Controller - Clean Energy & Renewable Energy

AlphaX; Santa Cruz (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Professional development

Leadership opportunity

Job summary

AlphaX in Santa Cruz, CA seeks a hands-on Controller to own accounting and financial operations for a growing project-based contractor in clean-energy infrastructure.

You will oversee GL, AP/AR, payroll, job costing, WIP, and ERP initiatives, partnering with operations and project leadership to improve margins and cash flow.

This role suits a proactive finance leader who can build processes, deliver timely reporting, and guide strategic decisions across complex construction programs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience in construction or contractor settings.
• Experience building or redesigning finance functions in small-to-mid-sized companies.
• Strong knowledge of job costing, WIP schedules, and percentage-of-completion accounting.
• Proven ERP implementation, migration, or consolidation experience.
• Ability to partner with operations and leadership to drive financial performance.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of accounting operations including GL, AP, AR, billing, reconciliations, month-end close, and reporting.
• Oversee construction job costing and WIP accounting, including percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, cost-to-complete analysis, project margins, and variance reporting.
• Manage union and prevailing-wage payroll requirements, including certified payroll, fringe benefit reporting, and multi-local wage compliance.
• Prepare and analyze financial statements while investigating discrepancies, unusual activity, trends, and potential financial risks.
• Manage intercompany transactions, reconciliations, and eliminations across related entities.
• Lead accounting-system initiatives, including ERP implementations, migrations, consolidations, and major system changes.
• Oversee ERP planning, data migration, testing, implementation, and related process improvements.
• Build and improve accounting workflows, internal controls, reporting structures, and financial processes.
• Develop budgets, forecasts, cash-flow projections, and financial analyses to support operational and strategic decisions.
• Partner with project managers and operations leadership to monitor project costs, billing, margins, cash flow, and overall financial performance.
• Deliver timely financial reporting and actionable insights to company leadership.
• Serve as a hands-on finance leader in a lean organization, taking ownership of critical functions without relying on a large accounting department.
• Identify opportunities to improve financial controls, reporting accuracy, efficiency, and scalability as the company grows.

Skills

Construction accounting

Job costing

WIP accounting

GAAP / month-end close

Intercompany accounting

ERP implementations

Payroll compliance

Financial analysis

Budgeting & cash flow

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

We are seeking a hands-on Controller to take ownership of the accounting and financial operations for a growing project-based contractor serving the clean-energy and infrastructure markets.

This position will oversee the company’s finance function while partnering closely with operations and project leadership. The Controller will play a key role in construction accounting, job costing, WIP reporting, payroll compliance, financial analysis, process development, and ERP strategy.

The right candidate is an experienced construction or contractor accounting professional who has successfully built, improved, or restructured finance functions in a small-to-mid-sized organization. Experience in solar, EV, microgrid, renewable energy, or related infrastructure is helpful but not required.

Key Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the company’s accounting operations, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing, reconciliations, month-end close, and financial reporting.
• Oversee construction job costing and WIP accounting, including percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, cost-to-complete analysis, project margins, and variance reporting.
• Manage union and prevailing-wage payroll requirements, including certified payroll, fringe benefit reporting, and multi-local wage and rate compliance.
• Prepare and analyze financial statements while investigating discrepancies, unusual activity, trends, and potential financial risks.
• Manage intercompany transactions, reconciliations, and eliminations across related entities.
• Lead accounting-system initiatives, including ERP implementations, migrations, consolidations, and major system changes.
• Oversee ERP planning, data migration, testing, implementation, and related process improvements.
• Build and improve accounting workflows, internal controls, reporting structures, and financial processes.
• Develop budgets, forecasts, cash-flow projections, and financial analyses to support operational and strategic decisions.
• Partner with project managers and operations leadership to monitor project costs, billing, margins, cash flow, and overall financial performance.
• Deliver timely financial reporting and actionable insights to company leadership.
• Serve as a hands-on finance leader in a lean organization, taking ownership of critical functions without relying on a large accounting department.
• Identify opportunities to improve financial controls, reporting accuracy, efficiency, and scalability as the company grows.

• 5+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including Controller, Assistant Controller, or comparable senior-level responsibility.
• Construction or contractor accounting experience is required.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of job costing, WIP schedules, and percentage-of-completion accounting.
• Proven experience managing union and prevailing-wage payroll compliance, including certified payroll, fringe benefits, and multi-local wage requirements.
• Demonstrated experience leading an ERP implementation, migration, system conversion, or accounting-system consolidation.
• Proven ability to build or substantially redesign accounting and finance processes, rather than simply maintaining an established system.
• Experience managing intercompany accounting, reconciliations, and eliminations.
• Strong financial statement analysis skills with the ability to identify anomalies, trends, discrepancies, and potential business risks.
• Experience working within a small-to-mid-sized company where independence, ownership, and a hands-on approach are essential.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with operations, project management, and executive leadership.
• Solar, EV, microgrid, renewable energy, or clean-energy experience is a plus, but not required.

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Health insurance and retirement plan options.
• Paid time off and company-sponsored benefits.
• Opportunity to build and lead a growing finance function.
• Direct involvement in strategic financial and operational decision-making.
• Exposure to complex construction, infrastructure, and clean-energy projects.
• Professional development and long-term career growth opportunities.
• Collaborative environment within a growing clean-energy and infrastructure business.