Director, Operational Finance

NextGenEnergyJobs; Denver, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

NextGenEnergyJobs in Denver is seeking a senior FP&A and project finance leader to align finance with development, EPC, asset management, and construction teams. You will own portfolio forecasting, data integrity, and governance, driving standardization and automation across projects.

You will lead financial modeling, ERP data flows, and KPI-focused reporting, delivering executive insights on capital projects, portfolio economics, and risk mitigation in a fast-growing solar/IPP environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in FP&A or project controls for development, construction, or EPC with cost discipline impact.
• Renewable energy or capital-intensive project delivery background.
• Expertise in project accounting, cost controls, and change orders.
• Experience with Procore, Touchplan, NetSuite or Sage required.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills for forecasting and reporting.
• CPA is a plus; strong cross-functional collaboration is essential.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary strategic liaison between FP&A and development, EPC, asset management and construction teams.
• Own operational financial planning and data integrity across portfolios; synthesize data for variance analysis and forecasts.
• Establish governance frameworks, cost standards, and financial metrics for projects and execution.
• Lead cross-functional problem solving on cost escalation, delays, and budget pressures with mitigations.
• Partner with asset management on run-rate economics and operating budgets alignment.
• Maintain data reconciliation across Procore, ERP, and accounting systems with audit trails.
• Drive standardization and automation of cost accounting methodologies and templates.
• Identify process improvements and system enhancements to reduce reporting cycle time.
• Build BI dashboards and real-time reporting for operations and FP&A leadership.
• Deliver executive analyses and materials for board/investor communications.

Skills

FP&A

Financial modeling

Cost controls

Project accounting

Excel

Data governance

Power BI

Stakeholder management

ERP systems

Automation/AI tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/Accounting/Engineering

CPA

Tools

Procore

Touchplan

NetSuite

Sage

Power BI

Job description

Serve as the primary strategic liaison and trusted advisor between FP&A and development, EPC, asset management, and construction teams; establish relationships that enable open dialogue on financial performance, operational trade-offs, and cost drivers.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary strategic liaison and trusted advisor between FP&A and development, EPC, asset management, and construction teams; establish relationships that enable open dialogue on financial performance, operational trade-offs, and cost drivers.
• Own responsibility for operational financial planning and data integrity: gather, validate, and interpret cost and performance data across project portfolios; synthesize field intelligence into portfolio-level variance analysis, forecasting inputs, and trend reporting for FP&A and executive leadership.
• Establish and maintain financial governance frameworks for development and EPC execution; define cost control standards, change management protocols, project-level financial metrics, accounting methodologies, and financial decision-making criteria that operations teams follow.
• Lead cross-functional problem-solving on cost escalation, schedule delays, budget pressures, and risk; identify and escalate material variances and emerging risks to CFO and executive leadership with recommended mitigation strategies and impact assessments.
• Partner with asset management on operational financial metrics, run-rate economics, and performance against operating budgets; ensure alignment between development phase cost estimates and post-COD actuals to improve forecasting accuracy.
• Maintain data reconciliation discipline across project management systems (Procore, etc.), ERP platforms (NetSuite, Sage), and accounting systems; establish audit protocols that resolve discrepancies before data enters formal reporting and forecasts.
• Drive standardization and automation of cost accounting methodologies, templates, and calculations across projects and asset classes to enable consistent portfolio analysis, comparability, and reduced manual effort.
• Identify and implement process improvements and system enhancements that reduce reporting cycle time, improve data quality, minimize manual work on field teams, and scale financial discipline across growth.
• Build and maintain BI dashboards and reporting tools that give operations and FP&A leadership real-time visibility into project performance, financial health, cost drivers, and key performance indicators.
• Deliver executive-level analysis and decision support on capital projects, operational efficiency, portfolio optimization, and valuation; prepare financial narratives and materials for board and investor communications.

Requirements

• Operational Finance Expertise: 5+ years in FP&A, project controls, or operational finance supporting development, construction, or EPC functions with demonstrated impact on cost management and financial discipline.
• Industry Experience: Proven background in renewable energy, infrastructure, construction, or capital-intensive project delivery; preferably distributed generation solar or similar asset class.
• Deep Project Finance Knowledge: Expert-level expertise in project accounting, cost controls, change order management, cost-to-complete methodologies, and portfolio economics in complex, multi-project environments.
• Systems & Tools Proficiency: Hands-on expertise with project management systems (Procore, Touchplan), ERP platforms (NetSuite, Sage), and BI/analytics tools (Power BI preferred); ability to configure and troubleshoot data flows.
• Financial Modeling: Advanced Excel skills with ability to build, maintain, and enhance financial models; strong data analysis and transformation capabilities to support insights and forecasting.
• Cross-functional Leadership: Exceptional ability to influence and align diverse groups without direct authority; strong stakeholder management and communication skills tailored to operations, finance, and executive audiences.
• Operational Acumen: Deep understanding of field operations, construction constraints, trade-offs, and drivers that impact project economics and execution risk.
• Data Governance Mindset: Detail-oriented with a reconciliation-first approach; treats data quality, accuracy, and audit trails as core responsibilities and establishes discipline across teams.
• Strategic Problem-Solving: Ability to translate operational complexity and ambiguity into clear financial narratives; bridges finance and operations language to drive alignment.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Engineering, or equivalent experience; CPA a plus.
• ERP & Planning Systems: Hands-on experience implementing or managing planning, forecasting, and ERP systems; familiarity with data architecture and model governance best practices.
• Process Automation: Experience designing or implementing workflow automation and AI-enabled tools to reduce manual work, accelerate analysis, and strengthen data integrity.
• Solar IPP Operations: In-depth familiarity with solar independent power producer operations, distributed generation business models, or similar renewable asset management.
• Project Finance Models: Experience with solar project financial models, including structured debt, tax equity arrangements, and power purchase agreement (PPA) economics.