Role OverviewWatchfire is seeking an experienced FP&A Manager to lead financial planning, forecasting, and performance analysis for a PE-backed manufacturing business. This role will serve as a key partner to the CFO and senior leadership, providing insight into financial performance, operational drivers, and forward-looking decision support.
In addition to core FP&A responsibilities, this role will manage the Project Estimation function, ensuring accurate costing, margin visibility, and alignment between estimating, operations, and finance.
Key ResponsibilitiesFinancial Planning & Forecasting- Own the annual budget, quarterly reforecast, and long-range planning processes
- Develop rolling forecasts for revenue, EBITDA, capital expenditures, and cash flow
- Partner with operations and sales to understand volume, backlog, pricing, and margin drivers
Management Reporting & Analysis- Prepare monthly management reporting with clear variance analysis and insights
- Track and analyze KPIs across manufacturing, gross margin, SG&A, and working capital
- Identify risks and opportunities and provide actionable recommendations
Manufacturing & Costing Focus- Analyze standard costing, labor efficiency, overhead absorption, and inventory trends
- Support margin improvement initiatives through detailed product, project, and customer analysis
- Ensure financial alignment between estimating assumptions and actual results
Project Estimation Management- Manage the Project Estimation function, including oversight of estimating accuracy and processes
- Partner with Operations and Sales to ensure estimates reflect true cost structure and capacity realities
- Analyze estimate vs. actual performance and drive continuous improvement in bidding accuracy
PE & Executive Support- Support CFO with board materials, lender reporting, and PE sponsor requests
- Provide ad hoc analysis related to capital investments, operational initiatives, or M&A activity
Systems & Process Improvement- Improve FP&A and estimation models, tools, and reporting
- Leverage ERP and financial systems to enhance forecasting accuracy and visibility
- Standardize and automate reporting where possible
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Accounting
- CPA designation
- 5-8+ years of experience in FP&A within a manufacturing environment
- Strong financial modeling and Excel skills
- Experience working with standard costing, inventory, and operational metrics
- Ability to communicate financial insights to non-financial leaders
Preferred Qualifications- Experience in a PE-backed or leveraged environment
- Prior experience supporting project-based or engineered-to-order manufacturing
Benefits- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Company Paid Life/ADD
- Voluntary Life/ADD
- Dependent Life/ADD
- 401k with Employer Match
- Vacation
- Personal Time
