Assistant controller Jobs in Hamilton, ON

About the Company
Our client is a design-build construction firm. They are looking for a Controller to join their team!

Why Work Here

• Growth to Director in 12-18 months
• Excellent mentor to learn from
• Work directly with the owners and CFO to help scale the business
• Positive and collaborative culture
• Competitive compensation package including benefits

About the Opportunity

• Lead and oversee all accounting operations, including AP, AR, payroll, GL, banking, and job-cost accounting, ensuring accurate, timely, and well-controlled transactions.
• Prepare and review monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in accordance with GAAP/ASPE, ensuring they are complete, accurate, and aligned with internal and external reporting requirements.
• Own Work-in-Progress (WIP) methodology and reporting, including accurate percent-complete calculations, revenue recognition, and margin forecasts across all projects.
• Produce job-cost and WIP schedules with clear analysis of margin movements, contingencies, and forecast-at-completion, highlighting risks and opportunities to leadership.
• Review project financial performance with Operations and Project Managers, challenging assumptions, identifying margin erosion drivers early, and recommending corrective actions.
• Oversee progress billings, change-order billings, and final billings to ensure they are timely, accurate, and aligned with contract terms, lien regulations, and client requirements.
• Monitor accounts receivable and collections, including escalation of overdue balances, support for dispute resolution, and alignment with cash-flow and working-capital targets.
• Ensure proper job-cost coding, overhead allocation, and cost classification so that project and divisional results are reliable for decision-making and reporting.
• Review subcontractor and supplier commitments, change orders, and back charges to confirm financial impacts are captured accurately and exposure is well understood.
• Monitor claims, disputed items, and lien exposure, partnering with Operations and legal/insurance advisors as needed to quantify and mitigate financial risk.
• Participate in project risk reviews and bid/no-bid or go/no-go discussions, providing financial and commercial input on pricing, fee structure, contingencies, and contract risk.
• Own the design and effectiveness of accounting policies, internal controls, and job-cost procedures, ensuring they are documented, communicated, and consistently applied.
• Lead and support internal and external audits, coordinating information requests, explaining accounting treatments, and remediating identified issues or control gaps.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and development to senior accounting staff and managers, ensuring clear expectations, strong performance, and a healthy succession pipeline.
• Partner with senior finance leadership on budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow and working-capital management, and other strategic finance initiatives.
• Support ERP and systems changes by defining accounting and job-cost requirements, reviewing configurations, and ensuring that reporting and controls needs are met.
• Prepare ad-hoc analysis and reports for executives on project profitability, overhead trends, liquidity, and other key financial indicators as requested.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support the evolving needs of the finance and operations teams.

About You

• CPA designation required.
• 7+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 3+ years in people
• leadership roles (preferably in construction or other project-based environments).
• Strong technical accounting knowledge (GAAP/ASPE) and practical experience with job-cost accounting, WIP, revenue recognition, and project margin analysis.
• Proven proficiency with ERP/accounting systems, Excel, and financial reporting; experience with system implementations or significant enhancements is an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to design and oversee accounting policies, internal controls, and governance frameworks in a growing or complex environment.
• Strong leadership, communication, and change-management skills; able to influence cross-functional partners and present financial information clearly to non-financial stakeholders.
• Solid work ethic, high attention to detail, strong sense of ownership, and commitment to continuous improvement, risk management, and business partnership.

Salary Range
$140,000 - $150,000 / year

How to Apply
Click the “Apply Now” button and follow the instructions to submit your resume. Please know that we only accept documents in MS Word or Rich Text formats.
When referencing this job, quote #483724

This position for employment is for a current vacancy with Vaco/Highspring’s client. You must currently reside within the Greater Toronto Area and be permitted to work in Canada to be considered for this opportunity. A recruiter will be in touch with you if your profile meets our client’s requirements for this role.

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco/Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to the individual’s skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, office location and other geographic considerations, as well as other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law in geographies that require salary range disclosure, Vaco/Highspring notes the salary range for the role is noted in this job posting. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, and can participate in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company’s 401(k) retirement plan. Additional disclaimer: Unless otherwise noted in the job description, the position Vaco/Highspring is filing for is occupied. Please note, however, that Vaco/Highspring is regularly asked to provide talent to other organizations. By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. Submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase within Vaco/Highspring will be otherwise assessed by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco/Highspring does not have knowledge of the tools used by its clients in making final hiring decisions and cannot opine on their use of AI products.

EEO Notice

Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law.

Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com.

Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.

Representation Notice

By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal.

For residents of Ontario, Canada: Based on Highspring’s discussions with its Client, Highspring’s understanding is that this position for employment is a current vacancy (either through Highspring as a contractor or with the client directly).

Privacy Notice

Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries (“we,” “our,” or “Vaco by Highspring”) respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies.

• California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here.
• Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here.
• Residents of all other states may access our policies here.
• Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here.
• Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here.

Additionally, submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. More details about Vaco by Highspring’s use of AI can be found here (https://www.highspring.com/ai-use-notices/). Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco by Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client’s use of AI products in hiring.

Pay Transparency Notice

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:

• the individual’s skill sets, experience and training;
• licensure and certification requirements;
• office location and other geographic considerations;
• other business and organizational needs.

With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.