Controller

Vaco by Highspring; Woodstock; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring seeks a Controller to lead all site finance and accounting activities in Woodstock. You will own the month-end close, forecasting, cost management, and provide timely decision support to Operations.

You will partner with local leadership to improve profitability, drive operational efficiency, ensure internal controls, and maintain compliance with corporate policies and accounting standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting/finance; CPA or equivalent preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive finance and accounting experience in manufacturing.
• Strong costing, inventory valuation, variance analysis, and internal controls.
• Leadership experience and cross-functional influence in production environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead Finance Leadership & Business Partnering with site operations; translate performance into financial results.
• Own month-end close, reconciliations, accruals, inventory valuation, and reporting packages.
• Oversee costing governance, BOM/routing integrity, labor/overhead rates, and cost rolls.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning with volume/mix analysis.
• Manage site cash/working capital and capital expenditure planning with ROI analysis.
• Develop and coach the local finance team and ensure compliance with policies.

Skills

Financial analysis

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA or equivalent

Tools

ERP systems

Excel

Job description

The Controller leads all site finance and accounting activities, ensuring accurate financial reporting, strong internal controls, and timely decision support to Operations. This role owns the month-end close and forecasting process, drives cost/working-capital performance, and partners with local leadership to improve profitability, operational efficiency, and compliance with corporate policies and accounting standards.

Key Accountabilities

• Finance Leadership & Business Partnering: Serve as the primary finance partner to local operational leadership; translate site performance into financial results and actionable insights. Prepare regular operational metrics, month-end close, forecast updates, and annual plans. Analyze key drivers (labor, yield, efficiency, overtime, materials, freight, overhead absorption) and recommend corrective actions.
• Financial Reporting, Close, and Controls: Own month-end and year-end close processes, including journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, inventory valuation, and reporting packages. Maintain strong documentation, internal controls, and audit readiness while ensuring compliance with corporate accounting policies.
• Costing, Inventory, and Operational Finance: Oversee standard costing governance, including BOM/routing integrity, labor/overhead rates, periodic cost rolls, and product profitability models. Lead variance analysis and partner cross-functionally to improve working capital performance across inventory, receivables, and payables.
• Budgeting, Forecasting, and Long-Range Planning: Lead annual business plans, periodic forecasts, and long-range strategic financial outlooks. Build and maintain models for volume/mix sensitivity, margin bridges, and productivity initiatives.
• Treasury, Cash, and Capital: Manage site-level cash planning and working capital. Partner on capital expenditure planning, including business cases, ROI analysis, approval packages, fixed asset tracking, and post-implementation reviews.
• People Leadership & Compliance: Lead, coach, and develop the local finance team. Support site quality and safety compliance requirements relevant to the role, and perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field. Professional accounting designation (CPA or equivalent) preferred.
• Experience: 5+ years of progressive finance and accounting experience within a fast-paced industrial or manufacturing environment. Proven ownership of month-end close, cost accounting, and operational performance reporting.
• Technical: Strong understanding of standard costing, inventory valuation, variance analysis, and internal controls. Advanced Excel skills required. Prior experience with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems required.
• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to manage a team, influence cross-functional peers, and drive continuous improvement in a production environment.

Core Competencies

• Operational Mindset & Cost Driver Analysis
• Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving
• Effective Multi-Level Communication
• Leadership & Talent Development
• Integrity & Accountability

When referencing this job, please use Reference # 302136

Vaco by Highspring values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. The company is also committed to ensuring that persons who need them are provided with reasonable accommodations; if one is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].

Vaco by Highspring respects your privacy and is committed to providing transparent notice of our policies in English here and in French here. Additionally, the company uses AI to perform preliminary screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco/Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client’s use of AI products in hiring.