Director, Operational Finance

ROLE OVERVIEW

Pivot Energy is seeking a Director of Operational Finance to serve as the strategic bridge between corporate FP&A and operations teams. In this role, you will own the flow of operational data, cost insights, and project financial metrics from development, EPC, construction, and asset management functions into corporate financial planning and reporting. You will establish and maintain financial discipline across project portfolios, drive alignment on cost controls and project economics, and translate complex operational realities into actionable financial insights that support executive decision-making and strategic growth. This is a hands-on strategic position requiring deep operational partnership skills and the ability to influence and align diverse groups without direct authority across multiple functional groups.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Serve as the primary strategic liaison and trusted advisor between FP&A and development, EPC, asset management, and construction teams; establish relationships that enable open dialogue on financial performance, operational trade-offs, and cost drivers.
Own responsibility for operational financial planning and data integrity: gather, validate, and interpret cost and performance data across project portfolios; synthesize field intelligence into portfolio-level variance analysis, forecasting inputs, and trend reporting for FP&A and executive leadership.
Establish and maintain financial governance frameworks for development and EPC execution; define cost control standards, change management protocols, project-level financial metrics, accounting methodologies, and financial decision-making criteria that operations teams follow.
Lead cross-functional problem-solving on cost escalation, schedule delays, budget pressures, and risk; identify and escalate material variances and emerging risks to CFO and executive leadership with recommended mitigation strategies and impact assessments.
Partner with asset management on operational financial metrics, run-rate economics, and performance against operating budgets; ensure alignment between development phase cost estimates and post-COD actuals to improve forecasting accuracy.
Maintain data reconciliation discipline across project management systems (Procore, etc.), ERP platforms (NetSuite, Sage), and accounting systems; establish audit protocols that resolve discrepancies before data enters formal reporting and forecasts.
Drive standardization and automation of cost accounting methodologies, templates, and calculations across projects and asset classes to enable consistent portfolio analysis, comparability, and reduced manual effort.
Identify and implement process improvements and system enhancements that reduce reporting cycle time, improve data quality, minimize manual work on field teams, and scale financial discipline across growth.
Build and maintain BI dashboards and reporting tools that give operations and FP&A leadership real-time visibility into project performance, financial health, cost drivers, and key performance indicators.
Deliver executive-level analysis and decision support on capital projects, operational efficiency, portfolio optimization, and valuation; prepare financial narratives and materials for board and investor communications.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Operational Finance Expertise: 5+ years in FP&A, project controls, or operational finance supporting development, construction, or EPC functions with demonstrated impact on cost management and financial discipline.
Industry Experience: Proven background in renewable energy, infrastructure, construction, or capital-intensive project delivery; preferably distributed generation solar or similar asset class.
Deep Project Finance Knowledge: Expert-level expertise in project accounting, cost controls, change order management, cost-to-complete methodologies, and portfolio economics in complex, multi-project environments.
Systems & Tools Proficiency: Hands-on expertise with project management systems (Procore, Touchplan), ERP platforms (NetSuite, Sage), and BI/analytics tools (Power BI preferred); ability to configure and troubleshoot data flows.
Financial Modeling: Advanced Excel skills with ability to build, maintain, and enhance financial models; strong data analysis and transformation capabilities to support insights and forecasting.
Cross-functional Leadership: Exceptional ability to influence and align diverse groups without direct authority; strong stakeholder management and communication skills tailored to operations, finance, and executive audiences.
Operational Acumen: Deep understanding of field operations, construction constraints, trade-offs, and drivers that impact project economics and execution risk.
Data Governance Mindset: Detail-oriented with a reconciliation-first approach; treats data quality, accuracy, and audit trails as core responsibilities and establishes discipline across teams.
Strategic Problem-Solving: Ability to translate operational complexity and ambiguity into clear financial narratives; bridges finance and operations language to drive alignment.
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Engineering, or equivalent experience; CPA a plus.

PREFERRED COMPETENCIES

ERP & Planning Systems: Hands-on experience implementing or managing planning, forecasting, and ERP systems; familiarity with data architecture and model governance best practices.
Process Automation: Experience designing or implementing workflow automation and AI-enabled tools to reduce manual work, accelerate analysis, and strengthen data integrity.
Solar IPP Operations: In-depth familiarity with solar independent power producer operations, distributed generation business models, or similar renewable asset management.
Project Finance Models: Experience with solar project financial models, including structured debt, tax equity arrangements, and power purchase agreement (PPA) economics.