Finance Controller: Lead Clean-Energy Project Accounting

AlphaHire; Santa Cruz (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Company-sponsored benefits

Job summary

AlphaHire invites an experienced Financial Controller to lead the accounting and financial operations for project-based contractor activities in the clean-energy sector. You will own the finance function, overseeing job costing, WIP, payroll compliance, and ERP strategy as part of a hands-on leadership team.

This role emphasizes building scalable processes, strong internal controls, and collaboration with project management to optimize profitability across solar, EV, and infrastructure

Qualifications

• 5+ years progressive accounting experience in controller roles.
• Construction or contractor accounting experience required.
• Expertise in job costing, WIP schedules, and percentage-of-completion.
• Experience with union and prevailing wage payroll.
• Led ERP migrations or system consolidations.
• Proven ability to design or redesign accounting processes.
• Experience in intercompany accounting and reconciliations.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience in small-to-mid-sized companies with hands-on approach.
• Solar/renewable energy project experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full accounting function, including general ledger, AP, AR, billing, reconciliations, month-end close, and financial reporting.
• Manage construction job costing and WIP accounting, including percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, project profitability, cost-to-complete analysis, and variance reporting.
• Oversee union and prevailing wage payroll compliance, including certified payroll, fringe benefit reporting, and multi-local wage requirements.
• Review and analyze financial statements to identify discrepancies, trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Manage intercompany transactions, reconciliations, and eliminations across related entities.
• Lead ERP implementations, migrations, system changes, or accounting-system consolidations, including planning, data migration, testing, implementation, and process redesign.
• Build and improve accounting processes, internal controls, reporting structures, and financial workflows.
• Develop budgets, forecasts, cash-flow projections, and financial analyses to support business decisions.
• Partner with project management and operations teams to monitor project costs, profitability, billing, and overall financial performance.
• Operate as a hands-on finance leader in a lean organization, taking ownership of critical accounting functions without relying on a large finance team.

Skills

Construction accounting

Job costing

WIP accounting

Financial analysis

Intercompany accounting

Communication

Problem solving

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting/finance

Tools

ERP migration

ERP implementation

Payroll systems

Accounting software

Job description

AlphaHire invites an experienced Financial Controller to lead the accounting and financial operations for project-based contractor activities in the clean-energy sector. You will own the finance function, overseeing job costing, WIP, payroll compliance, and ERP strategy as part of a hands-on leadership team.

This role emphasizes building scalable processes, strong internal controls, and collaboration with project management to optimize profitability across solar, EV, and infrastructure