Strategic Finance Manager (Manufacturing)

Zipline; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline seeks a Manufacturing Finance Partner to join our Strategic Finance team, helping make manufacturing performance measurable, explainable, and economically actionable as we prepare for hyperscale.

You will partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Operations, and Accounting to build the financial operating lens for scale and to establish cost truth and better inventory visibility.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, or another quantitative discipline
• Strong budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and financial statement knowledge
• Experience with ERP/MRP/MES and inventory data systems
• Excellent communication skills for finance and non-finance stakeholders
• Experience with SQL/Looker/Tableau/Power BI is a plus

Responsibilities

• Own manufacturing finance reporting, forecasting, and variance analysis across cost, labor, inventory, cash, and operating expense
• Partner with cross-functional teams to turn performance drivers into actionable business actions
• Develop dashboards and cadence for leaders to monitor unit economics and capacity
• Analyze labor efficiency, material usage, yield, WIP, and throughput to inform decisions
• Improve data, systems, and processes for scalable manufacturing finance

Skills

Budgeting

Forecasting

Variance analysis

Financial modeling

Data visualization

Cross-functional collaboration

SQL basics

Excel/Sheets advanced

Education

Quantitative degree

Tools

ERP systems

MRP systems

MES systems

NetSuite

SAP

Oracle

Inventory management systems

Job description

• Zipline is seeking a Manufacturing Finance Partner to join our Strategic Finance team to help make manufacturing performance measurable, explainable, and economically actionable as we prepare for hyperscale
• As manufacturing expands rapidly over the coming years, this role will help build the financial operating lens needed to scale with that growth
• You will partner closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Operations, and Accounting to establish cost truth, improve inventory and cash visibility, create actionable variance analysis, and build the reporting cadence that helps leaders make sharper scaling decisions
• The work is not just reporting the numbers; it is helping lead the team from evolving systems and processes toward a scaled operating model with clear ownership, reliable data, and decision-quality economics
• Own manufacturing finance reporting, forecasting, and variance analysis across cost, labor, inventory, cash, and operating expense
• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Operations, and Accounting to understand performance drivers and turn them into clear business actions
• Build financial models and decision support for product cost, production planning, capacity, cost-down initiatives, make-buy analysis, and manufacturing investments
• Develop dashboards, reporting, and operating cadences that give leaders better visibility into manufacturing performance and unit economics
• Analyze key operational drivers such as labor efficiency, material usage, rework, scrap, yield, throughput, WIP, E&O, and production volume
• Improve the data, systems, and processes that support scalable manufacturing finance, including ERP, inventory, and operational reporting workflows

This is an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys translating operational reality into financial insightYou will be successful here if you can thrive in a fast-changing manufacturing environment while knowing what great looks like in the futureBalance analytical rigor with business judgment and a bias toward actionThrive in environments where the right answer requires building the model, improving the process, and tightening the data at the same timeExperience working with ERP, MRP, MES, inventory, or operational data systems such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Zerp, or similar toolsEnjoy understanding how products are built and how operational decisions affect cost, throughput, and cashFinance, Cost Accounting, Supply Chain Finance, or another analytical finance roleCan distinguish factory-owned execution from upstream design, supplier, quality, or launch-related driversBuild strong relationships across Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Operations, and AccountingStrong understanding of budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, financial statements, and operational performance driversStrong problem-solving skills, high ownership, and the ability to operate effectively when processes and data are still evolvingBachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, or another quantitative disciplineTake ownership of your work and continuously look for ways to make recurring finance processes more scalableApproximately 3+ years of experience in Manufacturing Finance, FP&A, OperationsAbility to work with large datasets, identify the business drivers behind the numbers, and communicate findings clearly to finance and non-finance stakeholdersCan independently investigate messy operational data and turn it into practical recommendationsExperience analyzing manufacturing, hardware, supply chain, inventory, or other operational cost driversAdvanced Excel or Google Sheets skills, including financial modeling and scenario analysisNaturally ask “why” when performance moves, and can separate symptoms from root causesExcellent written and verbal communication skillsFamiliarity with SQL, Looker, Tableau, Power BI, or similar analytics and business intelligence toolsExperience in high-growth hardware, aerospace, robotics, automotive, consumer electronics, advanced manufacturing, or similarly complex operational environmentsExperience with inventory analysis, WIP, E&O, cycle counts, rework, scrap, yield, throughput, or capacity planningExperience supporting manufacturing cost reduction, product cost modeling, make-buy decisions, or supplier cost analysisExperience partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Operations, Accounting, and systems teamsFamiliarity with standard costing, expected cost models, BOM governance, or cost accounting conceptsPassion for building scalable processes, improving data quality, and turning ambiguity into operating clarity