FP&A Manager

Watchfire; Danville (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Company Paid Life/ADD

Voluntary Life/ADD

Dependent Life/ADD

401k with Employer Match

Vacation

Personal Time

Job summary

Watchfire is seeking an experienced FP&A Manager to lead financial planning, forecasting, and performance analysis for a PE-backed manufacturing business. This role partners with the CFO and senior leadership to provide insight into financial performance and forward-looking decision support, including managing the Project Estimation function for accurate costing and margin visibility.

In addition to core FP&A duties, you will ensure alignment between estimating assumptions and actual results,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related field required.
• CPA designation strongly preferred or active pursuit.
• 5–8+ years FP&A experience in manufacturing setting.
• Demonstrated financial modeling and Excel capabilities.
• Experience with standard costing, inventory, and key manufacturing metrics.
• Ability to present financial insights to non-financial partners clearly.

Responsibilities

• Own the annual budget and quarterly reforecast, plus long-range planning.
• Develop rolling forecasts for revenue, EBITDA, capex, and cash flow.
• Analyze volume, backlog, pricing, and margin drivers with operations and sales.
• Prepare monthly management reporting with variance analysis and insights.
• Monitor KPIs across manufacturing, gross margin, SG&A, and working capital.
• Drive margin improvement through product, project, and customer analyses.
• Ensure cost-accuracy alignment between estimating and actual results.
• Lead Project Estimation management and provide bid-quality analyses.
• Support CFO with board materials, lender reporting, and PE sponsor requests.
• Improve FP&A models and reporting, leveraging ERP systems.

Skills

Financial modeling

Excel skills

Communication to non-financial leaders

ERP/financial systems

Standard costing

Inventory metrics

Forecasting

Budgeting

Variance analysis

Manufacturing finance

Education

Bachelor's in Accounting

CPA designation

Tools

Excel

ERP systems

BI tools

Job description

Role Overview

Watchfire is seeking an experienced FP&A Manager to lead financial planning, forecasting, and performance analysis for a PE-backed manufacturing business. This role will serve as a key partner to the CFO and senior leadership, providing insight into financial performance, operational drivers, and forward-looking decision support.

Role Overview

Watchfire is seeking an experienced FP&A Manager to lead financial planning, forecasting, and performance analysis for a PE-backed manufacturing business. This role will serve as a key partner to the CFO and senior leadership, providing insight into financial performance, operational drivers, and forward-looking decision support. In addition to core FP&A responsibilities, this role will manage the Project Estimation function, ensuring accurate costing, margin visibility, and alignment between estimating, operations, and finance.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Planning & Forecasting

• Own the annual budget, quarterly reforecast, and long-range planning processes


• Develop rolling forecasts for revenue, EBITDA, capital expenditures, and cash flow


• Partner with operations and sales to understand volume, backlog, pricing, and margin drivers

Management Reporting & Analysis

• Prepare monthly management reporting with clear variance analysis and insights


• Track and analyze KPIs across manufacturing, gross margin, SG&A, and working capital


• Identify risks and opportunities and provide actionable recommendations

Manufacturing & Costing Focus

• Analyze standard costing, labor efficiency, overhead absorption, and inventory trends


• Support margin improvement initiatives through detailed product, project, and customer analysis


• Ensure financial alignment between estimating assumptions and actual results

Project Estimation Management

• Manage the Project Estimation function, including oversight of estimating accuracy and processes


• Partner with Operations and Sales to ensure estimates reflect true cost structure and capacity realities


• Analyze estimate vs. actual performance and drive continuous improvement in bidding accuracy

PE & Executive Support

• Support CFO with board materials, lender reporting, and PE sponsor requests


• Provide ad hoc analysis related to capital investments, operational initiatives, or M&A activity

Systems & Process Improvement

• Improve FP&A and estimation models, tools, and reporting


• Leverage ERP and financial systems to enhance forecasting accuracy and visibility


• Standardize and automate reporting where possible

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting


• CPA designation


• 5-8+ years of experience in FP&A within a manufacturing environment


• Strong financial modeling and Excel skills


• Experience working with standard costing, inventory, and operational metrics


• Ability to communicate financial insights to non-financial leaders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a PE-backed or leveraged environment


• Prior experience supporting project-based or engineered-to-order manufacturing

Benefits

• Medical


• Dental


• Vision


• Company Paid Life/ADD


• Voluntary Life/ADD


• Dependent Life/ADD


• 401k with Employer Match


• Vacation


• Personal Time

Watchfire is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All aspects of employment including the decision to hire, promote, discipline, or discharge, will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs.