Project FinOps Manager
Full Time
Dallas, Addison, TX, US
Job Summary
The Project FinOps Manager is a newly defined role within Knight’s Finance department dedicated to providing project finance leadership across the company’s portfolio of active projects. This role serves as the critical finance operations liaison to project managers and external stakeholders throughout every stage of the project lifecycle. The position reports directly to the CFO and maintains a close working relationship with Operations to establish and maintain project financial hygiene. The ideal candidate brings seasoned project accounting/controls experience at a mid-to large-scale project-based business, is fluent in project accounting and GAAP principles including ASC 606, and is comfortable operating close to the field with the credibility to influence project managers and executive stakeholders alike.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
WIP & Revenue Recognition Ownership
- Own the monthly work-in-progress (WIP) review process, including forecast lock and percentage-of-completion (POC) determinations by service line.
- Serve as audit lead on WIP substantive testing, ensuring revenue recognition positions are supportable and audit-ready each close.
- Manage and track deferred and unbilled revenue, monitoring against contract terms and conditions to ensure accurate processing.
- Align with Operations and Estimating personnel on job cost baselines so budgeted cost, contract value, and progress data are reliable inputs to revenue recognition.
Project Budgeting & Forecasting
- Assist in setting project budgets and schedules; monitor budget variances and forecast-to actual performance throughout the project lifecycle.
- Monitor project progress on an ongoing basis and proactively identify financial risks or cost impacts for project managers.
Job Costing & Billing Operations
- Ensure accurate job code capture for expenses, labor, and other costs to support accurate job costing and margin visibility. •
- Work with Accounting to manage AP and AR aging related to active projects, escalating exceptions before they affect close.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with project managers to run structured WIP reviews, incorporating updates to forecast cost and root-cause analysis of margin variances.
- Act as the primary finance point of contact for Operations on project financial matters, maintaining a working relationship with operations counterparts.
- Support ad hoc financial reporting in response to supplier, customer, and insurance adjuster requests to resolve escalated issues, including billing disputes and aged collections.
Team Leadership & Scaling
- Establish processes and training governing the Project FinOps function, with coordination from Operations counterparts.
- Execute continuous process improvement as the function matures and new technologies are adopted.
- Lead hiring and training of junior analysts as the function scales with company growth.
Typical Skills Required
- 5 to 7 years of experience working in a project finance role at a mid- to large-scale project based business.
- Proven experience in project accounting and familiarity with GAAP principles, including ASC 606.
- Ability to multi-task and work effectively with a diverse group of vendors, executive managers, subcontractors, consultants, and other professionals.
- Experience working with service-based professional services automation (PSA) software and related processes.
- Commercial mitigation and construction industry experience, preferably at a private equity-backed company.
