York City. They partner with early childhood centers, independent schools, and community organizations to deliver nutritious, high-quality meals with operational excellence and care.

As the company continues to scale, they are seeking a hands-on, operationally minded Finance Leader to serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and operations team while driving accounting & financial rigor, process discipline, and profitability across the organization.

The Opportunity

The Accounting & Finance Leader will provide financial leadership, operational insight, and cross-functional partnership to improve margins, strengthen systems, and support informed decision-making. This role blends strategic planning with tactical execution in a fast-paced, high-volume food manufacturing environment.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable closing the books, building forecasting models, analyzing unit economics, and collaborating directly with kitchen and logistics leadership to drive results.

This role reports directly to the Founder & CEO, leads the accounting & finance team, and works closely with culinary, operations, procurement, HR, and customer service teams.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Reporting & Close

• Lead the month-end close process, including journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, and variance analysis
• Deliver clear, actionable weekly, monthly, and quarterly reporting to leadership
• Identify cost trends, anomalies, and performance improvement opportunities
• Ensure accuracy and integrity of financial statements aligned with operational performance

Budgeting, Forecasting & Strategic Planning

• Develop monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets and rolling forecasts in partnership with the CEO and Operations
• Model food costs, labor costs, routing/logistics expenses, packaging, and overhead
• Monitor actual vs. budget performance weekly and partner with operational leaders to address variances
• Support pricing analysis for new contracts, menu adjustments, and special programs

Operations & Profitability Optimization

• Track and analyze food cost, labor cost, overtime, waste, yield loss, and production efficiency
• Partner with kitchen leadership to improve ordering accuracy, batch planning, and inventory control
• Drive margin expansion initiatives across departments
• Deliver unit economics, cost-per-meal insights, and customer-level profitability analysis

Revenue, Payroll, Cash Flow & Compliance

• Review and validate monthly invoicing accuracy (meal counts, delivery fees, special items)
• Reconcile PayPal, Stripe, and online billing platforms
• Monitor accounts receivable and follow up on outstanding invoices
• Oversee contract compliance and billing documentation requirements
• Manage weekly payroll processing and audit scheduling compliance
• Lead cash flow management and liquidity planning

Internal Controls & Process Improvement

• Strengthen internal controls across AP/AR, purchasing, payroll, and inventory
• Improve cross-functional processes spanning kitchens, logistics, and procurement
• Evaluate and implement enhanced financial systems (e.g., optimized QuickBooks configuration, inventory tools)
• Provide financial education and decision-support to non-financial managers
• Key leader in ERP implementation

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as a trusted financial advisor to the CEO
• Collaborate across culinary, operations, procurement, customer service, and HR to drive aligned decision-making
• Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and operational excellence

Qualifications

• Strong critical thinking and analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail
• Deep knowledge of GAAP, month-end close processes, internal controls, and financial reporting
• Proven ability to operate independently while managing multiple priorities in a high-volume environment
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate financial insights into operational action
• Experience in food manufacturing, catering, restaurant, CPG, or other high-volume operational environments strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success analyzing food cost, labor cost, and operational KPIs
• Advanced proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and QuickBooks
• Experience implementing or optimizing inventory or ERP systems
• Track record of process improvement within a growing small to mid-sized organization

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or related field
• Minimum 8 years total experience in finance, ideally with accounting foundation
• Minimum 2 years of team leadership experience
• CPA, MBA, or similar credential preferred

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary + Bonus potential
• In-Office to start, with likely hybrid work environment in future
• Employer-subsidized health and vision insurance
• Paid time off and family leave
• Opportunity to grow alongside a scaling, mission-driven organization

Compensation: $120,000 - $150,000

SE: 510786656