Director of Finance And Accounting

Company History and Overview

Kahtoola is an outdoor gear manufacturer based in the idyllic mountain town of Flagstaff, AZ. It all started in 1993 when company founder Danny Giovale experienced a life changing fall while descending from a climb in the Italian Dolomites, which sent him sliding down a steep gully in the dark. He was lucky to escape with only minor injuries, and that experience set him on a course to address a serious unmet need for reliable traction while using lightweight footwear for mountain travel. After years of imagining and prototyping solutions to this problem, Danny started Kahtoola in 1999 and launched the company’s first product: the KTS Hiking Crampon.

Today, the company remains privately owned by Danny, and Kahtoola is the market leader in winter traction gear. We also build and sell other leading outdoor products, and are positioned for strong growth in additional outdoor product categories. Kahtoola is a purpose-driven company that takes on social and environmental issues as an essential part of doing business, fosters strong community relationships, and inspires outdoor adventure. We love exceptional gear and getting outside, and work hard to take on business challenges together while enjoying a supportive, fun, and casual work environment.

Position Overview

The Director of Finance and Accounting will be responsible for optimizing, implementing, maintaining, and overseeing the finance and accounting functions at Kahtoola. This position will require strategic financial modeling/planning to support informed business decisions, drive scalable processes, and aid in Kahtoola’s long term financial health and growth.

The Ideal Candidate Must Demonstrate

• Strong financial management skills, with a deep understanding of finance principles, accounting practices, and financial analysis techniques.
• A strategic approach with substantial experience in financial modeling and planning, budgeting, financial analysis, and reporting.
• The knowledge, ability, and energy to identify opportunities to create and implement new systems and processes to optimize our financial architecture.
• Proven ability to analyze complex financial data, identify trends, and provide insights and recommendations to drive business performance.
• In-depth knowledge of financial regulations, compliance standards, and accounting principles.
• Ability to communicate cross-functionally to maintain transparency, foster a cohesive team atmosphere, promote accountability, and drive execution.
• A level-headed attitude when dealing with deadlines, team dynamics, core job duties, and stressful situations to help maintain a positive and productive work environment.

Key Accountabilities

Monthly forecasts and financial analysis:

• Prepare monthly financial forecast updates, including consolidating department inputs.
• Prepare monthly budget vs actual reports by department and investigate unusual variances.
• Analyze monthly gross margin and channel contribution margin.
• Review and explain monthly and yearly variances and trends in the forecast, gross margin, and contribution margin reports.
• Prepare and analyze annual budget and 3-year forecast, including consolidating department inputs.
• Provide accurate and timely ad hoc financial analysis as requested.

Cash Flow Management:

• Prepare cash flow forecasts for rolling 12 months, identifying any periods of potential cash flow shortfalls and recommending mitigation plans as needed.
• Monitor inventory procurement and other payables to ensure alignment with forecasted cash requirements.
• Proactively identify ways to maximize Kahtoola’s cash cycle including receivables management, payables management, and investment vehicles.
• Maintain compliance with any loan covenants, prepare required loan reporting and oversee loan renewal process.

Monthly close and regular accounting processes:

• Prepare monthly analyses for fluctuation variance, trends, and additional schedules.
• Collaborate with internal departments and outside parties to ensure transactions and reports are recorded and produced timely and accurately.
• Ensure accounting books are closed by close of business day 15 each month.
• Meet all reporting and payment deadlines for commissions.
• Develop and maintain accounting policies and procedures for the organization balancing accuracy and compliance with ease of use for others.

Business support and other projects:

• Provide excellent customer service to both internal and external customers by providing easy to use solutions and partnering with team members to solve business needs.
• Contribute to the success of Kahtoola by participating in special projects and supporting sound business decision making including data analysis support, financial modeling, scenario planning, and ROI analysis.
• Continually monitor for any areas of cost improvements and oversee the implementation of any cost-cutting measures while ensuring no disruption to business processes.
• Be the finance advocate to ensure proper accounting treatment and controls are considered when business process changes are proposed.
• Seek and implement continuous systems improvements.

External Deliverables:

• Review audit and tax schedules to and from external accountants.
• Monitor sales tax collections, filings, and compliance with applicable laws.

Finance Team Coordination:

• Delegate workload appropriately and develop Associates within their department.
• Provide guidance and feedback as needed to ensure deliverables are completed timely and accurately and workload is appropriately prioritized.

Required Candidate Qualifications

• Minimum of 7-10 years of robust accounting and financial modeling experience, ideally at a consumer products company.
• Bachelor’s (or higher) degree required in Finance and Accounting Management, or other directly relevant experience.
• Demonstrated success in providing strategic financial guidance and planning.
• Experience working in international business environment with sound understanding of global processes and transactional workflows.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated success in effectively managing an accounting and finance team.

Company Culture

We are a diverse group of people who share a love for the outdoors. We strive to continually foster an environment where Associates work hard, trust and rely on one another, and have fun along the way. We pride ourselves on approaching each challenge with ingenuity, and find energy in doing things differently, allowing both our company and Associates to grow and thrive. As a small company, each Associate’s voice makes a real difference and a noticeable impact. We find true camaraderie in working together, imagining our future, and building it as a team.

Our mission is to make the outdoors more accessible and rewarding by building exceptional products, and you’ll find that building quality gear is a source of great pride for every Kahtoola Associate. We are our own customers, and in our free time you’ll find us enjoying nature, being active, trying new things, and pushing ourselves to do more. We are energized by the positive potential of people and strive to grow positivity and well-being in society. We also believe that we have a responsibility to protect the Earth, and engage in sustainable business practices and the protection of beautiful and ecologically valuable places.

Living in Flagstaff, AZ

Located at 7,000’ above sea level in Northern Arizona, Flagstaff serves as an amazing city and hub for outdoor enthusiasts. Located in the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States, Flagstaff has highly varied terrain and changing weather throughout all four seasons, giving Flagstaff a reputation for excellent camping, backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, trail running, skiing, and snowboarding. The highest point in the state stands atop Mt. Humphreys at 12,633 feet, and with over 700 miles of trails in the greater Flagstaff area, there’s lots to explore. In addition, the Grand Canyon is only an hour’s drive away, making phenomenal weekend backpacking easily accessible, and Sedona is just 45 minutes south, allowing easy access to world-class mountain biking and trail running.

For day-to-day living, Flagstaff provides a laid back, vibrant, small-town culture with lots to love. With an active arts and cultural scene, Flagstaff hosts several annual music festivals, and free concerts and music are commonly held at Heritage Square in the summer months. Good food is not hard to find, with a diverse group of high-quality, locally-owned restaurants - not to mention 8 easily-accessible breweries.

Compensation

Salary: $100,000 to $120,000 annually; dependent on

experience.

Benefits: We are proud to offer a suite of benefits that includes

healthcare, Simple IRA with company match, regular PTO plus a

flex PTO program, paid parental leave, profit sharing, and more.