Controller (Strategic Finance & Operations) Contract

HelpGrid is seeking for a Controller to take full ownership of financial clarity, reporting integrity, and business insight across the company. This is not a traditional controller/accounting role.

In this role, you will act as the financial operator of the business, owning the accuracy of the numbers, improving how they are structured, and translating financial data into clear, actionable insights for leadership.

This position is best suited for someone who understands both accounting fundamentals and operational finance, and who thrives in fast-moving environments where they are expected to think, challenge, and advise; not just report.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Ownership & Close Oversight

• Review and validate monthly financial statements prepared by the centralized finance team.
• Ensure revenue, commissions, and operational costs are accurately categorized and aligned with business reality.
• Maintain full confidence in the integrity, accuracy, and consistency of financial data.
• Own and improve the month-end close process, driving efficiency, speed, and accuracy.
• Identify discrepancies, inconsistencies, and unusual financial trends, and drive resolution proactively.

Financial Reporting & Visibility

• Build and continuously improve financial reporting structures for leadership.
• Analyze profitability across services, clients, and business verticals.
• Provide clear insights into revenue drivers, cost structure, and operational margins.
• Ensure reporting evolves alongside company growth and increasing complexity.

Business Partnering & Operational Finance

• Partner closely with the CEO and leadership team to provide actionable financial insights.
• Translate accounting data into clear explanations of business performance and key drivers.
• Help leadership understand what changed, why it changed, and what actions to take.
• Act as a trusted advisor, providing recommendations and constructively challenging assumptions when needed.
• Ensure financial insights lead to clear, actionable decisions, not just reporting

Process Improvement & Systems

• Assess and improve financial workflows, reporting systems, and data structures.
• Build or redesign financial processes to increase clarity, scalability, and reliability.
• Introduce automation and tools to reduce manual work and improve accuracy.
• Partner cross-functionally to improve financial visibility across the organization.

Coordination with Central Finance

• Work closely with the centralized finance team responsible for accounting operations.
• Review financial statements and reconciliations to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Provide guidance on financial structure, categorization, and reporting improvements.
• Ensure accounting outputs align with operational reality.
• Act as the primary financial owner for HelpGrid within the broader organization.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be demonstrated by:

• Accurate, efficient, and continuously improving month-end close processes
• Financial reports that leadership can trust and act on immediately
• Clear visibility into profitability, margins, and cost drivers
• Ability to quickly explain what changed, why it changed, and what to do next
• Fast, clear, and data-backed responses to leadership questions
• Financial processes that become more scalable, automated, and reliable over time

What You’ll Bring

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in accounting, finance, or financial operations
• Strong understanding of financial reporting, revenue recognition, and cost structures
• Proven ability to own and improve month-end close and reporting processes
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret and clearly explain financial data
• Advanced Excel / Google Sheets proficiency
• Experience operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environments with high expectations for speed, accuracy, and accountability
• Ability to trace financial outputs back to source data and validate accuracy

Preferred Experience

• Experience in variable cost environments (e.g., e-commerce, performance-driven businesses)
• Background combining accounting + FP&A / operational finance
• Experience working directly with CEOs or senior leadership
• Track record of building or redesigning financial processes from the ground up
• Exposure to multi-entity or international structures

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone who:

• Takes full ownership of financial clarity and accuracy
• Thinks beyond reporting and understands business drivers
• Operates with a high level of independence, does not rely on step-by-step direction and is expected to independently identify, prioritize, and solve problems
• Proactively identifies problems and brings solutions with measurable impact
• Communicates clearly, directly, and with specific, data-backed outcomes
• Can confidently engage with leadership and hold their own in discussions
• Acts as a builder, continuously improving systems and processes, not just maintaining them
• Demonstrates experience through specific, measurable outcomes

Tagged as: finance