Finance Operations Manager

About the Role

Axle Informatics is seeking a highly analytical, business-oriented Finance Operations Manager to lead financial planning, forecasting, analysis, and operational decision support across the organization — while also managing and developing the team that produces this work. This role turns financial and operational information into forward-looking insight that helps leadership improve revenue, profitability, cash flow, contract performance, and business execution. This is not primarily a transactional accounting role: the successful candidate goes beyond reporting numbers to determine what's driving performance, what's likely to happen next, and what action to take — and builds the automated, scalable infrastructure to do that reliably as the team and business grow. This role requires an onsite presence in Rockville, MD or Tysons, VA.

Role Overview

The Finance Operations Manager owns budgeting and forecasting, revenue forecasting, project and contract profitability, workforce economics, backlog and funding analysis, cash-flow forecasting, and management reporting, while managing and developing the analysts and staff who support this work. The role requires equal comfort setting analytical direction and working hands-on in the models and data — and a willingness to build new tools, reporting, and processes where none exist today.

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Planning, Budgeting & Revenue Forecasting
  • Lead annual budgeting and recurring forecasting across company, business-unit, customer, contract, and project levels
  • Develop detailed revenue forecasts using contract funding, deployed staff, bill rates, and utilization
  • Analyze actual performance against budget and forecast, determining root causes of variances and recommending corrective actions
• Contract, Margin & Workforce Analysis
  • Monitor financial performance by customer, contract, and project, including margin, funding, and burn rates, identifying risk early
  • Analyze bill rates, pay rates, fringe, and overhead to evaluate staffing and compensation decisions
  • Maintain visibility into backlog and contract funding, flagging exhaustion dates before they become operational issues
• Cash Flow, Reporting & Decision Support
  • Develop short- and medium-term cash-flow forecasts and monitor AR/DSO trends to flag liquidity risk early
  • Develop recurring reporting on revenue, margin, backlog, and cash flow that clearly communicates what changed, why, and what's recommended
  • Serve as financial partner to leadership and Operations, modeling new opportunities, pricing, and staffing scenarios
• Systems, Automation & Team Leadership
  • Automate recurring reports and models, building dashboards and consistent KPI definitions to reduce manual spreadsheet work
  • Lead and develop a high-performing finance team, including staffing, workload balancing, and performance reviews — this role manages both the work and the people doing it
  • Set KPIs, deliver regular coaching, and support retention and succession planning

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field
• 5+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, corporate finance, financial operations, or business finance
• At least 3 years in a direct management or supervisory role
• Demonstrated experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and variance analysis
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, with the ability to translate complex data into clear business recommendations
• Proven track record of implementing automation to streamline financial processes

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in government contracting, including contract economics, funding, backlog, and burn rates
• Experience with workforce and labor economics in a professional-services environment
• MBA, CFA, CPA, or CMA

What Success Looks Like

• Leadership can reliably forecast revenue and understands profitability at the customer and contract level
• Margin deterioration and contract funding risks are identified early, not after the fact
• The team spends less time assembling data and more time acting on financial insight

Benefits

• 100% Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage for Employees
• Educational Benefits for Career Growth
• Paid Time Off (Including Holidays)
• Employee Referral Bonus
• 401K Matching
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Healthcare (FSA), Parking Reimbursement Account (PRK), Dependent Care Assistant Program (DCAP), Transportation Reimbursement Account (TRN)

Pay

Salary Range: $130,000 USD - $150,000 USD