Controller - Financial Leader to teach, coach, lead

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

Hybrid | Full-Time | SaaS · GovCon · Fast-Growth Tech

We don't need someone to manage the books. We need someone to lead the people who do — and to lead the founders who depend on them.

If you have spent your career waiting to be told what to improve, this is not the role for you. If you have spent it making the people around you better — read on.

AT A GLANCE

Role: Financial Controller

Work Model: Hybrid

Experience: 5–15 Years | Minimum 3 Years as Controller

Credential: CMA Preferred · CPA Accepted · Non-Credentialed Considered

Industries: SaaS · GovCon · Fast-Growth Tech

Team: Lead a 5-Person Accounting Team

WHO WE ARE

We exist to turn good founders into Ready Founders. We do that by embedding Financial Leadership inside fast-growth technology companies — giving them the clarity, accountability, and strategic financial guidance they need to scale without chaos.

We have a great team. We have great clients. What we do not have yet is the right accounting leader — someone who can walk into a room with a founder, earn their trust, challenge their thinking, and then walk back to a team of five and make every one of them better. That is the person we are building this role for.

THE ROLE

This is not a heads-down accounting job. This is a Financial Leadership role with full ownership of a five-person accounting function and direct client-facing responsibility. You will be expected to teach, coach, challenge, and decide — every single day.

You will own the accounting function end-to-end, lead the team, and serve as a trusted financial advisor to the founders we support. You will also be expected to lead the adoption of AI and automation tools — not as a future initiative, but as a present responsibility.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

LEAD THE TEAM

• Coach, teach, and develop a five-person accounting team — not just assign tasks
• Hold team members accountable to deadlines, accuracy, and professional growth
• Build a culture of ownership where people solve problems, not just report them
• Identify skill gaps and create real paths to close them

LEAD THE CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

• Serve as the primary financial voice for the founders we support
• Present financial results, insights, and recommendations clearly and confidently
• Challenge clients constructively when deadlines slip or processes are ignored
• Build the kind of trust that makes founders call you before they make a big decision

OWN THE ACCOUNTING FUNCTION

• Lead month-end close, financial reporting, and internal controls
• Ensure GAAP compliance and a clean, consistent close process
• Manage budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow analysis across client engagements
• Identify and escalate financial risks before they become problems

DRIVE AI & AUTOMATION ADOPTION

• Evaluate, pilot, and deploy AI and automation tools across accounting workflows
• Lead the team's transition to more efficient, technology-enabled processes
• Stay current on emerging tools and bring recommendations to leadership

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

You define Financial Leadership — and you live it

• You can articulate what Financial Leadership means beyond managing a close calendar
• You have a track record of making teams and clients better, not just keeping the numbers clean
• You lead with clarity, directness, and a genuine investment in the people around you

You are a teacher and a coach first

• You have developed people on your team — not just managed them
• You explain complex financial concepts in plain language without being condescending
• You give direct feedback and hold people accountable without damaging relationships

You have done this before

• Minimum 3 years of controller-level experience
• Deep experience in at least two of: SaaS, GovCon, or fast-growth tech
• Comfortable owning an accounting function end-to-end without a playbook

You are a learner who moves

• You are actively deploying or learning AI and automation tools — not just curious about them
• You read, you experiment, you improve — because you want to, not because someone asked
• You bring solutions to the table, not just observations

THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF

• You think Financial Leadership means producing accurate reports on time
• You have never actively developed someone on your team
• You are skeptical of or uninterested in AI and automation in accounting
• You need a fully defined process before you can add value
• You are uncomfortable challenging a founder or client when they are wrong
• You want to manage — not lead

CREDENTIALS AND EXPERIENCES

• CMA strongly preferred — signals the management accounting orientation this role demands
• CPA accepted — bring the leadership track record to match the technical credential
• Non-credentialed candidates considered — your results and your people will speak for you
• 5–15 years of progressive accounting experience; minimum 3 years at the controller level
• Direct experience in SaaS, GovCon, or fast-growth tech environments

WHY THIS ROLE

• Real leadership authority — over a team, over a function, over client relationships
• Work directly with founders building meaningful companies in high-growth markets
• Latitude to modernize how accounting gets done — AI, automation, process design
• A team that takes its work seriously and each other personally
• Room to grow — because this organization expects it and invests in it

HOW TO APPLY

Send your resume and a brief note — not a cover letter template, a note — that answers this one question:

"What does Financial Leadership mean to you, and how have you demonstrated it?"

Candidates who cannot answer that question specifically and personally will not advance. We read every submission and we move quickly for the right person.

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid sick time
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance
• Work from home

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Warrenton, VA

All analytics data provided here is for informational purposes only and Indeed does not guarantee its accuracy. Values shown may deviate from the actual charges. Indeed reserves the right to adjust the information shown here or change the method of measuring such figures at any time. This information does not constitute a contract.

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