Controller - Aerospace & Industrial Manufacturing

Controller Position

Our client, a private equity-backed precision manufacturing business based in Ohio, serves the aerospace and industrial supply chain and is looking to appoint a Controller to lead the company's full accounting and financial reporting function.

This is a highly hands-on Controller position suited to a technically strong accounting professional who is comfortable operating in a lean manufacturing environment. The organization has a deliberately small team, so the successful candidate must be able to set direction while also executing the work directly. Our client is seeking someone with deep manufacturing accounting expertise, strong ownership of the close process, and a disciplined approach to accuracy, controls, and efficiency.

This role is ideal for a Controller who leads by example, pays close attention to detail, and takes pride in delivering a clean, timely close.

• Partner with operations and management to understand production costs, labor efficiency, material usage variances, and overhead absorption, translating shop floor activity into accurate financial results.
• Lead the monthly, quarterly, and annual close process from start to finish, including journal entries, account reconciliations, intercompany eliminations, and preparation of accurate financial statements, including P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
• Design, implement, and maintain effective internal controls across all accounting processes, identifying gaps and driving continuous improvement in procedures and documentation.
• Manage inventory accounting in a manufacturing environment, including physical count coordination, variance analysis, WIP valuation, and standard cost reviews.
• Support the CFO with cash flow forecasting, working capital management, and board and lender reporting.
• Oversee transactional accounting activities, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash disbursements, invoicing and billing, customer credits and collections, and payroll.
• Manage and maintain the job costing system, tracking costs by job, work order, and production run to support accurate cost-of-goods-sold and gross margin reporting at the product and customer level.
• Prepare and distribute timely management reporting packages for the CFO and executive leadership, including budget-versus-actual analysis, variance commentary, and key operational metrics.
• Lead the annual audit process as the primary day-to-day contact for external auditors, preparing audit schedules and support packages.
• Drive a timely and accurate close cycle, continually identifying and removing bottlenecks to shorten the close timeline.
• Calculate and record accruals, asset depreciation and amortization, interest expense, prepaid amortization, and other period-end entries accurately and on schedule.
• Coordinate with external tax preparers to ensure tax work papers, schedules, and filings are accurate and submitted on time.
• Lead ongoing improvements to the ERP and finance system, taking ownership of system accuracy, chart of accounts integrity, and automation of manual accounting processes.
• Maintain and reconcile the fixed asset subledger, including capital expenditure tracking, disposals, and depreciation schedules for manufacturing assets.
• Manage and develop a small accounting team by setting clear expectations, providing hands-on coaching, and holding the team accountable for deadlines and accuracy standards.