Assistant Controller — Costing, Close, & AI Automation

Kirkhill Inc.; Brea (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Kirkhill, Inc. is seeking an Assistant Controller to be the right hand to the Vice President of Finance and lead the day-to-day accounting function.

In a standard-cost manufacturing environment, you will own the integrity of the close, cost accounting, and the quality of financial information for operations leadership and TransDigm corporate. This is a hands-on leadership role; you will run the work, develop the finance team, and partner with business unit leaders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or related field.
• California CPA and/or MBA is a plus.
• Minimum of 5 years of cost accounting, accounting systems and financial analysis in a manufacturing environment.
• Supervisory experience required; track record of developing people.
• Advanced Excel for financial analysis, modeling and reporting.
• Demonstrated full-cycle close ownership and strong technical GAAP foundation.
• Experience in a SOX environment with internal controls.

Responsibilities

• Own the full-cycle month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close with journal entries and reconciliations.
• Prepare internal management reporting, variance analysis, and corporate submissions.
• Design and maintain a SOX-compliant internal control environment; support audits.
• Serve as liaison for internal and external audits; remediate findings.
• Own standard cost setup, annual cost rolls, and costing accuracy across SKUs/BOMs.
• Ensure accurate valuation, inventory integrity, reserves, and GL reconciliation.
• Analyze PPV, manufacturing variances, and margin by product line; drive actions.
• Partner with operations to surface cost drivers and productivity opportunities.
• Act as finance business partner to plant leadership and operations for decision-making.
• Improve reporting speed, accuracy, and usefulness; automate manual processes.
• Explore AI/tools to speed close and quality of analysis.
• Coach and develop the finance team; scale workload without headcount growth.
• Evaluate capital requests beyond payback/ROI; audit projects post-implementation.
• Train non-financial managers and communicate financial concepts clearly.
• Maintain understanding of GL structure and provide ad hoc analyses.

Skills

Leadership

Analytical skills

Communication

Advanced Excel

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance

California CPA and/or MBA is a plus

Tools

Microsoft Excel

ERP/Accounting Systems

Job description

Kirkhill, Inc. is seeking an Assistant Controller to be the right hand to the Vice President of Finance and lead the day-to-day accounting function.

In a standard-cost manufacturing environment, you will own the integrity of the close, cost accounting, and the quality of financial information for operations leadership and TransDigm corporate. This is a hands-on leadership role; you will run the work, develop the finance team, and partner with business unit leaders.