Financial Controller

Salary Range: $115,000 - $125,000

Location: Victoria, BC

Reports To: CEO

Direct Reports: Supporting Accounting Team (AP, AR & Job Costing)

Department: Finance

Work Environment: Hybrid - 4 days in office, 1 day remote

Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 5pm, additional hours anticipated during month-end and year-end close

Travel: 0 – 10%

Company Summary

SHIFT is a proudly Canadian-owned leader in solar energy and innovative renewable energy solutions. With over 15 years in business, we're helping homeowners and businesses across Canada take control of their energy future through solar power, energy storage and smart energy solutions.

As a rapidly growing company, we're passionate about innovation, sustainability, and making a meaningful difference. Our success is powered by talented people, fresh ideas, and a collaborative team that believes in what we do.

Position Summary

SHIFT is growing, and we're looking for an experienced, hands-on Financial Controller to join our team during an exciting period of growth and transformation.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys bringing structure to a busy environment, improving processes, and building a strong financial foundation for the future. You'll play a key role in shaping how our finance team operates, while working closely with our CEO and collaborating with teams across the business.

As our Financial Controller, you'll oversee day-to-day accounting operations, manage monthly and year-end financial reporting, and lead a small, dedicated finance and accounting team. You'll take ownership of the accuracy and integrity of our financial information, while helping us develop smarter, more efficient ways of working.

We're also investing in new technology and systems to support our continued growth. Having recently transitioned to QuickBooks Online and integrated several operational platforms, we're looking for someone who is excited about streamlining processes, improving reporting, and finding opportunities for automation.

Working directly with our CEO, who will lead the overall financial strategy, you'll be responsible for putting that strategy into action and ensuring our financial operations run smoothly.

What makes this opportunity exciting?

· Make a meaningful impact: Help shape and strengthen our financial operations as the company continues to grow.

· Take ownership: Lead the accounting function, manage financial reporting, and guide a supportive team.

· Drive improvements: Introduce efficiencies, enhance financial processes, and leverage technology to make things work better.

· Collaborate across the business: Work closely with operations, project management, sales, executive leadership, and external advisors.

· Be part of our next chapter: Join a growing company where your experience, ideas, and contributions will be valued.

We're looking for someone who is equally comfortable rolling up their sleeves and thinking about the bigger picture - a collaborative leader who enjoys solving problems, building strong processes, and helping a business succeed.

If you're ready to take ownership of a key financial role and make a lasting contribution to a growing company, we'd love to hear from you!

Key Responsibilities

The Financial Controller will be responsible for, but not limited to, the following responsibilities in a multi-province operations across British Columbia and Nova Scotia:

Accounting Operations & Close

· Own full-cycle accounting and the monthly and year-end close, including reconciliations, accruals and deferrals, and intercompany activity.

· Prepare timely, accurate financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) with meaningful variance analysis and commentary for leadership.

· Oversee accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing, and collections, and keep them current in a high-transaction-volume environment.

· Maintain a clean, well-structured chart of accounts and consistent transaction coding across the business.

Project Costing & Inventory

· Support job-level cost tracking and gross-margin reporting across project types and regions, working with operations, sales, and project management.

· Oversee inventory accounting and costing through our inventory system, including reconciliation and accuracy of materials and COGS.

· Help build and maintain the link between operational data and the financial results it should produce.

Cash, Controls & Compliance

· Support cash flow forecasting, working capital monitoring, and AR and AP discipline.

· Maintain internal controls and support lender and investor reporting requirements.

· Manage multi-province indirect tax and remittances (GST, PST, and provincial requirements) and payroll-related compliance (including WCB) across the provinces we operate in.

Systems, Process & Improvement

· Be a hands-on owner of our QuickBooks Online environment and its integrations with our operational systems.

· Identify and implement process improvements and automation that reduce manual effort and improve accuracy and timeliness.

· Bring forward ideas, including the use of AI and modern tooling, to make finance more efficient and more useful to the business.

· Help bring structure and discipline to data quality as we continue to mature our systems.

Team leadership and partnership

· Lead, manage, and develop a small supporting finance team (AP, AR, and accounting support), setting priorities, workflows, and standards, and building the team’s capability over time.

· Work alongside the CEO on reporting architecture, financial structure, and strategic analysis.

· Partner with operations, project management, and executive leadership to provide financial insight and support decisions.

Decision Authority & Scope

· The Controller owns the integrity of the books and the monthly and year-end close, the chart of accounts and coding standards, the supporting finance team and its workflows, and the accuracy of financial reporting. The role escalates to the CEO on reporting architecture, financial structure, and strategic and policy matters.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

· Professional accounting designation (CPA)

· Minimum of 5 years of Financial Controller experience in previous role/s

· Proven full-cycle accounting and month-end close ownership, ideally in a project-based, construction, EPC, manufacturing, or similar high-transaction environment.

· Experience leading or supervising finance or accounting staff.

· Strong technical accounting under Canadian standards (ASPE), including financial statement preparation and variance analysis.

· Confidence working in QuickBooks Online or comparable accounting systems, and comfort with integrated operational software.

· Strong handle on AP, AR, billing, banking, inventory or cost accounting, and reconciliations.

· Comfort with multi-province operations and the associated tax and compliance requirements.

· A genuine appetite for change, systems, and process improvement, and openness to new technology and AI as tools to do the work better.

Strongly Preferred

· Experience supporting a finance systems transition, migration, or significant process overhaul.

· Exposure to job costing, inventory, and gross-margin analysis in a project business.

· Experience supporting lender covenant reporting or investor reporting.

· Hands-on experience improving or automating finance workflows.

· Experience in leading a small finance team to support day-to-day accounting operations.

Competencies

· Hands-on and detail-oriented, while thinking about the system behind the detail

· Comfortable with ambiguity and change and brings order to it rather than waiting for it to settle

· Capable people leader who can set standards and lift a team, not just do the work alone

· Curious about technology and energized, not threatened, by automation and AI

· Communicates clearly with people outside finance and partners well across a business

What We Offer

This is an exciting opportunity to join SHIFT in a permanent, full-time position with a passionate and driven team committed to making a positive impact on Canada's energy future. As a growing leader in renewable energy, we're building a company where innovation, collaboration and fresh ideas are valued, and where every team member plays an important role in our success.

You'll enjoy competitive compensation, extended health benefits, opportunities for professional growth, and the chance to make a meaningful contribution as we continue to expand. We're on a mission to transform how Canadians power their homes and businesses, and we're looking for talented, motivated individuals who share our passion for building a cleaner, more sustainable future.

At SHIFT, you're not just joining a company - you're helping power the future!