Corporate Controller

Premier Executive Search; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus opportunity

Medical coverage

401(k) plan with company contribution

Paid vacation

Job summary

Premier Executive Search is seeking a Corporate Controller for a leading heavy-civil construction company. This role partners with ownership, project teams and executives to deliver finance-driven insights at the project level, with responsibility for reporting, forecasting, and controls.

The role emphasizes deep project profitability analysis, risk assessment and continuous process improvements, offering a path toward senior leadership including potential CFO opportunities.

Qualifications

• Progressive accounting and financial leadership experience.
• Strong construction or project-based accounting fundamentals.
• Hands-on understanding of WIP, job costing and project profitability.
• Strong financial reporting and internal-control experience.
• Cash-flow, budgeting and forecasting capabilities.
• Ability to partner effectively with operational leadership.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Leadership, communication and sound business judgment.
• Intellectual curiosity and demonstrated ability to learn.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline; CPA highly valued.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial reporting, monthly and year-end close and multi-entity consolidations.
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and working-capital management.
• Maintain strong internal controls, accounting policies and procedures.
• Coordinate external audits, tax matters and regulatory requirements.
• Support banking, insurance, bonding and surety relationships.
• Provide meaningful financial reporting, KPIs and analysis to executive leadership.
• Develop and mentor the accounting and finance team.
• Evaluate and improve accounting processes, systems and reporting.
• Help build the financial infrastructure necessary to support continued growth.

Skills

Construction accounting

WIP

Job costing

GAAP & financial reporting

Leadership & collaboration

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA (valued)

Tools

Sage

Procore

Textura

ERP systems

Job description

The Opportunity

A well-established and highly respected heavy-civil and infrastructure construction company is seeking an accomplished Corporate Controller to join its senior leadership team and become a key financial and operational partner to the business.

This is not a traditional Controller role focused primarily on closing the books and producing financial statements. We are looking for someone who wants to understand the business at the project level—how projects are performing, where margins are moving, how labor and equipment affect profitability, where financial or operational risks are developing, and what management can do about them.

The Controller will work closely with ownership, executive leadership, project management, estimating and operations to provide the financial insight needed to successfully manage a complex, project-driven construction organization.

For the right individual, this position offers significant exposure to senior leadership, increasing strategic responsibility and a potential path toward the CFO role.

Why This Role Is Different

The Company operates in a construction environment where financial performance is directly connected to what is happening in the field.

The Controller will go beyond reporting historical results. This individual will develop a deep understanding of individual projects, work closely with project managers to assess financial performance, challenge assumptions, identify emerging margin and cash-flow issues, and help leadership make better business decisions.

Success requires a combination of strong accounting fundamentals, construction/project accounting knowledge, business judgment, intellectual curiosity and the confidence to engage operational leaders.

We are not necessarily looking for someone who has already encountered every situation they will face. We value executives who have strong financial fundamentals, understand project-based businesses and have demonstrated an ability to quickly learn complex operations.

Key Responsibilities

The Corporate Controller will oversee the Company's core accounting and financial reporting functions while serving as an active business partner to leadership and operations.

Responsibilities will include:

• Lead financial reporting, monthly and year-end close and multi-entity consolidations.
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and working-capital management.
• Maintain strong internal controls, accounting policies and procedures.
• Coordinate external audits, tax matters and regulatory requirements.
• Support banking, insurance, bonding and surety relationships.
• Provide meaningful financial reporting, KPIs and analysis to executive leadership.
• Develop and mentor the accounting and finance team.
• Evaluate and improve accounting processes, systems and reporting.
• Help build the financial infrastructure necessary to support continued growth.

Construction & Project Finance Leadership

A central responsibility will be understanding the financial health of the Company's construction portfolio.

The Controller will partner closely with project management and operations to review:

• WIP and percentage-of-completion accounting
• Cost-to-complete forecasts
• Job costing
• Project profitability and margin analysis
• Over/under billings
• Change orders
• Project cash flow
• Labor and equipment costs
• Project forecasts and anticipated final results

The Controller should be able to look beyond the numbers and ask the right questions:

What changed? Why did the forecast move? Are labor productivity or equipment costs affecting the job? Are all costs being captured? Are pending change orders creating exposure? Is the projected margin realistic?

The goal is not simply accurate project accounting—it is early visibility into project performance, risk and opportunity.

Joint Venture Accounting

Joint ventures are an increasingly important component of the Company's business.

The Controller will help provide strong financial visibility and controls surrounding joint ventures, including:

• WIP and profitability
• Cost allocation
• Partner reporting
• Internal controls
• Multi-entity/JV consolidations and reporting

Direct joint-venture experience is highly desirable but not necessarily required for an otherwise exceptional construction-finance executive with strong project and multi-entity accounting fundamentals.

The Controller will take ownership of the integrity, timeliness and usefulness of the Company's financial information.

The role encompasses GAAP financial reporting, consolidations, budgeting and forecasting, treasury and liquidity management, audit readiness, internal controls, policies and procedures, tax coordination and management reporting.

The successful candidate will continually look for opportunities to improve processes, reporting, systems and controls rather than simply maintaining existing practices.

Partnership with Operations

This position requires someone who is comfortable getting outside of the accounting department and engaging with the people responsible for executing the work.

The Controller will develop strong working relationships with ownership and executive leadership, project managers and project executives, estimating, operations and field leadership, accounting and finance staff, banks and lenders, insurance and bonding/surety partners, and outside auditors and advisors.

The successful candidate will be able to challenge assumptions constructively, communicate financial concepts to non-financial leaders and earn credibility throughout the organization.

Ideal Background

We are particularly interested in financial leaders who have worked within self-performing construction environments, including:

• Heavy civil construction
• Infrastructure
• Electrical contracting
• Mechanical contracting
• Utilities
• Paving
• Transportation/public works
• Other specialty contracting businesses

Experience with union labor, prevailing wage/certified payroll, public-sector projects, bonding and surety, equipment-intensive operations, large field workforces, multiple entities and long-duration projects is highly valued.

Candidates coming from other construction environments will also be considered when their experience demonstrates meaningful project-accounting depth and a strong understanding of construction economics.

Prior public-accounting experience serving construction clients is also highly desirable.

What Is Truly Required

The successful candidate does not need to check every box.

The most important qualifications are:

• Progressive accounting and financial leadership experience.
• Strong construction or project-based accounting fundamentals.
• Hands‑on understanding of WIP, job costing and project profitability.
• Strong financial reporting and internal‑control experience.
• Cash‑flow, budgeting and forecasting capabilities.
• Ability to partner effectively with operational leadership.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to understand what is driving financial results—not simply report them.
• Leadership, communication and sound business judgment.
• Intellectual curiosity and demonstrated ability to learn.

A bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline is expected. A CPA is highly valued, although relevant experience and demonstrated capabilities will be considered.

What Can Be Learned

We recognize that an outstanding candidate may not arrive with direct experience in every aspect of the Company's operations.

For the right candidate, specific experience involving certain public‑agency requirements, joint‑venture structures, particular ERP systems, aspects of bonding/surety or some elements of heavy‑civil construction can be learned.

What is harder to teach—and therefore more important—is financial judgment, construction/project accounting fundamentals, intellectual curiosity, accountability, leadership and the ability to understand how operational decisions affect financial performance.

Candidates should be comfortable working within sophisticated construction accounting and ERP environments and using technology to improve financial visibility, controls and efficiency.

Experience with construction platforms such as Sage, Procore, Textura or comparable ERP/project accounting systems is valuable.

Specific software experience is less important than demonstrated success learning, implementing and optimizing financial systems.

Advanced Excel skills and the ability to analyze complex project and financial data are expected.

Leadership Characteristics

The successful candidate will be:

Hands‑on but strategic — willing to get into the details without losing sight of the broader business.

Operationally curious — interested in understanding how work is estimated, staffed, executed and ultimately converted into financial results.

Proactive — identifies issues and opportunities before they become obvious in the financial statements.

Analytically rigorous — willing to challenge forecasts and assumptions when the numbers don't make sense.

Collaborative and credible — capable of building relationships with ownership, executives, project managers, field leadership and accounting staff.

Adaptable — able to enter a complex organization, learn quickly and continuously expand their knowledge.

A builder — motivated by the opportunity to improve teams, processes, systems and financial infrastructure.

The Company views the Controller position as an important addition to its senior leadership team and as a potential path to the Chief Financial Officer role.

As the successful candidate establishes themselves within the organization, develops a deep understanding of the Company's operations and demonstrates success in the Controller position, there is an opportunity to assume broader strategic and financial leadership responsibilities and potentially progress into the CFO role.

Any future promotion will be based upon performance, organizational needs and mutual agreement.

The Company offers a highly competitive executive compensation and benefits package commensurate with experience, including:

• Annual performance-based bonus opportunity
• Medical coverage with a significant company subsidy
• Multiple medical plan options
• Dental and vision coverage
• 401(k) plan with company contribution
• Paid vacation
• Paid company holidays
• Additional voluntary benefits

Specific compensation and benefit terms will be discussed during the interview process.

Why Join

This is an opportunity for an accomplished construction-finance professional to move beyond traditional controllership and become a genuine financial and operational partner to the business.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to influence project performance, financial strategy, systems and controls, joint ventures, operational decision-making and the continued development of the finance organization.

For someone who enjoys understanding how construction businesses actually make money, wants meaningful access to senior leadership and is interested in growing toward broader executive financial leadership, this is a compelling next career opportunity.