Director of Finance Operations & Systems

Positions on Land - UnCruise Adventures; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Cruise Benefit

Health and Wellness

401k

Paid holidays

Volunteer days

Eco-Commute

Free Parking

Job summary

Positions on Land - UnCruise Adventures in Seattle seeks a Director of Finance Operations & Systems to lead a small accounting team, own the monthly close, and drive process improvements across finance systems.

You will partner with the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and cross-department initiatives, including IT-system integration and governance, reporting accuracy, and data integrity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive accounting/finance experience with direct people management.
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and financial reporting.
• Experience improving financial operations processes beyond the status quo.
• Proven ability to drive ownership culture and accountability.
• Excellent communication and collaboration with IT and other departments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a two-GL Accountant and one AP Manager team; set goals and ensure accountability.
• Own monthly close end-to-end and drive a 5-day close standard.
• Review journal entries and reconciliations; escalate issues as needed.
• Build backup capability and cross-training to avoid single points of failure.
• Produce monthly financial reporting for leadership and budgeting/forecasting support.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Financial modeling

Forecasting

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics BC (ERP)

Job description

Director of Finance Operations & Systems

Seattle, WA

About UnCruise Adventures

We are a small-ship adventure-based travel company dedicated to creating experiences that connect people with nature, wildlife, and local cultures - we kayak among icebergs,travel to hidden waterfalls, and share air with whales. Every team member plays a role in bringing the adventure to life. Operating seven vessels carrying 22 to 86 guests, we explore destinations, including Alaska, Hawaii, Baja California , and Costa Rica.

Job Summary

The Director of Finance Operations & Systems leads UnCruise's accounting team and serves as a hands-on partner to the VP of Finance on forecasting, reporting, financial operations, and finance systems. This is a leadership role first: you will manage and develop a small, capable accounting team, hold them accountable to clear goals and a fast, reliable close, and take real ownership of process improvement and systems modernization across the finance function.

You will also spend meaningful time working directly alongside the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and cross-departmental financial initiatives, and will help lead the partnership between Finance and IT on the systems that support accurate, timely financial reporting.

This role suits someone who is motivated, technically sharp, and allergic to complacency; someone who sees a broken process and fixes it without being asked, who is comfortable holding a team to a high standard, and who wants a seat close to senior leadership at a growing company.

This is a full-time, exempt position reporting to the VP of Finance, located at the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

• Manage and develop a team of two GL Accountants and one Accounts Payable Manager — set goals, hold regular 1:1s, and drive accountability to team and company targets.
• Own the monthly financial close process end to end: keep the team on schedule, review postings for accuracy and completeness, and drive the close timeline toward a 5-day standard.
• Review and approve journal entries and account reconciliations prepared by the team, escalating and resolving issues rather than redoing the work.
• Build backup capability and cross-training across the accounting team — including AP and payroll backup coverage — so the close and key processes aren't dependent on any single person.
• Produce monthly financial reporting packages for leadership.
• Partner directly with the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning across the organization, including ownership of rolling cash flow forecasting.
• Provide ad hoc financial analysis and reporting to Operations, Sales, IT, and other departments as needed.

Essential Duties – Systems & Process Improvement

• Partner with the VP of Finance and IT to plan and drive finance system improvements and migrations — leading the team's role in the project, including replacing outdated legacy platforms.
• Serve as the team's lead point of contact on core financial systems (ERP, subledgers, reporting tools), coordinating with IT on their direction, configuration, and optimization.
• Coordinate system upgrades, enhancements, and integrations with IT, ensuring the team's needs are represented in testing, documentation, and change control.
• Work with IT on issue resolution, system performance, and reliable data flows across platforms.
• Help establish and maintain governance standards for user access, data integrity, and system documentation, in partnership with IT.
• Contribute to a shared finance systems roadmap with the VP of Finance and IT — documenting the systems landscape, integrations, and dependencies as they evolve.
• Lead the team's adoption of new system functionality, including training and hands-on support.
• Maintain system data tables and build process documentation with the team to support consistency, scalability, and knowledge transfer.
• Identify and help implement improvements to financial operations processes — close efficiency, systems workflows, controls — working through the team rather than delegating the diagnosis and disappearing.
• Track system performance metrics with IT and drive continuous improvement as a team effort.

Essential Duties – Audit, Treasury & Governance

• Oversee fixed asset accounting and capital project budgets (e.g., shipyard projects).
• Lead the team's response to internal reviews and external audit requests, including those related to system controls, configurations, and change management — partnering with the VP of Finance rather than acting as the sole point of contact.
• Work with the team and IT to monitor risks related to system access, segregation of duties, and data security, and help coordinate remediation of any control gaps.
• Serve as backup and escalation point for treasury functions, including ACH/wires, deposits, and positive pay.
• Review customer-facing promotions and terms for financial and operational risk.
• Partner with the VP of Finance on company and marine insurance matters and legal-adjacent finance work, including reviewing partner contracts and insurance requirements.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with IT, Revenue/Sales Systems, and other departments on financial process design, systems integrations, and departmental budgeting and forecasting.

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years of progressive accounting/finance experience, including direct people management.
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and financial reporting, with comfort reviewing others' work at a detailed level.
• Demonstrated experience improving financial operations processes, not just operating within existing ones.
• Proven ability to build accountability and drive a more proactive, ownership-driven team culture — not just manage day-to-day tasks.
• Strong forecasting and budgeting experience, ideally partnering directly with finance leadership.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills.
• A track record as a cross-functional collaborator — comfortable working with IT, revenue systems, and other departments to solve problems that cross team lines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, comfortable presenting to senior leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.

Preferred / a plus

• Active CPA or CMA license, or actively pursuing one.
• Experience contributing to finance system implementations or migrations.
• Experience designing or improving internal controls, including system access and segregation of duties.
• Comfort liaising with external auditors and supporting audit deliverables.
• Comfort reviewing contracts and insurance documentation, or strong interest in developing this skill set alongside finance leadership.
• Experience with ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics BC or similar).
• Exposure to multi-entity or international accounting (multi-currency, cross-border operations).

Physical Demands / Work Environment

Must be able to work in a standard office environment with sitting, typing and writing for 8 hours per day.

Work Schedule

This is an exempt position. The work day core hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM; this role may require a flexible schedule with varying hours based on business needs, including occasional evenings or weekends around close and reporting deadlines.

Pay and Employee Benefits

• Base Pay – $115k to $130k
• Cruise Benefit – Explore the world as our guests do: employees receive one complimentary cruise for two people every year, after each year of employment.
• Health and Wellness – Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and flexible spending account options.
• 401k – Employees are eligible after 6 months of employment with an employer match.
• Time off – Enjoy ten company-paid holidays annually. Earn paid vacation and sick time throughout the year, and qualify for more vacation days as you gain tenure.
• Give Back to the Community – Make a difference by volunteering for non-profit and community organizations that you choose using two company-paid volunteer days each year.
• Eco-Commute – When you commute to work without the use of a single-occupancy motorized vehicle you will receive a daily stipend. You can carpool, walk, bike, take the bus, or kayak.
• Free Parking – Employees park for free at our Seattle office on days they commute by car.

Pay Range

$115,000 - $130,000 USD

Disclaimer Statement

This job description is intended only to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by an employee in this position. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills or abilities required or persons so classified or assigned.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

It is the policy of UnCruise Adventures not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, religion, marital status, citizenship, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, ancestry, national origin, or veteran status in its educational programs, activities, or employment as re quired by law.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Positions on Land - UnCruise Adventures’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.