Director of Finance Operations & Systems Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

About UnCruise Adventures

We are a small-ship adventure-based travel company dedicated to creating experiences that connect people with nature, wildlife, and local cultures - we kayak among icebergs,travel to hidden waterfalls, and share air with whales. Every team member plays a role in bringing the adventure to life. Operating seven vessels carrying 22 to 86 guests, we explore destinations, including Alaska, Hawaii, Baja California , and Costa Rica.

Job Summary

The Director of Finance Operations & Systems leads UnCruise's accounting team and serves as a hands-on partner to the VP of Finance on forecasting, reporting, financial operations, and finance systems. This is a leadership role first: you will manage and develop a small, capable accounting team, hold them accountable to clear goals and a fast, reliable close, and take real ownership of process improvement and systems modernization across the finance function.

You will also spend meaningful time working directly alongside the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and cross-departmental financial initiatives, and will help lead the partnership between Finance and IT on the systems that support accurate, timely financial reporting.

This role suits someone who is motivated, technically sharp, and allergic to complacency; someone who sees a broken process and fixes it without being asked, who is comfortable holding a team to a high standard, and who wants a seat close to senior leadership at a growing company.

This is a full-time, exempt position reporting to the VP of Finance, located at the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

• Manage and develop a team of two GL Accountants and one Accounts Payable Manager — set goals, hold regular 1:1s, and drive accountability to team and company targets.
• Own the monthly financial close process end to end: keep the team on schedule, review postings for accuracy and completeness, and drive the close timeline toward a 5-day standard.
• Review and approve journal entries and account reconciliations prepared by the team, escalating and resolving issues rather than redoing the work.
• Build backup capability and cross-training across the accounting team — including AP and payroll backup coverage — so the close and key processes aren't dependent on any single person.
• Produce monthly financial reporting packages for leadership.
• Partner directly with the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning across the organization, including ownership of rolling cash flow forecasting.
• Provide ad hoc financial analysis and reporting to Operations, Sales, IT, and other departments as needed.

Essential Duties – Systems & Process Improvement

• Partner with the VP of Finance and IT to plan and drive finance system improvements and migrations — leading the team's role in the project, including replacing outdated legacy platforms.
• Serve as the team's lead point of contact on core financial systems (ERP, subledgers, reporting tools), coordinating with IT on their direction, configuration, and optimization.
• Coordinate system upgrades, enhancements, and integrations with IT, ensuring the team's needs are represented in testing, documentation, and change control.
• Work with IT on issue resolution, system performance, and reliable data flows across platforms.
• Help establish and maintain governance standards for user access, data integrity, and system documentation, in partnership with IT.
• Contribute to a shared finance systems roadmap with the VP of Finance and IT — documenting the systems landscape, integrations, and dependencies as they evolve.
• Lead the team's adoption of new system functionality, including training and hands-on support.
• Maintain system data tables and build…