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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operations Controller

💰 $ - $

FinanceOperationsAccounting

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires an Operations Controller to own the financial integrity, operational reporting and continuous improvement of our operations finance function. The Operations Controller will be a hands‑on finance leader who partners with Operations, Supply Chain and Commercial teams to control cost-to-serve, drive accurate and timely month‑end close, implement robust internal controls, and deliver actionable insights that improve throughput, margins and working capital. This role requires strong technical accounting experience, ERP fluency, advanced financial analysis capability and proven operational partnering.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Financial Analyst (Operations / Cost Accounting)
  • Accounting Manager or Senior Accountant with operations exposure
  • Operations Finance Analyst or Business Operations Manager

Advancement To:

  • Finance Controller / Group Controller
  • Director of Finance — Operations / Head of Finance
  • VP Finance / Chief Accounting Officer (for high-growth or larger organizations)

Lateral Moves:

  • Operations Director / Head of Operations Finance
  • Supply Chain Finance Manager / Cost Accounting Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and own the month‑end close process for operations-related GL accounts (COGS, inventory, accruals, fixed assets), delivering accurate, reconciled financial statements and variance commentary within prescribed close windows.
  • Prepare, review and present monthly operational financial pack and KPI dashboards (margin by product line, unit economics, OTIF, days inventory outstanding, days payable outstanding) to senior stakeholders and the executive team.
  • Drive annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting cycles for operations cost centers, factory/warehouse budgets, and service‑level forecasts; identify and quantify key assumptions, risks and mitigation plans.
  • Develop, maintain and improve cost accounting methodologies (standard costing, actual costing, absorption) to ensure accurate product cost, margin and gross profit reporting.
  • Own cash flow and working capital management for operations: forecast cash impacts of inventory build plans, vendor payment terms, and capital expenditure schedules; recommend cash optimization actions.
  • Establish, test and monitor internal controls over operations finance processes (receipts, shipments, inventory adjustments, vendor payments) and lead SOX/ internal audit readiness where applicable.
  • Lead inventory accounting, periodic cycle counts reconciliation, shrinkage analysis, obsolescence provisioning and reconciliations between WMS/TMS and the general ledger.
  • Manage accounts payable and receivable processes tied to operations (vendor price variance analysis, freight accruals, bill of lading disputes) and streamline invoice-to-pay and order-to-cash touchpoints.
  • Serve as business partner to Operations, Supply Chain and Procurement to analyze unit costs, drive cost reduction initiatives and support decisions on outsourcing, insourcing, pricing and product rationalization.
  • Implement and own standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recurring operations finance activities, including GL reconciliations, inventory movement accounting, and month‑end checklists to reduce close risk and cycle time.
  • Execute capital expenditure (CapEx) planning, capitalization, depreciation schedules and reporting; coordinate approvals and monitor ROI for operational investments (automation, equipment).
  • Coordinate and support internal and external audits related to operations accounting, providing schedules, reconciliations and narrative explanations to auditors and resolving findings with remediation plans.
  • Build and maintain financial models that quantify the impact of operational scenarios (change in throughput, labour productivity, capacity constraints) to support strategic initiatives and make-or-buy decisions.
  • Implement automated reporting and dashboards using ERP extracts, SQL, Power BI/Tableau or Excel power tools to reduce manual reconciliation work and provide real‑time operational finance insights.
  • Lead cross-functional post‑mortem analyses on large variance events (stockouts, expedited freight, vendor price changes) to identify root causes and corrective actions that protect margins.
  • Oversee fixed asset lifecycle accounting for operations (capitalization, disposals, impairment reviews) and reconcile the fixed asset register to the GL monthly.
  • Negotiate and manage vendor and 3PL billing issues with Procurement and Supply Chain, ensuring billing accuracy and resolving disputes that impact cost of goods sold.
  • Mentor and develop a small team of cost accountants / operations finance analysts; set objectives, perform performance reviews and create development plans to build bench strength.
  • Drive process automation projects (AP/AP automation, invoice OCR, recurring accrual automation) to increase transaction accuracy and reduce cycle times across operations finance.
  • Ensure compliance with GAAP/IFRS accounting standards for inventory, revenue related to operations, and leases; keep the organization informed of material accounting standard changes affecting operations.
  • Support M&A, integration or carve‑out activities from an operations finance perspective: prepare historical performance packs, calculate working capital adjustments, and standardize post‑close reporting.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis for Operations and Finance leadership to enable rapid decision-making.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying key operations datasets, reporting gaps, and opportunities for ETL/automation.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements and prioritize financial reporting enhancements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering and finance transformation teams to ensure deliverables align with finance requirements.
  • Assist payroll and HR on operations-related payroll allocations, overtime accounting and labour cost reconciliations when required.
  • Provide training and knowledge transfer to operations managers on interpreting financial reports, KPIs and the financial impact of operational decisions.
  • Evaluate and recommend ERP/ WMS/ TMS enhancements or module implementations that improve controls, traceability and cost transparency for operations.
  • Support commercial teams by validating bill of lading, freight invoices and customer chargebacks that impact operational revenue recognition and margin calculations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced knowledge of financial reporting and accounting standards (US GAAP and/or IFRS) with strong application to inventory, cost of goods sold and fixed assets.
  • Proven month‑end close and reconciliation experience — ability to own close schedules, lead reconciliations and shorten close cycle times.
  • Budgeting, forecasting and financial modelling expertise (driver-based models, scenario analysis, sensitivity testing).
  • Hands-on cost accounting experience: standard costing, variance analysis, inventory valuation methods (FIFO, LIFO if applicable), and cost roll-ups.
  • ERP system fluency (experience implementing or administering modules in NetSuite, SAP S/4HANA, Oracle ERP Cloud or similar); experience integrating ERP with WMS/TMS is a plus.
  • Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, Power Query, macros) and experience with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) for dashboarding and analytics.
  • Familiarity with accounting controls frameworks and audit processes (SOX compliance experience preferred).
  • Working knowledge of SQL or data querying for extracting transaction-level data and automating reconciliations.
  • Experience with accounts payable/accounts receivable cycle management and vendor/3PL invoice reconciliation.
  • Competence in cash flow forecasting, working capital optimization and CapEx accounting.
  • Ability to prepare SEC‑quality or management financial reporting packs and board-level materials.
  • Experience with process automation tools (RPA, scripting, ERP workflows) to improve transactional efficiency.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical mindset with a bias for root-cause analysis and measurable outcomes.
  • Excellent communicator who can translate complex accounting findings into clear operational actions for non-finance stakeholders.
  • Proactive business partner: collaborative, consultative and able to influence cross-functional leaders without direct authority.
  • Leadership and people management: coach, delegate and develop junior staff while setting high performance standards.
  • Project management capability with experience delivering cross-functional projects on time and on budget.
  • High attention to detail and discipline to maintain audit-ready documentation and controls.
  • Adaptable to high-growth, ambiguous environments and able to prioritize multiple competing deadlines.
  • Results-oriented with a focus on continuous improvement and measurable cost-to-serve reductions.

(Combined above items include more than ten discrete skills commonly requested by Operations Controller postings.)

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or a related quantitative field.

Preferred Education:

  • Professional designation (CPA, CMA, ACCA) and/or MBA preferred for senior roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Supply Chain / Operations Management
  • Economics
  • Business Analytics / Data Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years of progressive accounting/operations finance experience, with at least 2–3 years in a controller or senior operational accounting role.

Preferred:

  • 7+ years of experience combining accounting, cost accounting and operational finance within manufacturing, distribution, retail or high-volume services.
  • Demonstrated experience leading month‑end close, ERP projects (implementation or upgrades), audit interactions and cross‑functional process improvements.
  • Track record of building financial models, automating reporting, and delivering cost-saving initiatives tied to measurable KPIs.
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