Global Finance & Accounting Leader — Life Sciences

Valid8 Financial, Inc.; Florida; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascend Advanced Therapies Group is a global CDMO supporting gene therapies, viral vectors, and vaccines with sites across the US and Europe. The Director, Finance and Accounting reports to the CFO and leads accounting, controllership, financial reporting, FP&A, and AR/AP at a global manufacturing network.

The role partners with Operations, Commercial, Quality, and HR to deliver budgets, forecasts, and KPI dashboards, while ensuring GAAP compliance and robust internal controls across multiple

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA and/or MBA strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive finance and accounting experience, including significant time in life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotech, CDMO/CMO, or complex manufacturing environments.
• Proven experience leading multi-functional finance teams across multiple sites and/or geographies.
• Good understanding of U.S. GAAP; experience with multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation (UK/European entities a strong plus).
• Hands-on experience building and running FP&A processes – budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting – in a complex operating business.
• Experience with contract manufacturing or milestone-based revenue recognition (ASC 606) including backlog and bookings management.
• Track record managing external audit relationships and partnering with outside tax and treasury advisors.
• Experience preparing board- and/or investor-level reporting materials.
• Strong ERP/systems fluency; NetSuite experience strongly preferred.
• Executive presence and excellent communication skills with cross-functional partnering across functions.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally (approximately 25–40%).

Responsibilities

• Own the global annual budgeting process and rolling forecasts across all Ascend sites.
• Design calendars, templates, and governance to manage budgets and forecasts.
• Partner with site and functional leaders to build bottoms-up plans grounded in capacity and cost drivers.
• Develop multi-year financial models supporting strategic planning and capital investments.
• Build and own management reporting for budget vs. forecast performance.
• Lead monthly/quarterly variance analysis and actionable CFO-level insights.
• Own treasury, cash management, and lender reporting; oversee accounting operations across sites.
• Support CFO on strategic transactions, including M&A due diligence and integration.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

People management

GAAP knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA/MBA preferred

Tools

NetSuite

ERP systems

Job description

Ascend Advanced Therapies Group is a global CDMO supporting gene therapies, viral vectors, and vaccines with sites across the US and Europe. The Director, Finance and Accounting reports to the CFO and leads accounting, controllership, financial reporting, FP&A, and AR/AP at a global manufacturing network.

The role partners with Operations, Commercial, Quality, and HR to deliver budgets, forecasts, and KPI dashboards, while ensuring GAAP compliance and robust internal controls across multiple