Director of Finance Operations & Systems

Job Summary

The Director of Finance Operations & Systems leads UnCruise's accounting team and serves as a hands-on partner to the VP of Finance on forecasting, reporting, financial operations, and finance systems. This is a leadership role first: you will manage and develop a small, capable accounting team, hold them accountable to clear goals and a fast, reliable close, and take real ownership of process improvement and systems modernization across the finance function.

You will also spend meaningful time working directly alongside the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and cross-departmental financial initiatives, and will help lead the partnership between Finance and IT on the systems that support accurate, timely financial reporting.

This role suits someone who is motivated, technically sharp, and allergic to complacency; someone who sees a broken process and fixes it without being asked, who is comfortable holding a team to a high standard, and who wants a seat close to senior leadership at a growing company.

This is a full-time, exempt position reporting to the VP of Finance, located at the company's headquarters in Seattle.

Essential Duties - Team Leadership & Close

• Manage and develop a team of two GL Accountants and one Accounts Payable Manager - set goals, hold regular 1:1s, and drive accountability to team and company targets.
• Own the monthly financial close process end to end: keep the team on schedule, review postings for accuracy and completeness, and drive the close timeline toward a 5-day standard.
• Review and approve journal entries and account reconciliations prepared by the team, escalating and resolving issues rather than redoing the work.
• Build backup capability and cross-training across the accounting team - including AP and payroll backup coverage - so the close and key processes aren't dependent on any single person.

Essential Duties - Reporting & Forecasting

• Produce monthly financial reporting packages for leadership.
• Partner directly with the VP of Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning across the organization, including ownership of rolling cash flow forecasting.
• Provide ad hoc financial analysis and reporting to Operations, Sales, IT, and other departments as needed.

Essential Duties - Systems & Process Improvement

• Partner with the VP of Finance and IT to plan and drive finance system improvements and migrations - leading the team's role in the project, including replacing outdated legacy platforms.
• Serve as the team's lead point of contact on core financial systems (ERP, subledgers, reporting tools), coordinating with IT on their direction, configuration, and optimization.
• Coordinate system upgrades, enhancements, and integrations with IT, ensuring the team's needs are represented in testing, documentation, and change control.
• Work with IT on issue resolution, system performance, and reliable data flows across platforms.
• Help establish and maintain governance standards for user access, data integrity, and system documentation, in partnership with IT.
• Contribute to a shared finance systems roadmap with the VP of Finance and IT - documenting the systems landscape, integrations, and dependencies as they evolve.
• Lead the team's adoption of new system functionality, including training and hands-on support.
• Maintain system data tables and build process documentation with the team to support consistency, scalability, and knowledge transfer.
• Identify and help implement improvements to financial operations processes - close efficiency, systems workflows, controls - working through the team rather than delegating the diagnosis and disappearing.
• Track system performance metrics with IT and drive continuous improvement as a team effort.

Essential Duties - Audit, Treasury & Governance

• Oversee fixed asset accounting and capital project budgets (e.g., shipyard projects).
• Lead the team's response to internal reviews and external audit requests, including those related to system controls, configurations, and change management - partnering with the VP of Finance rather than acting as the sole point of contact.
• Work with the team and IT to monitor risks related to system access, segregation of duties, and data security, and help coordinate remediation of any control gaps.
• Serve as backup and escalation point for treasury functions, including ACH/wires, deposits, and positive pay.
• Review customer-facing promotions and terms for financial and operational risk.
• Partner with the VP of Finance on company and marine insurance matters and legal-adjacent finance work, including reviewing partner contracts and insurance requirements.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with IT, Revenue/Sales Systems, and other departments on financial process design, systems integrations, and departmental budgeting and forecasting.

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years of progressive accounting/finance experience, including direct people management.
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and financial reporting, with comfort reviewing others' work at a detailed level.
• Demonstrated experience improving financial operations processes, not just operating within existing ones.
• Proven ability to build accountability and drive a more proactive, ownership-driven team culture - not just manage day-to-day tasks.
• Strong forecasting and budgeting experience, ideally partnering directly with finance leadership.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills.
• A track record as a cross-functional collaborator - comfortable working with IT, revenue systems, and other departments to solve problems that cross team lines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, comfortable presenting to senior leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.

Preferred / a plus

• Active CPA or CMA license, or actively pursuing one.
• Experience contributing to finance system implementations or migrations.
• Experience designing or improving internal controls, including system access and segregation of duties.
• Comfort liaising with external auditors and supporting audit deliverables.
• Comfort reviewing contracts and insurance documentation, or strong interest in developing this skill set alongside finance leadership.
• Experience with ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics BC or similar).
• Exposure to multi-entity or international accounting (multi-currency, cross-border operations).

Physical Demands / Work Environment

Must be able to work in a standard office environment with sitting, typing and writing for 8 hours per day.

Work Schedule

This is an exempt position. The work day core hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM; this role may require a flexible schedule with varying hours based on business needs, including occasional evenings or weekends around close and reporting deadlines.

Pay and Employee Benefits

• Base Pay - $115k to $130k
• Cruise Benefit - Explore the world as our guests do: employees receive one complimentary cruise for two people every year, after each year of employment.
• Health and Wellness - Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and flexible spending account options.
• 401k - Employees are eligible after 6 months of employment with an employer match.
• Time off - Enjoy ten company-paid holidays annually. Earn paid vacation and sick time throughout the year, and qualify for more vacation days as you gain tenure.
• Give Back to the Community - Make a difference by volunteering for non-profit and community organizations that you choose using two company-paid volunteer days each year.
• Eco-Commute - When you commute to work without the use of a single-occupancy motorized vehicle you will receive a daily stipend. You can carpool, walk, bike, take the bus, or kayak.
• Free Parking - Employees park for free at our Seattle office on days they commute by car.

Pay Range

$115,000-$130,000 USD