Project Director – Finance & Accounting Readiness & Transformation

Slate Auto•Troy, MI

About The Position

At Slate, we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them. The Project Director – Finance & Accounting Readiness & Transformation will lead Slate’s enterprise‑wide program to ensure our finance, accounting, controls, and systems capabilities are fully prepared for “Job One” and beyond. This role will drive the implementation of critical process, policy, and system enhancements across finance, accounting, IT, and operations to enable a fast, accurate close; robust controls; and scalable, efficient business processes. This position will also serve as a key partner to the CFO, acting as a chief of staff for readiness-related priorities, leadership team alignment, and organizational planning and budgeting. The Project Director will directly manage the Senior Manager, Finance Operations & Systems Enablement, and will have the authority to set priorities, secure resources, and, when necessary, take direct ownership of high-priority deliverables. The ideal candidate combines deep finance leadership experience with a proven ability to lead cross‑functional transformation initiatives. This position reports directly to the CFO and works closely with senior leaders across the organization.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive finance leadership experience, ideally within complex manufacturing or automotive environments.
Proven track record in finance transformation, controls implementation, or large‑scale process improvement programs.
Deep FP&A, accounting, and operational finance expertise.
Strong understanding of governance, risk, and compliance requirements.
Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams concurrently.
Skilled at influencing across functions and levels, including senior executives and committees.
Proficiency in financial systems (NetSuite, Adaptive, ERP/BI tools) and strong data analysis capabilities (Power BI, Alteryx, Tableau, etc.).

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain a clear set of priorities across all finance and accounting readiness workstreams, balancing urgency, strategic importance, and available capacity.
Determine and secure the resources needed for each workstream, leveraging internal teams, external partners, and temporary staffing as required.
Monitor progress and remove roadblocks, escalating issues and reallocating resources as needed.
When necessary, assume direct ownership of deliverables to ensure on‑time, high‑quality completion, especially for the most critical readiness objectives.
Re‑align or re‑assign ownership from functional leaders when priority deliverables require centralized control to meet program goals.
Lead cross‑functional projects to improve the speed, accuracy, and scalability of the financial close and reporting process, partnering closely with other members of the Finance Leadership Team.
Lead cross‑functional finance process improvement initiatives, spanning record‑to‑report, order‑to‑cash, procure‑to‑pay, treasury operations, and tax processes, in partnership with functional leaders to ensure readiness, scalability, efficiency, and strong governance.
Own and drive the readiness workstream for governance and accounting policies, setting priorities, securing resources, and—when necessary—taking direct ownership of deliverables to ensure timely development, approval, and rollout of key policies (e.g., Treasury & Investments, Delegation of Authority, Procurement, Code of Conduct) in alignment with readiness objectives.
Lead the finance systems and technology readiness workstream, ensuring all critical systems and integrations (e.g., NetSuite, Adaptive, FloQast, Procurement, HRIS, Equity Management) meet scalability, control, and reporting needs.
Directly manage the Senior Manager, Finance Operations & Systems Enablement, providing guidance, setting priorities, and ensuring alignment with readiness objectives.
Partner with IT, Finance Systems, and other functional leaders to prioritize system enhancements and integrations that support readiness deliverables.
Ensure business process and control requirements are embedded in all system configurations and enhancements.
Oversee testing, validation, and adoption of all finance-related systems improvements, ensuring operational and control requirements are met.
Serve as a strategic partner to the CFO, acting as chief of staff for readiness-related priorities and organizational initiatives.
Organize and facilitate CFO leadership team meetings, including agenda setting, materials preparation, follow-ups, and tracking of action items.
Assist the CFO with finance and accounting organizational planning, ensuring structure, capabilities, and resourcing are aligned with current and future priorities.
Coordinate cross-functional initiatives on behalf of the CFO, ensuring decisions and communications are cascaded effectively across the leadership team.