Client-Facing Chief Financial Officer - Manufacturing Focus (Remote)

About this role

Do you speak the language of the shop floor and the boardroom?
Have you spent your career helping manufacturers understand what their numbers are really telling them?
Are you ready to make an impact across a portfolio of growing businesses—not just one?

Join ALC, a fast-growing, fully remote CFO Advisory, Outsourced Accounting, and HR Services firm. We are on a mission to 'WOW professionally and CARE personally' by providing expert guidance, people centric service, and custom solutions. We believe the combination of unmatched strategic thinking and experience, coupled with a caring human touch, is the key to success and allows us to bring clarity, confidence, and peace of mind to the growing organizations and business leaders we serve.

We're Seeking:

• Seasoned finance leaders with deep manufacturing roots who love helping owner-operated businesses grow.

• Strategic thinkers who can connect cost accounting, inventory, and plant operations to the bigger financial picture.

• Trusted advisors who are as comfortable walking the floor with an operations manager as they are presenting to a board or lender.

• Leaders who light up when mentoring others and building strong, accountable teams.

• Someone with a CAN-DO, positive attitude committed to continual growth for themselves and the team around them.

Who We Are:
We are a passionate team serving privately held, entrepreneurial businesses across the U.S. Our domains span property management, real estate, data management, professional services, non-profits, transportation & logistics, distribution, and more.

Core Values We Live By:

• Speak Your Truth

• Get Sh*t Done

• Team Up

• Be Curious

• Choose Joy

RESPONSIBILITIES
As a CFO with ALC, you will be a trusted strategic partner to our manufacturing and production-based clients (and other types of clients as needed)—owning the full client relationship, analyzing financials, providing actionable recommendations, and helping owners and leadership teams navigate complex financial decisions with confidence. Leading client teams of Controllers and accountants, you will set the tone for each partnership and champion our brand promise: Wow Professionally, Care Personally.
We aim to be our client’s true strategic partner and an extension of their team. As such, as a CFO, you will:

• Own the end-to-end client relationship, providing strategic guidance in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, risk management, M&A, and capital investment decisions.

• Build and maintain cost accounting structures—standard, job, or process costing; bills of material; labor and overhead absorption—and lead variance analysis that gives clients a true picture of margin by product, line, and customer.

• Oversee inventory accounting across raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods, including physical counts, costing methods, and obsolescence reserves, while driving improvements in inventory turns and accuracy.

• Translate plant data—capacity utilization, throughput, scrap and yield, cost per unit—into financial decisions and KPI dashboards that connect the plant floor to the P&L.

• Lead capital expenditure and equipment ROI analysis, make-vs-buy decisions, and working capital strategy; manage lender relationships, borrowing base reporting, and covenant compliance.

• Build pricing and quoting models that account for raw material and commodity costs, tariffs, supplier terms, and demand shifts.

• Help clients get the most from their ERP/MRP systems so costing, inventory, and production data flow accurately into financial reporting.

• Lead structured, impactful client QBRs and deliver service that consistently earns outstanding client satisfaction.

• Proactively manage client scope and margin, and contribute to firm growth by bringing manufacturing credibility to proposals and prospect conversations.

• Lead, mentor, and develop client teams, sharing manufacturing know-how with Controllers and accountants to raise ALC’s capability as a whole.

The successful candidate:

• Builds trusted relationships by offering clear, strategic financial guidance rooted in deep technical expertise.

• Earns credibility on the plant floor as well as in the boardroom, making financial information accessible to plant managers and operations, purchasing, and sales leaders.

• Operates as a steady and confident leader, especially in complex or high-pressure situations.

• Thinks holistically—balancing short-term wins with long-term value and scalability for clients.

• Demonstrates strong executive presence and communication skills, able to engage credibly with C-suite and board-level stakeholders.

• Maintains a growth mindset and uses quarterly reviews, feedback, and KPIs to drive continual improvement.

• Partners across departments and functions to provide integrated solutions that support business goals.

• Proactively identifies financial and operational risks, offering creative, strategic solutions.

• Guides and inspires team members, mentoring others and developing future leaders.

• Embodies ALC's commitment to WOW professionally and CARE personally, ensuring clients feel valued, supported, and understood.
Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive experience in financial advisory, strategic accounting, or CFO services, including 5+ years in a senior finance leadership role within a manufacturing or production-based company

• Hands-on expertise in manufacturing cost accounting, including implementing and maintaining various costing methods, inventory valuation, variance analysis, and product/customer profitability

• Experience working within manufacturing ERP/MRP systems and partnering with operations leaders on capacity, pricing, and capital equipment decisions

• Proven leadership in guiding mid-market businesses through financial planning, capital strategy, lender relationships, and operational efficiency

• Strong background in accounting principles, GAAP (including inventory accounting), and forecasting…