Business Partner Operational Finance Manager

Outform Group•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Business Partner – Operational Finance Manager is an operationally focused finance partner and trusted advisor in a bespoke, project-based manufacturing business. The role monitors, reports, and optimizes project- and customer-level profitability, partnering with operations, production, and procurement to align purchasing and execution with budgets and timelines. It provides clear, actionable financial insight to support margin protection and commercial success for complex, custom-built manufacturing projects. The manager prepares project and customer income statements, analyzes actual results against estimates, reviews percentage-of-completion metrics, and supports accurate revenue recognition and month-end reporting. The role also monitors purchasing and material flow, follows up on execution milestones, contributes to project reviews and customer negotiations, and develops reporting, forecasts, and budget updates. Through regular financial reviews, root cause analysis, and lessons learned, the position promotes accountability, cost control, and continuous improvement across the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
Minimum 3–5 years of experience in FP&A, business partnering, or operational finance.
Strong familiarity with project profitability analysis and forecasting.
Solid understanding of financial analysis, forecasting, margin and variance analysis, and project income statement analysis.
Proficiency with ERP systems and advanced Excel.
Ability to analyze detailed financial and operational data, identify trends, and provide practical recommendations.
High numeracy and analytical capability, including interpreting variances and communicating actionable insights.
Excellent communication skills and ability to influence and support operational teams and present financial data clearly.
Self-starter with initiative and ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and stakeholders simultaneously.
Team-oriented approach and commitment to effective cross-departmental working relationships.
Problem-solving and stakeholder management skills.
Strategic and innovative thinking, with the ability to work autonomously in entrepreneurial environments.
Ability to communicate clearly and distill messages that resonate with clients.
Proactive approach and ability to earn respect through intelligence, hard work, and persistence.
Track record of effective problem-solving and project execution.
Interest in utilizing enabling technologies.
Strong organization, interpersonal skills, and ability to adhere to deadlines and drive decision-making.
Ability to listen thoughtfully, learn from clients, and leverage their input.
Strong work ethic focused on high-priority issues, action, and results.

Nice To Haves

Experience in bespoke or custom manufacturing, engineering, or project-based production environments.

Responsibilities

Prepare detailed income statements at project and customer levels, analyzing actual performance against original and revised estimates.
Perform variance analysis on revenue, cost, and margin; highlight risks and recommend corrective actions to project managers and senior stakeholders.
Provide project progress and commercial-terms inputs to the accounting team to support timely and accurate revenue recognition.
Calculate and review monthly project percentage-of-completion metrics and partner with the GL team to support financial reporting.
Monitor purchasing and material flow for each project with procurement, tracking commitments and deliveries against project plans.
Follow up with production and project teams on execution milestones and proactively escalate issues affecting budgets or timelines.
Provide financial input to project reviews, change orders, and customer negotiations where required.
Develop regular reporting packages, including customer and project income statements and estimate-to-actual comparisons.
Analyze estimate-to-actual variances at key milestones and project completion, capturing financial lessons for future bids and planning.
Contribute to rolling project forecasts, budget updates, and month-end close with reliable cost and margin projections.
Serve as a key finance contact for project managers, production leads, and procurement, using financial insight to influence decisions.
Lead regular financial reviews with project teams to drive accountability and proactive cost management.
Support root cause analysis of cost overruns and contribute to lessons learned and process improvement.
Champion best practices in cost control and operational finance across the organization.