What You'll do:Groundswell is seeking an experienced Army Financial Management (FM) Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support the design, enhancement, and deployment of an intelligent automation solution built for federal and highly regulated environments.
The Army FM SME will provide functional expertise in Army financial management operations, financial systems, audit readiness and response, and financial statement audit requirements. This role is ideal for a seasoned former civilian, military, or contractor who understands Department of War (DoW) financial management practices, Army-specific financial business processes and systems, Army audit response practices - and who is excited about shaping advanced agentic automation capabilities.
The Army FM SME will partner closely with product teams, developers, data scientists, and federal domain experts to ensure our solution reflects real-world audit rigor, complies with applicable standards, and delivers measurable improvements in audit quality, efficiency, and compliance.
Key Responsibilities- Serve as the primary Army financial management SME, supporting the internal development team as well as supporting client initiatives.
- Identify and document Army financial management business processes, financial systems and associated audit requirements.
- Provide expertise regarding the types, sources, and characteristics of Key Supporting Documents (KSDs) requirement to support financial statement audit procedures.
- Identify authoritative source systems and document repositories used to generate, maintain, and retrieve financial transaction and internal controls documentation.
- Support the mapping of audit documentation requirements to Army financial and feeder systems, business processes and underlying data sources.
- Identify audit pain points and bottlenecks that are strong candidates for automation.
- Work with solution architects and automation developers to design:
- intelligent audit workflows
- policy-aware triggers
- audit lifecycle automations
- exception-handling logic
- Provide expert-level QA on:
- automated control testing
- sampling procedures
- automated evidence gathering
- audit readiness dashboards
- Ensure AI-driven recommendations remain within audit-industry best practices.
- Ensure the solution aligns with:
- GAAS / PCAOB concepts for financial audits
- Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS)
- OMB Uniform Guidance (Single Audit requirements)
- A-123 internal control frameworks
- Federal audit and records-retention policies
- Identify risks associated with automation and recommend guardrails for proper human-in-the-loop oversight.
- Contribute to the knowledge base that powers the system's "federal SME-trained intelligence."
- Review and refine the system's continuous-learning recommendations:
- new automation opportunities
- workflow optimizations
- refined classification models
- Partner with federal agency stakeholders, internal audit teams, and compliance groups to understand requirements and validate workflows.
- Provide domain expertise to customers during discovery sessions, pilots, and demonstrations.
- Serve as a trusted advisor representing the audit perspective across cross-functional teams.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business or related field, or equivalent relevant military or civilian experience.
- 5-10+ years of experience in DoW financial management, accounting, financial operations, audit response or financial statement audit support.
- Significant experience supporting Army financial management operations, financial systems, or audit related activities.
- Strong understanding of:
- CFO Act Audit Requirements
- GAAS / PCAOB auditing principles
- GAGAS (Yellow Book)
- OMB Uniform Guidance & Single Audit requirements
- Federal internal control frameworks (OMB A-123, COSO)
- Evidence, sampling, and documentation standards
- Working knowledge of Army financial management systems and the relationships between financial transactions, supporting documentation, and financial reporting.
- Ability to break down complex audit tasks into structured workflows.
- Experience identifying, reviewing or validating financial documentation used to support audit requests or financial transactions.
- Familiarity with DoW financial statement audit processes, including Provided by Client (PBC) requests, KSDs, internal control and substantive testing.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and stakeholder communication skills and attention to detail.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance per contract requirements
- Must be local to the Washington, DC metro area and willing to work on-site as needed
Preferred Qualifications- Prior service as a Department of the Army civilian (GS13 or higher) or Army military financial management profession (04 or higher).
- Experience working within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), Defense Finance Accounting Service, or a Army Major Command.
- Experience with GFEBS, GCSS-Army, or other Army financial management and feeder systems.
- Experience supporting financial system modernizations, business process improvement, automation, or data integration initiatives.
- Professional certification such as CDFM, CGFM, CPA, or CIA.
Skills:Certification:Why You'll Never Want to Leave:- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
- Flexible Spending Account
- 4% 401K Match (immediate vesting)
- Paid Time Off
- Tuition reimbursement, certification programs, and professional development
- Flexible work schedule
- On-site gym and childcare option
The salary range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for any applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. At Groundswell, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
$157,994.00 - $252,790.00
NOTE: Groundswell does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Groundswell, and Groundswell will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.
