Finance Director – Multisite Mobility Operations

Confidential; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential seeks an experienced Finance Director to lead financial management and business partnering across multiple mobility/automotive sites in Detroit. You will oversee planning, reporting, controls, and strategic support to Site Leaders and executives.

The role combines strong technical finance with an operational mindset to influence leaders at diverse sites and drive profitability and cost improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive finance/accounting experience.
• 5+ years in a finance leadership or Finance Director/Controller-level position.
• Experience supporting multiple sites, business units, or operating locations.
• Strong financial planning and analysis experience.
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and management reporting.
• Strong understanding of operational finance and business performance.
• Experience working directly with senior operational leaders.
• Strong Excel and financial systems capabilities.
• Ability to travel between assigned locations.

Responsibilities

• Provide financial leadership for multiple mobility/automotive sites and operating entities.
• Own monthly financial reporting, forecasting, budgeting, and long-range planning.
• Analyze revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, working capital, and cash flow performance.
• Establish financial targets and performance metrics for each location.
• Partner with site leadership to identify opportunities to improve profitability and operational performance.
• Provide senior management with clear analysis, recommendations, and financial insights.
• Serve as the primary finance business partner to Site General Managers and operational leadership.
• Develop a strong understanding of each site's operational and commercial drivers.
• Translate operational performance into financial results and actionable recommendations.
• Support productivity, labor efficiency, utilization, pricing, capacity planning, and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Challenge assumptions and help operating leaders make financially sound decisions.
• Support capital investment decisions, including equipment, facilities, technology, and capacity expansion.
• Develop financial understanding of manufacturing, engineering, testing, validation, fleet, mobility, or related automotive operations.
• Analyze manufacturing and operational KPIs, including direct/indirect labor, gross margin, contribution margin, overtime, capacity utilization, material costs, SG&A, capex, working capital.
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to improve cost performance.
• Support customer profitability and program-level financial analysis.
• Evaluate new business opportunities, contracts, programs, and investments.
• Partner with Sales and Business Development on pricing, proposals, customer contracts, and profitability.
• Analyze customer and program profitability.
• Support contract negotiations through financial modeling and margin analysis.
• Identify underperforming customers, programs, and contracts and develop improvement plans.
• Provide financial support for new customer and market opportunities.
• Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting for all assigned locations.
• Maintain strong internal controls and compliance with corporate financial policies.
• Partner with Corporate Accounting on month-end and year-end close.
• Ensure appropriate revenue recognition, accruals, reserves, and cost allocations.
• Support internal and external audits.
• Identify opportunities to improve financial processes, systems, and reporting.
• Lead, develop, and mentor finance and accounting personnel across the assigned sites.
• Establish consistent financial processes and performance standards across locations.
• Build strong relationships with operational and commercial leaders.
• Develop a high-performing, commercially focused finance organization.
• Promote accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Skills

Excel

Financial systems

Budgeting & forecasting

FP&A

Management reporting

Strategic finance

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/Accounting/Business

MBA/CPA/CMA (preferred)

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Finance Director to lead financial management and business partnering across multiple manufacturing, engineering, testing, or operational sites within a growing mobility organization in the Detroit market.

The Finance Director will have overall responsibility for the financial performance, planning, reporting, controls, and business support of multiple locations. This individual will work closely with Site Leaders, Operations, Commercial, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Corporate Finance to improve financial performance and support strategic business decisions.

The successful candidate will combine strong technical finance and accounting capabilities with a hands-on, operational mindset and the ability to influence leaders across multiple locations.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide financial leadership for multiple mobility/automotive sites and operating entities.
• Own monthly financial reporting, forecasting, budgeting, and long-range planning.
• Analyze revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, working capital, and cash flow performance.
• Establish financial targets and performance metrics for each location.
• Partner with site leadership to identify opportunities to improve profitability and operational performance.
• Provide senior management with clear analysis, recommendations, and financial insights.

Operations & Business Partnering

• Serve as the primary finance business partner to Site General Managers and operational leadership.
• Develop a strong understanding of each site's operational and commercial drivers.
• Translate operational performance into financial results and actionable recommendations.
• Support productivity, labor efficiency, utilization, pricing, capacity planning, and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Challenge assumptions and help operating leaders make financially sound decisions.
• Support capital investment decisions, including equipment, facilities, technology, and capacity expansion.

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead the annual budgeting process across multiple sites.
• Develop monthly forecasts and identify risks and opportunities against plan.
• Establish appropriate financial models for revenue, labor, overhead, capital expenditures, and cash flow.
• Develop scenario analyses to support business decisions.
• Monitor performance against budget and forecast and drive corrective actions where necessary.

Manufacturing / Mobility Finance

• Develop financial understanding of manufacturing, engineering, testing, validation, fleet, mobility, or related automotive operations.
• Analyze manufacturing and operational KPIs, including:
• Direct and indirect labor
• Gross margin
• Contribution margin
• Overtime
• Capacity utilization
• Material and supplier costs
• SG&A
• Capital expenditures
• Working capital
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to improve cost performance.
• Support customer profitability and program-level financial analysis.
• Evaluate new business opportunities, contracts, programs, and investments.

Commercial Finance

• Partner with Sales and Business Development on pricing, proposals, customer contracts, and profitability.
• Analyze customer and program profitability.
• Support contract negotiations through financial modeling and margin analysis.
• Identify underperforming customers, programs, and contracts and develop improvement plans.
• Provide financial support for new customer and market opportunities.

Accounting & Controls

• Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting for all assigned locations.
• Maintain strong internal controls and compliance with corporate financial policies.
• Partner with Corporate Accounting on month-end and year-end close.
• Ensure appropriate revenue recognition, accruals, reserves, and cost allocations.
• Support internal and external audits.
• Identify opportunities to improve financial processes, systems, and reporting.

Leadership

• Lead, develop, and mentor finance and accounting personnel across the assigned sites.
• Establish consistent financial processes and performance standards across locations.
• Build strong relationships with operational and commercial leaders.
• Develop a high-performing, commercially focused finance organization.
• Promote accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive finance/accounting experience.
• 5+ years in a finance leadership or Finance Director/Controller-level position.
• Experience supporting multiple sites, business units, or operating locations.
• Strong financial planning and analysis experience.
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and management reporting.
• Strong understanding of operational finance and business performance.
• Experience working directly with senior operational leaders.
• Strong Excel and financial systems capabilities.
• Ability to travel between assigned locations.

Preferred

• MBA, CPA, CMA, or other relevant advanced qualification.
• Experience in the automotive, mobility, transportation, engineering, manufacturing, testing, or industrial services industries.
• Experience supporting a multisite P&L.
• Experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar.
• Experience in a PE-backed, high-growth, or acquisitive organization.
• Experience integrating newly acquired businesses or standardizing financial processes across multiple locations.