Project Cost Accounting Lead

Project Cost Accounting Lead

Position Location: Chantilly, VA
Position Overview

Stratos Solutions is seeking an experienced Project Cost Accounting Lead to join our Finance and Contracts team. This position will serve as a key bridge between Finance, Contracts, and Program Management, with primary responsibility for project cost accounting, contract financial management, and accurate project-level reporting across Stratos' portfolio of government contracts.

We are seeking an experienced project accounting professional who understands the financial mechanics of government contracting and can ensure that project costs, revenue, billing, labor, funding, and contract financial data are accurate and properly managed.

The ideal candidate will be a highly experienced Unanet user who can operate as a subject matter expert within the system, improve our project accounting processes, and help Stratos continue to mature its financial infrastructure as the company grows.

Key Responsibilities

Project Cost Accounting & Financial Management

• Lead project cost accounting activities across Stratos' portfolio of government contracts and subcontracts.
• Establish and maintain projects within Unanet, including project structures, labor categories, contract types, funding, billing parameters, and associated financial controls.
• Monitor project costs, revenue, funding, billing, and profitability to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting.
• Perform monthly project accounting and close activities, including review of labor, direct costs, indirect costs, revenue recognition, billing, and project-level reconciliations.
• Analyze actual project performance against budgets, forecasts, funding, and contractual ceilings.
• Identify project financial variances, risks, and anomalies and work with Program Managers and company leadership to resolve issues.
• Support development and maintenance of project budgets, forecasts, Estimates at Completion (EACs), and other financial planning tools.
• Ensure costs are properly recorded and allocated to the appropriate projects, tasks, CLINs, labor categories, and cost objectives.
• Maintain strong project accounting controls and documentation to support audit readiness.

Unanet Administration & Expertise

• Serve as a company subject matter expert for Unanet, with particular emphasis on project accounting, cost management, billing, labor, and financial reporting.
• Support project setup, configuration, maintenance, and closeout within Unanet.
• Develop and improve Unanet reports, dashboards, workflows, and financial controls.
• Troubleshoot project accounting and system issues and work with Finance, Contracts, HR, and Program Management to develop solutions.
• Identify opportunities to better leverage Unanet capabilities and automate or streamline existing financial processes.
• Support continued maturation of Stratos' financial systems and processes as the company grows.

Contracts & Program Financial Support

• Work closely with the Contracts team to ensure financial execution aligns with contract terms, funding, CLIN structures, labor categories, rates, and contractual ceilings.
• Support financial management across T&M, Cost-Plus, and Firm-Fixed-Price contracts and task orders.
• Track contract funding and expenditures and proactively identify funding limitations, burn-rate concerns, and potential overruns.
• Support preparation and review of customer invoices and ensure billing aligns with contract requirements.
• Assist with contract modifications, funding actions, rate changes, and other contractual actions that affect project financials.
• Provide Program Managers with clear, actionable financial information regarding project performance.

Payroll & Corporate Finance Support

• Provide support to the Finance and HR teams with payroll processing and reconciliation, including labor and payroll data within Unanet.
• Assist with labor corrections, timesheet issues, payroll reconciliations, and related financial transactions.
• Support accounts payable, accounts receivable, reconciliations, month-end close, and other corporate accounting activities as needed.
• Provide additional Finance support during periods of increased workload, audits, system implementations, or other company initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with external accounting, audit, tax, and financial advisors as required.

Compliance & Audit Support

• Maintain project accounting practices consistent with applicable FAR, CAS, and DCAA requirements.
• Support DCAA audits, incurred cost submissions, provisional billing rate activities, and other government accounting requirements as applicable.
• Maintain accurate documentation and audit trails supporting project costs, labor charging, billing, and revenue recognition.
• Help develop and maintain scalable policies, procedures, and internal controls appropriate for a growing government contractor.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Significant professional experience in project accounting or government contract accounting.
• Expert-level experience with Unanet is strongly preferred and will be a major consideration in candidate selection.
• Strong understanding of project cost accounting, labor accounting, indirect cost allocation, billing, revenue recognition, and contract financial management.
• Experience supporting U.S. Government contracts and working within a government contracting accounting environment.
• Working knowledge of FAR, CAS, and DCAA accounting requirements.
• Experience with multiple government contract types, including T&M, Cost-Plus, and FFP.
• Experience supporting payroll processing and payroll/labor reconciliation.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills and ability to analyze and communicate complex financial information.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across Finance, Contracts, HR, Program Management, and company leadership.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to identify discrepancies and independently drive issues to resolution.
• Ability to operate effectively in a growing organization where responsibilities may extend beyond a narrowly defined accounting function.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive project accounting, government contract accounting, or related financial experience.
• Prior experience serving as a Unanet administrator, power user, or financial system lead.
• Experience supporting a small or mid-sized government contractor through significant growth.
• Experience with DCAA audits and government contractor accounting system requirements.
• Experience developing project financial reports, EACs, forecasts, indirect rate analyses, and management dashboards.
• Familiarity with ESOP-owned organizations is a plus.
• CPA, CMA, MBA, or other relevant professional certification is beneficial but not required.