Role Description:
Being a Financial Controller at Defense Unicorns means more than keeping the books balanced — it means building the financial backbone of a company transforming how the Department of Defense delivers software. Our mission is to make software a strategic deterrent, and that mission depends on a rock-solid foundation of operational excellence and financial integrity.
In this role, you'll report to the CFO and serve as the strategic steward of our accounting and compliance functions. You’ll partner closely with teams across the company — from engineering and contracts to FP&A and product — to ensure that every dollar we earn, spend, or forecast is in lockstep with our values, our growth, and the trust we’ve earned from the federal government. If you thrive in fast-paced environments, enjoy building from the ground up, and want your accounting expertise to fuel meaningful national impact, this role is for you.
Responsibilities:
- Lead all accounting functions, including general ledger, AR/AP, payroll accounting, and month-end close processes.
Oversee preparation of financial statements in compliance with GAAP and government contract requirements.
Maintain contractual compliance with respect to cost allocation and billing. - Develop and refine accounting policies and internal controls to support a scaling organization.
- Own revenue recognition, cost allocations and indirect rate management.
- Collaborate with the FP&A Director to ensure data integrity in financial planning models and executive reporting.
Support timely and accurate reporting for leadership, the board, and external stakeholders.
Oversee implementation and optimization of accounting and ERP systems. - Serve as the primary liaison for auditors, tax and accounting advisors, and regulatory bodies.
- Partner with operations and contracts teams to ensure financial compliance and contractual alignment across programs.
Contribute to pricing strategies and cost volumes during proposal development in coordination with FP&A and Business Development teams.
The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.
Preferred Experience and Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (CPA preferred).
- 7+ years of progressive accounting experience.
- Experience with indirect rate structures, project accounting, and cost pools in a federal contracting environment.
- Demonstrated success standing up or scaling financial operations in a high-growth or startup setting.
- Strong systems orientation with experience setting up and managing accounting systems and ERPs.
- Excellent analytical skills, attention to detail, and commitment to financial accuracy.
Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States.
Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.
What We DoWe create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.
Who We ServeDefense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.
What We Work On- Kubernetes
- Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
- Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)
- Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
- GitOps
- Containers
- CNCF projects and open source products and packages
- Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping
- Building and improving security delivery
- Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications
- Medical/Dental/Vision
- Premiums are 100% Company Paid
- Health Reimbursement Account
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- 401k Retirement Plan
- Company Stock Options
- Home Office Budget
- Unlimited paid time off, with a mandatory 10 days off on top of 11 federal government holidays, week of Thanksgiving, last two weeks of December (including New Year’s Day)
- Paid Parental Leave
- Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
- Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)
Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed.
At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
CCPA DISCLOSURE
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What We Do
Defense Unicorns specializes in platform technologies that enable rapid and reliable delivery of capabilities across a wide range of mission and technology areas. We support open architecture platforms for secure mission systems that provide optionality for the end user, promote scalability, and allow for continuous identification and integration of new products and services while avoiding vendor lock. Our open approach creates partnership opportunities across the software ecosystem.
Our people are innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across DoD and the broader federal market.
Let's drive change together. Get in touch at [email protected]
