Director of Operational Finance

Tillamook County Creamery Association•Portland, OR

About The Position

The Director of Operational Finance is a pivotal Finance leadership role responsible for partnering with Operations and Supply Chain to drive sustainable performance, disciplined decision-making, and strong financial stewardship. This role sits within the Finance organization and leads a team that provides operational finance, controllership partnership, and cost accounting leadership across the manufacturing and supply chain network. The position is responsible for delivering integrated performance analysis that connects operational drivers, such as labor, yield, and capacity utilization, to financial outcomes, providing transparency into cost performance, risks, and opportunities across manufacturing and supply chain. Through forward-looking analytics, scenario modeling, and business case development, the Director enables data-driven decision-making related to sourcing, capital investment, and continuous improvement initiatives, while framing trade-offs and recommendations for senior leadership. The role also ensures accurate and compliant inventory valuation and operational accounting under GAAP, maintaining strong internal controls, audit readiness, and integrity of financial reporting. This includes oversight of standard costing, cost governance, and working capital performance, with a focus on optimizing inventory levels and minimizing excess and obsolete risk. In addition, the Director leads and develops a high-performing Operations Finance organization, including plant finance teams, building capabilities in financial acumen, business partnership, and analytics. The role fosters a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration to strengthen alignment between Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance. The successful candidate brings a strategic mindset, executive-ready communication, and the ability to lead through influence while aligning operational priorities to financial plans, building strong business partnerships, and developing talent to raise the organization’s capability and impact.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related discipline required
10+ years of progressive experience in operational finance, cost accounting, general accounting and/or finance, including senior leadership responsibility within a manufacturing or CPG environment
Demonstrated success operating as a strategic business partner to Operations and Supply Chain leaders, influencing decisions and driving performance outcomes
Deep knowledge of GAAP and operational accounting, including inventory valuation (raw materials, WIP, finished goods), standard costing, accruals, and financial controls
Proven expertise in cost accounting and manufacturing finance, including: Standard cost development and governance, Variance analysis (material, labor, overhead), Margin and profitability analysis
Experience leading planning, forecasting, and long-range planning processes for complex, multi-site manufacturing environments
Strong experience in financial modeling and scenario analysis to support strategic initiatives and operational decision-making
Demonstrated capability supporting audits and compliance, including internal/external audit coordination and adherence to accounting policies and controls
Experience managing inventory accounting and working capital drivers, including excess & obsolete inventory, cycle count governance, and inventory controls
Proficiency with ERP systems and financial tools, with experience improving processes through automation, reporting enhancements, and system optimization
Strong understanding of manufacturing and supply chain financial drivers, including procurement, production, logistics, and cost-to-serve dynamics
Proven people leadership experience, including leading and developing high-performing finance teams and plant-level finance organizations
Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional leaders without direct authority and drive alignment across Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance
Strong strategic mindset, with the ability to connect operational performance to financial outcomes and long-term business strategy
Exceptional executive communication skills, with the ability to translate complex financial concepts into clear, actionable insights for senior leadership
Ability to lead change and continuous improvement initiatives, including process standardization, automation, and capability building
Effective at prioritization and decision-making in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with competing demands
Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills, with a track record of fostering alignment across multiple functions and levels
High degree of business acumen and judgment, with the ability to identify risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs in complex operating environments

Nice To Haves

MBA and/or CPA/CMA preferred
Dairy experience preferred

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary finance advisor to Operations and Supply Chain leadership, framing tradeoffs and scenarios to enable decisions on sourcing strategy, capacity utilization, cost structure, and operational performance.
Own consolidated operating plan, forecast, and long-range planning for Operations, integrating site inputs into enterprise views and delivering executive-ready performance narratives.
Govern manufacturing cost management, including product costing, standard costing methodology, annual cost rolls, and variance analysis; drive cross-site consistency across plants and co-manufacturing.
Analyze fixed/variable cost performance and key operational drivers to identify improvement opportunities.
Collaborate across functions to improve cost control and optimize expense management through cross-functional initiatives and knowledge sharing.
Establish standardized operational KPIs, definitions, and planning assumptions; deliver performance reporting that connects operational drivers to financial outcomes, risks, and opportunities.
Lead inventory accounting oversight and working capital performance, including inventory valuation integrity, excess/obsolete analysis, and cycle count/physical inventory governance with remediation of control issues.
Lead financial validation and benefits tracking for productivity/continuous improvement initiatives, including business case development and post-implementation performance measurement.
Support capital investment governance through ROI/ROIC modeling, business case development, prioritization support, and post-investment results tracking.
Provide financial leadership across procurement and logistics cost visibility (e.g., PPV, freight/warehousing), standardizing reporting routines and performance insights across the end-to-end supply chain cost base.
Provide compliance-minded financial stewardship and governance across Operations in alignment with controllership standards.
Ensure strong month-end close partnership and audit readiness for operations-related accounting; monitor and ensure operating effectiveness of internal controls over key operations finance processes (inventory, accruals, related schedules).
Lead and develop the Operations Finance organization, including plant finance/controller oversight, capability building, and scalable org design aligned to network evolution.
Lead actions to build models & analysis to evaluate strategic opportunities, trends/variances, & operational performance improvements.
Improve financial transparency through enhanced reporting, leveraging modern analytics & data tools, including AI.
Deliver executive communications: concise materials, dashboards, and narratives highlighting performance, productivity, risks, and outlook for senior stakeholders.
Build finance capability through coaching and training on costing approaches and best practices for finance and cross-functional partners.
Partner with Member Services Accounting to ensure accurate accounting and reporting of milk purchases and dairy input costs.
Champion process improvement and automation within Operations Finance, improving workflow integration with Operations and Supply Chain.