Lead Controller: Construction & Clean Energy Finance

Liberty Personnel Services, Inc.; Santa Cruz (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Life insurance

401K

Education stipend

Equipment reimbursement

Paid vacation

Job summary

Liberty Personnel Services, Inc. seeks a senior Controller to own the full accounting stack for a lean, high‑impact clean energy construction company in Santa Cruz, CA.

You will lead month‑end close, WIP and job costing, and oversee payroll, with direct partnership to the COO/CFO and field operations. You’ll redesign processes and systems to deliver decision‑ready financials, manage dual reporting for lenders, and drive compliance across multi‑entity structures, with a focus on margin, cost

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 2 years in a controller or senior accounting leadership role.
• Construction industry accounting background, including job costing, WIP reporting, and ASC 606 revenue recognition.
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and construction accounting principles.
• Hands-on experience with a construction ERP (Jonas Premier, Sage 300 CRE, Foundation, Viewpoint, or equivalent).
• Proficiency in Excel, including reconciliation and reporting model development.
• Demonstrated track record of evaluating, improving, and when necessary replacing accounting systems and processes.
• Familiarity with California prevailing wage and certified payroll requirements.
• Experience overseeing payroll processing in a multi-jurisdiction or prevailing wage environment.
• Experience managing or overseeing external service providers with real accountability for deliverable quality and scope.

Responsibilities

• Own the full month-end close cycle, including journal entries, accruals, and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Produce monthly financial statements, management reports, and KPI dashboards on a defined close calendar.
• Maintain dual reporting: earned revenue basis for internal use and billed basis for lenders and bonding.
• Prepare WIP, backlog, over/under billing, job cost, and progress billing analyses, and flag anomalies to leadership.
• Own ASC 606 earned revenue calculations, including the Earned Revenue Workbook using Jonas Job Summary Reports.
• Manage job cost accounting for all active projects, ensuring cost coding, change orders, and timecards are accurate.
• Identify and escalate job cost variances, margin erosion, and project performance issues in real time.
• Oversee AP, AR, subcontractor payments, lien waiver compliance, and related-entity accounting.
• Oversee payroll processing (including prevailing wage and certified payroll), reviewing batches, and serving as point of accountability for accuracy.
• Manage fringe benefit accounting tied to IBEW signatory obligations and reconciling against ERP burden rates.
• Design, document, and enforce accounting policies, internal controls, and records retention standards.
• Evaluate and improve—or replace—financial systems, tools, and workflows in partnership with the COO/CFO.
• Oversee external vendors across finance-adjacent services and hold them accountable for scope, quality, and compliance.
• Lead and develop 1–2 accounting staff, building capacity through documentation, cross-training, and clear ownership.

Skills

Construction accounting

WIP reporting

ASC 606 revenue recognition

Financial close

Financial reporting

ERP systems

Excel

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Jonas Premier

Sage 300 CRE

Foundation

Viewpoint

Job description

Liberty Personnel Services, Inc. seeks a senior Controller to own the full accounting stack for a lean, high‑impact clean energy construction company in Santa Cruz, CA.

You will lead month‑end close, WIP and job costing, and oversee payroll, with direct partnership to the COO/CFO and field operations. You’ll redesign processes and systems to deliver decision‑ready financials, manage dual reporting for lenders, and drive compliance across multi‑entity structures, with a focus on margin, cost