Controller

Ezra Lee Design+Build is a full-service architecture, interior design, and construction firm that creates distinctive, high-performance spaces. Alongside the firm, our affiliated companies operate in retail and real estate. Each company runs on its own books, its own cash cycle, and its own cost structure. We hold our work to a high standard. We hold our finances to the same one. The Opportunity We're seeking a Controller to take full ownership of finance across Ezra Lee Design+Build and its affiliated companies. You'll be the person who knows the numbers better than anyone, keeps them accurate, and tells leadership plainly what they mean. This role reports directly to the Founder. You will present your findings to him directly and have a standing voice in pricing, spending, and investment decisions across the group. This is not a role for inventing new ventures or brainstorming what's next. It's a role for making sure everything we do is accounted for, accurate, and financially sound, with the authority to hold that standard. The ideal candidate brings an accountant's precision, an owner's accountability, and an analyst's discernment. Accuracy Comes First. Always. In this role, "close enough" is a failure. We want someone who: Won't sign off on a reconciliation until it ties out to the penny, and knows exactly why when it doesn't. Keeps every entity's books clean and separate, with intercompany activity documented, allocations defensible, and nothing mixed. Would rather slow down and get it right than move fast and fix it later. Documents everything well enough that an auditor, lender, or partner could follow it without asking a question. Key Responsibilities Own the monthly, quarterly, and year-end close for every entity, on a fixed calendar, on time, every time. Prepare accurate financial statements, reconciliations, and consolidated reporting across the group. Manage intercompany accounting, allocations, and eliminations. Oversee AP, AR, and vendor management, along with the approval and purchasing controls that keep spending disciplined. Standardize, document, and maintain accounting processes and internal controls so the group stays organized, compliant, and audit-ready. Entity & Project Accounting Own job costing, WIP, and budget-versus-actual reporting on construction and design projects, including change orders and progress billing. Serve as the final financial review on client invoices and construction draws, partnering with our Design Project Managers, who review them at the project level. Report on inventory, margins, and sales for retail operations. Manage real estate accounting, including rental income, development budgets, and loan draws. Follow up relentlessly with vendors, subcontractors, and team members until every receipt, approval, and discrepancy is resolved. Financial Insight & Recommendations Forecast cash flow across the group and keep leadership ahead of what's coming. Report profitability by entity, by project, and by product line, so leadership knows exactly what makes money and what doesn't. Dig into the data to find where we're bleeding: projects or entities losing money, costs and contracts that have quietly crept up, unbilled work, missed reimbursements, and margin leakage. Bring clear, data-backed recommendations to the Founder: what you found, what it's costing, and what to do about it. Own relationships with our outside CPA, lenders, and banking partners. Team Accountability & Support Hold every department, including leadership, to the same financial standards, consistently and with the Founder's backing. Set clear deadlines for receipts, approvals, timesheets, and close deliverables, and push the team to meet them. When a deadline is missed or a process is skipped, follow up directly, and elevate when it keeps happening. Help team members understand financial processes and why they matter, so compliance becomes habit. Your First 90 Days Learn the books of every entity and reconcile every balance sheet account. Establish a written monthly close calendar and checklist for the group. Deliver your first profitability report by entity and by project. Present your first findings on where money is leaking, with dollar amounts and recommended fixes. What Success Looks Like The books close on time every month for every entity, and leadership trusts the numbers without second-guessing them. Leadership knows exactly which projects, products, and entities are profitable and which are not. Cost leaks are found, quantified, and fixed, with results you can point to in dollars. Lenders, auditors, and partners find our records clean, complete, and easy to follow. Invoices, draws, and reimbursements are accurate and closed out without needing to be chased. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance. 7+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 3 years at the controller level or equivalent with responsibility for multiple entities. Construction job costing, WIP, real estate accounting, and retail accounting experience is a strong plus. Advanced proficiency in QuickBooks and Excel. Consolidations and intercompany work should feel routine. Strong command of GAAP, internal controls, and audit and lender reporting. A proven record of catching errors, tightening controls, and reducing costs, with specifics you can quantify. The ability to explain financial findings clearly to non-financial leaders. Who You Are You are tenacious. You get real satisfaction from a clean close and a balance sheet you'd bet your name on. Loose ends bother you until they're tied off. You are discerning. You notice when a number looks off, and you dig until you know why. You know which issues matter most and which can wait. You own it completely. Problems in the numbers are yours to find, fix, and prevent, without blaming anyone or waiting for someone else to notice. You handle volume without losing precision. Multiple entities, multiple systems, a lot of information, and not a single dropped thread. You hold the line. Deadlines and standards apply to everyone. You follow up until it's done, you don't make quiet exceptions, and you're comfortable having the direct conversation when someone falls short. You bring people along. You explain the why behind a process so people follow it because they understand it, not just because they were told. You tell the truth. You're comfortable telling anyone, including the Founder, "the numbers don't support that," and showing why. You'd rather perfect a system than reinvent one. Consistency and reliability matter more to you than novelty. Our Founder is a fast-moving, big-idea entrepreneur. Part of this job is being the steady, precise counterweight, with the authority to say no when the numbers say no. If that sounds uncomfortable, this isn't the right fit. If it sounds like exactly where you'd add the most value, we want to talk. Why Join Us You’ll own finance across a growing group of companies, not a piece of it. You’ll report directly to the Founder and see your findings turn into decisions. Leadership backs the standards you set. We move fast, think deeply, and expect excellence. In finance, that means accuracy is never rushed. Compensation is built around what you bring, not a fixed band. Multi-entity depth, a CPA, construction accounting expertise, and a track record of measurable savings all raise the number. Health, dental, and vision insurance. Paid time off and holidays. Professional development and CPE support. #J-18808-Ljbffr