Director, Finance

The Walter Fedy Partnership; Kitchener; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

WalterFedy in Canada seeks a Director of Finance, Contract to lead the day-to-day finance functions, including FP&A, accounting, treasury, and controls, translating the CFO's strategy into operational execution.

Reporting to the CFO, you will partner with PMO, Innovation, and HR to ensure resources, governance, and financial discipline across enterprise programs. This 4-month maternity leave contract runs Feb 1, 2026–Mar 31, 2027, with potential extension.

Qualifications

• University degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• Active CPA designation required.
• Minimum 7 years progressive finance experience with people leadership.
• Experience in FP&A, treasury, and controls; growth-stage asset.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary finance partner to leaders on budgeting, forecasting, and project financials.
• Maintain relationships with auditors, lenders, and insurers; escalate to CFO.
• Support pricing, resourcing, and project decisions with accurate data.
• Lead FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting.
• Own GL, AP/AR, payroll coordination, month/year-end close.
• Lead treasury operations and banking relationships.
• Maintain internal controls and audit readiness.
• Partner with PMO and HR on budgets and governance.

Skills

Strategic Vision

Financial Acumen

People Leadership

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Communication

Change Leadership

AI/Automation

Governance

Risk Management

Education

University degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA designation

Tools

ERP systems

Financial reporting/BI tools

Job description

Job Overview

The Director of Finance, Contract leads the day-to-day operations of the Finance function — financial planning & analysis, accounting, treasury, reporting, and controls — ensuring the organization's financial operations are accurate, timely, and disciplined. This role translates the CFO's financial strategy into operational execution and partners closely with the Director, PMO to ensure enterprise programs are properly resourced, tracked, and financially governed.

Reporting to the CFO, the Director, Finance partners with the Director, PMO; Director, Innovation; and Director, Human Resources as part of the CFO's core leadership team, ensuring finance, technology, people, and program delivery function as a coherent, well-run “operating system” for the business.

Duration: This is a 4-month maternity leave contract, running from February 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

WalterFedy is growing! For outstanding talent, this role has real potential to be extended. It's an opportunity to make an immediate impact and build a long-term future with our Finance team.

Accountabilities / Responsibilities

Client Delivery

This role's “clients” are primarily internal: business/practice line leaders who rely on Finance for accurate reporting, forecasting, and decision support. The role also maintains day-to-day external relationships (auditors, lenders, insurers), escalating strategic matters to the CFO.

• Serve as the primary finance business partner to practice/business line leaders on budgeting, forecasting, utilization, margin, and project financial performance.


• Maintain strong day-to-day working relationships with auditors, banking partners, and insurers, escalating strategic matters to the CFO.


• Support practice leaders with accurate, timely financial data to inform pricing, resourcing, and project decisions.

Financial Delivery

• Lead day-to-day financial planning & analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting for the organization.


• Own the accounting function: general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, payroll coordination, and month-end/year-end close.


• Lead treasury operations, cash flow management, and banking relationships.


• Ensure the integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of financial statements and internal management reporting.


• Maintain strong internal controls and support audit readiness and regulatory compliance.


• Monitor utilization, realization, backlog, and project margin performance, escalating trends to the CFO.

Business Processes

• Own and continuously improve core finance processes, systems, and reporting tools (ERP, financial reporting/BI tools).


• Automation & AI enablement: Partner with the Director, Innovation on finance system upgrades, automation of manual finance processes, and adoption of AI-enabled tools for forecasting, reporting, or analysis.


• Develop and maintain financial policies, procedures, and delegation of authority frameworks.


• Support enterprise governance by ensuring enterprise program budgets and business cases meet finance standards before approval, in partnership with the Director, PMO.

Leadership and Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop the Finance team, building depth and succession within the function.


• Partner with the Director, Human Resources on workforce planning, compensation benchmarking, and headcount/capacity planning from a financial lens.


• Act as a trusted, approachable finance partner to non-finance leaders, building financial literacy across the organization.


• Model financial discipline and transparency, reinforcing a culture of accountability.


• Support the CFO on special projects, board materials, and executive-level financial analysis as needed.

Skills / Competencies

• Strategic Vision & Long-Range Planning: Finance function strategist; translates enterprise financial strategy into operational plans.


• Financial Acumen & Capital Allocation: Deep technical expertise in accounting, treasury, and financial reporting.


• Operational Excellence, Delivery & Resource Management: Finance operations, reporting, and controls excellence.


• People Leadership & Talent Development: Finance team builder and developer.


• Client Leadership & External Relationships: Day-to-day auditor, lender, and insurer relationship management.


• Change Leadership: Finance process and systems change lead; partners with the Director, PMO on enterprise program financial governance.


• Innovation/Continuous Improvement: Champions automation of finance processes and adoption of AI-enabled tools.


• Commercial Acumen, Client Growth & Market Development: Supports pricing, fee models, and business case analysis.


• Risk Management & Governance: Internal controls and audit-readiness specialist.


• Communication & Executive Presence: Trusted finance advisor to non-finance leaders.


• Technical / Practice Leadership: Finance and accounting subject matter expert.


• Culture Building & Organizational Health: Champions financial discipline and transparency.


• Cross-Functional Integration: Finance partner to the Director, PMO, Director, Human Resources, and Director, Innovation on enterprise initiatives.

Qualifications

• University degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.


• Active CPA (or equivalent professional accounting designation) required.


• Minimum 7 years of progressive finance experience, including people leadership, ideally within a professional services, or engineering/architecture , or similarly project-based organization.


• Demonstrated experience in financial planning & analysis, treasury, and controls.


• Experience in a growth-stage or scaling organization is an asset.

Life at WalterFedy

As a national, innovative, multi-discipline design and construction collective, our ambition goes beyond great design – we are here to enhance the world around us. We need a team of agile, ambitious, and big-picture thinkers who share our drive to harness our collective talents to do something bigger.

Our team is made up of the industry's best. We share a common commitment to questioning the ordinary, infusing everything we do with creativity, and challenging our industry to redefine what’s possible.

Join us as we move past working for a living, and toward building better communities with smart, influential design.

WalterFedy strives to create a culture of inclusivity and diversity. We strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals, including those from groups traditionally underrepresented in the workforce. We are committed to equal opportunity hiring practice and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, creed, national origin, citizenship, status, age, sex, gender identity/expression, marital or domestic partnership status, or disability.

Should you require an accommodation to participate in the application process, please contact [e-mail] or call 519-576-2150.

Thank you for your interest in WalterFedy!

Please note that we utilize AI-powered tools to enhance our recruitment process. These tools assist us in managing applications efficiently and ensuring a fair evaluation of all candidates. Rest assured, every application is reviewed by our recruitment team, and AI is used to support, not replace, our human decision-making.