Senior Financial Controller

Mandrake; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Visible finance leadership role

Direct access to senior leadership

Shape ERP environment and reporting

Career progression toward CFO level

Job summary

Mandrake in Mississauga is seeking a hands-on Head of Finance to lead the day-to-day accounting function for a fast-growing Canadian specialty food manufacturer. You will partner with production and senior leadership to ensure accurate close, reporting and strong cost controls across the plant and U.S.

accounts. The role requires 7+ years in manufacturing finance, a CPA preference, and proven ability to implement ERP-driven process improvements.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including close and reporting in manufacturing.
• Strong manufacturing cost accounting experience, including standard costing, inventory, labour and yield variances.
• Hands-on plant finance experience and comfort working with operations and warehouse teams.
• ERP experience across mid-market platforms and cross-border finance considerations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full accounting cycle: GL, AP, AR, payroll interface, fixed assets, month-end and year-end close.
• Deliver a clean, timely close with reconciliations that stand up to scrutiny.
• Develop practical controls for a mid-sized manufacturer without bureaucracy.
• Prepare concise monthly reporting: P&L, balance sheet, cash, variances and decisions.
• Manage external accounting, audit, banking and tax relationships, including cross-border considerations.
• Build and maintain SKU and plant costing across ingredients, labour, packaging and overhead.
• Provide visibility into margin by customer, channel and SKU.
• Support landed costs, freight, duty, FX for U.S. accounts and working-capital visibility.
• Act as finance lead within ERP environment and drive adoption of processes.
• Replace shadow spreadsheets with repeatable reporting for management.

Skills

Finance leadership

Manufacturing costing

ERP systems

Cross-functional partner

CPA awareness

Education

CPA designation preferred

Tools

Odoo

NetSuite

SYSPRO

SAP Business One

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

Our client is a rapidly growing Canadian specialty food manufacturer serving grocery, club and foodservice customers across Canada and the United States. The business has expanded quickly, operates from a busy Mississauga manufacturing site, and is strengthening its finance function for the next stage of growth.

This is not a reporting-only Controller role and it is not a highly layered corporate finance seat. The successful candidate will lead the day-to-day finance function, partner closely with operations and senior leadership, and bring stronger financial discipline to a founder-led manufacturing environment.

We are fast-paced, entrepreneurial and less corporate. That is not branding. It is the job.

• Customers move quickly and so do we. Decisions are often made the same day, sometimes with incomplete information.
• Owners and managers work across functions. You will be expected to step outside a narrow job description when the business needs it.
• Large-company habits such as layered approvals, polished decks before a simple answer, or “that is not my lane” will not work here.
• Fast does not mean sloppy. Controls, a clean close and accurate numbers are essential.
• Detail is not optional. Inventory, costing, tax, cash, customer claims and financial reporting all need to be right.

Why This Role Exists Now

• Rapid growth, increasing SKU complexity, multiple storage locations and significant U.S. business have outgrown informal finance processes.
• A new ERP environment is being implemented and the business needs stronger costing, inventory accuracy, reporting and close discipline.
• Senior leadership needs one trusted source of truth on cash, margin, inventory, labour and customer profitability.

Accounting, Close and Control

• Lead the full accounting cycle, including GL, AP, AR, payroll interface, fixed assets, month-end and year-end close.
• Deliver a clean, timely close with reconciliations that stand up to scrutiny.
• Develop practical controls for a mid-sized manufacturer without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Prepare concise monthly reporting covering P&L, balance sheet, cash, variances and decisions required.
• Manage external accounting, audit, banking and tax relationships, including cross-border considerations.

Costing, Inventory and Plant Finance

• Build and maintain SKU and plant costing across ingredients, labour, packaging, yield and overhead.
• Work directly with production to understand labour, yield and waste variances. This role belongs on the plant floor as well as in the office.
• Strengthen inventory integrity across production, packing and warehouse/freezer locations.
• Provide clear visibility into margin by customer, channel and SKU.

U.S. Business and Commercial Finance

• Support landed cost, freight, duty, FX and chargeback analysis for U.S. accounts.
• Improve collections, payables rhythm, working-capital visibility and cash discipline as volume grows.
• Bring practical commercial insight to customer profitability and business decisions.

ERP and Systems

• Act as the finance lead within the ERP environment and help drive adoption across the processes the business actually uses.
• Replace unnecessary shadow spreadsheets with repeatable reporting that managers can rely on.
• Improve labour-cost visibility and support stronger operating data as the business scales.

How You Show Up

• Partner directly with production, warehouse, sales and senior leadership.
• Be willing to step into detailed work when required. This is a manufacturing business, not a finance tower.
• Challenge senior leaders with facts when the numbers support a different conclusion, then help move the decision forward.

What Strong Looks Like

• CPA designation strongly preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including at least 2 years with responsibility for close and reporting in manufacturing.
• Strong manufacturing cost accounting experience, including standard costing, inventory, labour and yield variances, and SKU/product profitability.
• Hands-on plant finance experience and comfort working directly with operations, production and warehouse teams.
• Strong ERP experience with Odoo, NetSuite, SYSPRO, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics or a similar mid-market manufacturing platform.
• Experience improving controls, reporting, inventory accuracy and finance processes in a growing business.
• Commercial finance capability across working capital, cash flow, customer profitability and margin analysis.
• Exposure to U.S. customers, foreign exchange, freight, duty or chargebacks is a strong asset.
• Food manufacturing, CPG, frozen foods, bakery or another regulated manufacturing environment is preferred.
• Highly detail-oriented, direct, organized and comfortable operating without layers of corporate support.

What This Role Is Not

• Not a remote corporate reporting job.
• Not a large finance department where the work is already divided across multiple specialist teams.
• Not a role for someone who needs several approval layers before making a practical business decision.

What We Offer

• A visible finance leadership role in a Canadian food business scaling rapidly in the U.S.
• Direct access to senior leadership and a genuine seat at the table.
• The opportunity to shape the finance function, ERP environment and management reporting as the company grows.
• Credible career progression into a broader finance leadership / CFO-level role for a strong performer.