Position Summary The Finance Director will lead the financial function through the scale-up of the business, with responsibility for financial management, controls, and compliance, along with finance plan development and planning. This role will be responsible for ensuring the Australian entity maintains strong financial controls, accurate and timely financial reporting, appropriate accounting policies and effective financial processes in compliance with Australian statutory and tax requirements and in alignment with the US parent’s reporting requirements and policies.

The successful candidate will be a hands-on finance leader, highly communicative and transparent, and comfortable operating in a growing life sciences/manufacturing environment. The role will partner closely with the Australian operations, manufacturing, procurement and leadership, as well as the US corporate finance organization.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Reporting & Accounting

- Ensure timely and accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial close and reporting.
- Prepare and review financial statements and management reporting in accordance with AASB requirements and US GAAP reporting requirements for consolidation reporting. Maintain AASB-to-US GAAP differences schedule and ensure the Australian close calendar and reporting deadlines align with the parent’s timetable.
- Prepare monthly financial dashboard and reporting packages for the US parent, including with an innovative mindset to ensure global transparency
- Plan for and ensure timely support for development of quarterly board packages
- Establish and maintain appropriate accounting processes and controls over manufacturing activities, including inventory, raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, manufacturing overhead and cost of goods manufactured.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Financial Planning
- Develop financial models, forecasts and scenario analyses to support business decisions.
- Provide management with timely analysis of actual results relative to budget and forecast.
- Support financial analysis related to capacity planning, manufacturing scale-up, capital expenditures and operational expansion.

Finance Operations Management
- Oversee the day-to-day finance and related administrative functions, including payroll, procurement, purchase orders, accounts payable, expense management and vendor payments.
- Oversee Australian cash management and liquidity planning, including proactive preparation and maintenance of cash flow forecasts.




- Oversee appropriate controls over contract authorizations, contracted payments, bank account access and vendor banking information.
- Serve as finance owner of the NetSuite ERP environment for the Australian entity, including chart of accounts governance, close configuration, reporting and user access.
- Lead the planned implementation of the NetSuite inventory management module, covering raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods, and the related costing and cycle-count processes.

Australian Tax & Statutory Compliance
- Oversee Australian statutory financial reporting, tax, and compliance requirements.
- Oversee preparation and filing of applicable Australian tax returns and regulatory filings, including GST and payroll-related requirements.
- Coordinate with the US parent regarding international tax, transfer pricing and other cross-border matters, including intercompany agreements, local file documentation and cross-border service and cost-recharge flows.
- Oversee preparation and lodgement of the company income tax return, BAS/GST, FBT return, superannuation guarantee obligations, NSW payroll tax and ASIC filings.
- Lead the annual RDTI claim, including eligibility assessment, project and cost documentation, and coordination with external advisers.
- Manage government grant funding, milestone reporting and acquittals.

Internal Controls & Compliance
- Ensure Australian finance processes are consistent with the US parent’s policies and internal control framework while appropriately addressing Australian requirements.
- Design, document and test key controls over the entity’s financial processes, including segregation of duties, delegation of authority and approval thresholds.
- Support the parent’s internal control and SOX-readiness requirements, including process narratives, walkthroughs and remediation of identified deficiencies.
- Maintain the Australian entity’s accounting policy manual and finance procedures, and ensure record-keeping and retention requirements appropriate to a regulated manufacturing site are met.




- Manage the entity’s insurance program and provide finance review of commercial contracts, including payment terms and delegation-of-authority compliance.

Business Partnership
- Act as the primary finance partner to the General Manager and the business team, providing decision support on pricing, contracts, capacity commitments, make-versus-buy decisions, global supply and strategic purchasing decisions
- Partner with manufacturing lead on cost of goods, batch costing, yield and margin improvement, translating operational drivers into financial outcomes
- Support strategic initiatives, business expansion, capital investments and other corporate projects. Maintain an active, prioritized and well characterized register of capital commitments pending and investments to enable the growth strategy
- Support customer and supplier negotiations, including commercial terms, payment terms and contract profitability analysis

Qualifications

Required

- CPA Australia or CA ANZ professional accounting qualification, or an overseas equivalent recognised in Australia.
- Significant progressive experience (10+ years) in accounting and finance, including at least 7 years of experience in a Junior Controller, Controller or similar senior finance role.
- Strong knowledge of Australian accounting standards (AASB), taxation and statutory requirements.
- Experience with US GAAP and/or reporting to a US-based parent company.
- Experience with financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis.
- Robust understanding of internal controls and financial processes.
- Experience with manufacturing cost accounting, inventory and work-in-process accounting.
- Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a growing organization with evolving processes and systems.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with both operational and corporate stakeholders.

Preferred

- Post-qualification experience gained in a Big 4 or mid-tier audit or advisory practice.
- Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, CDMO or other life sciences manufacturing.
- Experience with NetSuite, including ERP implementations or finance systems optimization.
- Experience with human resource functional management at a small, growing company.
- Experience supporting a company through rapid growth, manufacturing scale-up or organizational transformation.
- Mindset geared towards growth and supportive of building corporate culture consistent with parent and board vision

📌 Finance Director (Sydney)
🏢 Clinovo
📍 Sydney