The Role
The Controller will oversee financial operations, ensure compliance with financial regulations, lead accounting staff, and support strategic financial reporting to facilitate scientific discovery.
Summary Generated by Built In
" Controller with the complexity of a large organization and the impact of a small team." Join W. M. Keck Observatory
Are you ready for your next role to truly make an impact? Wondering how your financial leadership could elevate an organization with a mission that reaches far beyond the ordinary? As the Controller at W. M. Keck Observatory, you’ll ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of our financial operations—critical pillars that support our work to explore the cosmos and share its wonders with the world. You’ll shape accounting strategy, strengthen internal controls, and deliver transparent governance reporting that empowers scientific discovery.
Are you ready for your next role to truly make an impact? Wondering how your financial leadership could elevate an organization with a mission that reaches far beyond the ordinary? As the Controller at W. M. Keck Observatory, you’ll ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of our financial operations—critical pillars that support our work to explore the cosmos and share its wonders with the world. You’ll shape accounting strategy, strengthen internal controls, and deliver transparent governance reporting that empowers scientific discovery.
If you’re a finance leader who wants your expertise to fuel breakthroughs that inspire the imagination of all, we’d love to meet you.
Apply now and start making that difference.
*Candidates do not need to have held a Controller title previously but should be ready step into a high-impact leadership role.
Apply now and start making that difference.
*Candidates do not need to have held a Controller title previously but should be ready step into a high-impact leadership role.
Why Choose W. M. Keck Observatory:
- Competitive salary starting between $124,924 and $152,091, based on experience.
- Generous benefits package, including 4 weeks of annual paid vacation.
- Robust retirement benefit with an 8% employer contribution and 4% employee contribution.
- Tuition assistance for dependent children in grades K–12 attending independent schools on Hawai‘i Island.
- Employer-provided health insurance, offering a range of coverage options tailored to individual and family preferences.
- Be part of a mission-driven team working at the frontiers of astronomy.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead all accounting operations, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and financial close processes.
- Prepare and review financial statements in accordance with GAAP, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
- Maintain a strong internal control environment and identify, assess, and escalate financial and compliance risks.
- Oversee monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes, including journal entries, reconciliations, and supporting schedules Supervise and develop accounting staff.
- Ensure compliance with restricted contributions and private grant requirements.
- Support preparation of required tax filings and business registrations.
- Partner with Sponsored Programs to ensure compliance with federal regulations and flow-down provisions for awards and grants related to project, property, and revenue accounting.
- Support internal compliance reporting through the compliance matrix.
- Provide inputs and supporting documentation for Finance and Audit & Compliance Committees.
- Support CFO in Board and committee reporting, including financial trends, risks, and control considerations.
- Serve as lead liaison to the Audit & Compliance Committee.
- Collaborate with Business Systems and Planning functions to ensure financial data integrity and reporting consistency.
- Reinforce financial controls and best practices across the organization.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, or related field.
- Experience
- 10+ years of progressive accounting and financial management experience.
- Experience with ERP systems in a complex organization.
- Skills
- Strong accounting and financial reporting skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment
- Technical Competencies
- GAAP financial reporting
- Internal controls and financial compliance
- Audit preparation and support
- Financial systems (ERP experience)
- Certificates and Licenses o CPA required
About
At the W. M. Keck Observatory, we approach our work with wonder about the mysteries of the universe and with deep respect and care for Maunakea – a mountain revered in Hawaiʻi and unlike any other in the world. For more than three decades, astronomers using Keck Observatory’s twin 10-meter telescopes have vastly expanded our understanding of the cosmos through astonishing findings about our solar system, exoplanets, supermassive black holes, the evolution of the universe, and more. We are dedicated to the values of service and stewardship, while advancing the frontiers of astronomy, sharing our discoveries, and inspiring the imagination of all.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in accounting, Finance, or related field
- 10+ years of progressive accounting and financial management experience
- CPA required
- Experience with ERP systems in a complex organization
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The Company
What We Do
The W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes are among the most scientifically productive on Earth. The two 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes atop Maunakea on the Island of Hawaiʻi feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectrometers, and world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics systems. Keck Observatory is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. We wish to recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Maunakea has always had within the Native Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain
