Director, Finance & Accounting Advisory Services

Intrinsic•Chicago, CO

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for a Director within the Finance & Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) practice, focusing on serving PE-backed portfolio companies during critical finance function evolutions. The position requires a blend of technical expertise, client relationship management, and practice building. The Director will be responsible for setting the quality standard, shaping engagement strategy, making technical judgments, and advising PE sponsors, CFOs, and Boards on high-stakes decisions. The role involves owning a portfolio of client relationships, translating finance challenges into transformation plans, and contributing to the practice's growth by defining delivery methodology, building the team, and establishing frameworks and intellectual capital. This is an entrepreneurial leadership opportunity with senior-level authority and a clear progression path.

Requirements

CPA required (active or eligible).
8+ years of progressive experience in Big 4 FAAS, PE-backed controllership or CFO advisory, top-tier consulting, or corporate finance leadership.
Significant experience in middle-market environments with companies undergoing meaningful transformation.
Demonstrated mastery across multiple domains: close transformation, technical accounting (ASC 606/842/805), cash and working capital management, M&A integration, and exit preparation.
Experience leading these workstreams, not just participating.
Authoritative command of US GAAP, PE-specific accounting (normalization, carve-outs), and ERP/system landscapes.
Deep fluency in the realities of middle-market finance functions (cash-to-accrual migrations, first-time audits, QuickBooks-to-ERP transitions, close process redesign, building finance infrastructure).
Executive-level presence, commanding the room with PE Partners, CEOs, CFOs, and Boards.
Ability to translate complex accounting into plain-English business implications.
Experience designing and owning workplans that align people, systems, and processes across organizational change.
Proven ability to navigate competing stakeholder priorities (sponsor vs. management vs. technical teams).
Director's mindset: setting standards for quality, client experience, and execution.
Decisive under pressure, with judgment sharpened by high-stakes deadlines and ambiguity.
Intellectually versatile, credible discussing technical accounting and presenting value creation roadmaps.
Ability to build teams: hire well, develop people deliberately, structure capacity, and create an environment for optimal performance.
Entrepreneurial mindset: ability to build and refine methodology, deliverables, and playbooks.

Nice To Haves

Travel required for engagement kickoffs and firm meetings (estimated 20 to 30%).

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior point of accountability on client engagements, setting strategic direction and ensuring workstreams align with client finance goals and investment thesis.
Navigate multi-stakeholder dynamics, aligning sponsors, management teams, and technical advisors, and proactively surfacing risks and trade-offs.
Diagnose root causes, remediate issues, and build finance function infrastructure for long-term success.
Lead concurrent engagements across post-acquisition integration and exit preparation, ensuring quality and defensibility of deliverables.
Make judgment calls on technical accounting matters, set priorities, and ensure precise and timely delivery.
Manage finance and accounting change management initiatives.
Drive month-end close acceleration and financial reporting transformation.
Resolve technical accounting issues (ASC 606, 842, complex transactions, carve-out accounting).
Enhance cash flow visibility, controls, and management.
Build reporting and KPI infrastructure to support scale and complexity.
Oversee post-acquisition integration, including COA harmonization, system consolidation, and team assessment/design.
Lead exit preparation and sell-side readiness efforts.
Ensure deliverables withstand investor and audit scrutiny and inform executive decision-making.
Build and develop the team, including hiring, structuring capacity, and talent development.
Provide direct, constructive feedback and create opportunities for growth.
Model high standards of work and client service.
Contribute to building the FAAS practice by refining delivery methodology, developing internal frameworks and intellectual capital, and shaping operational scaling.
Present complex findings with boardroom-level clarity to CFOs, PE operating partners, and founders.
Anticipate objections, frame trade-offs, and guide stakeholders toward aligned decisions.
Translate accounting concepts into business implications and guide clients through strategic decision-making processes.
Navigate difficult conversations with conviction and care.