What are the responsibilities and job description for the Finance Associate position at Vatn Systems?
About The Company
We’re an innovative startup building the next generation of unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) — autonomous systems designed to explore, protect, and operate beneath the ocean’s surface. Our mission is to push the boundaries of marine technology, and we’re looking for passionate people ready to grow with us.
As we scale production and expand operations, we’re building out our finance function — and that’s where you come in.
About The Role
As our Cost Accounting / Finance Associate, you’ll be a key member of a small, agile finance team focused on building robust cost systems and financial processes from the ground up. You’ll analyze production costs, partner with engineering and operations teams, and help us make smarter, data-driven decisions as we scale our manufacturing of cutting-edge marine systems.
This is a great opportunity for someone with a strong accounting foundation who wants to have real impact, learn fast, and grow with an emerging tech company.
What You’ll Do
We’re an innovative startup building the next generation of unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) — autonomous systems designed to explore, protect, and operate beneath the ocean’s surface. Our mission is to push the boundaries of marine technology, and we’re looking for passionate people ready to grow with us.
As we scale production and expand operations, we’re building out our finance function — and that’s where you come in.
About The Role
As our Cost Accounting / Finance Associate, you’ll be a key member of a small, agile finance team focused on building robust cost systems and financial processes from the ground up. You’ll analyze production costs, partner with engineering and operations teams, and help us make smarter, data-driven decisions as we scale our manufacturing of cutting-edge marine systems.
This is a great opportunity for someone with a strong accounting foundation who wants to have real impact, learn fast, and grow with an emerging tech company.
What You’ll Do
- Build and maintain cost tracking systems for materials, labor, and overhead across UUV production and R&D programs.
- Analyze manufacturing variances, identify cost drivers, and recommend efficiency improvements.
- Partner with operations, supply chain, and engineering to ensure accurate cost allocation and reporting.
- Support month-end close, accounting, reconciliations, and cost-of-goods-sold (COGS) reporting.
- Assist with inventory valuation, BOM accuracy, Routings and cost roll-ups.
- Contribute to financial models for pricing, proposals, and project forecasting.
- Help design and implement scalable financial processes and ERP tools as the company grows.
- Ensure compliance with internal controls and support audit preparation.
- Support processes related to DCAA compliance and government contracting as the company expands into defense programs.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field, Master or MBA preferred.
- Experience: 3–5 years in cost accounting, finance or FP&A roles (preferably in a manufacturing, engineering, or hardware startup environment).
- Preferred: CPA certification (or working toward it) and familiarity with DCAA compliance including FAR/CAS rules a plus.
- Strong knowledge of cost accounting principles and GAAP.
- Advanced Excel / Google Sheets skills (pivot tables, lookups, data modeling).
- Experience with ERP systems (NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics or similar).
- Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, BOMs, Routings and inventory control.
- Entrepreneurial mindset and eagerness to build from the ground up.
- Analytical, detail-oriented, and comfortable in a fast-moving environment.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical teams.