Vice President Finance in Toronto

NWI Precision specializes in high-precision machining of helicopter masts, turbine shafts, engine thrust links, and nuclear pressure vessel components used in the aerospace and nuclear industries worldwide. NWI Precision’s 120,000 sq. ft. facility is located at 9 Fenmar Drive in Toronto. Our dedicated team pride themselves on delivering the highest quality products, to specifications and on time.

The Vice President, Finance is the financial leader of the manufacturing facility, accountable for safeguarding assets, ensuring the accuracy of financial reporting, and providing actionable insights that directly improve P&L results and cash flow. This role partners closely with the CEO, the Senior Leadership Team, Corporate Shared Services and Board of Directors to enhance profitability, improve cost controls, accelerate operational efficiency, and deliver measurable financial outcomes, while ensuring compliance with corporate and regulatory requirements.

This role has full leadership responsibility for the finance function at the site, with all finance team members reporting into the position directly or indirectly, and is accountable for building a high‑performing finance organization that supports both operational execution and strategic decision‑making.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the full finance function for the site, ensuring strong execution, clear accountability, and alignment across financial reporting, FP&A, cost accounting, inventory management, and compliance activities.
• Serve as the senior finance leader on the site leadership team, providing financial guidance to support both day‑to‑day decision‑making and long‑term business strategy.
• Establish and maintain a disciplined finance operating model, including policies, processes, controls, and performance expectations across the department.
• Lead the preparation and presentation of financial results, forecasts, and business risks to the Board of Directors, ensuring clear communication of performance, outlook, and key decision points.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial results in accordance with Canadian GAAP (ASPE) and corporate standards.
• Oversee cost accounting, inventory valuation, and product costing processes to ensure accuracy and transparency.
• Maintain strong internal control environment and compliance with corporate/business internal policies, audit standards, and safeguarding of plant assets.
• Accountable for early identification and resolution of risks or discrepancies that could materially affect reported financials.
• Ensure finance processes and reporting structures are scalable, disciplined, and responsive to both business needs and corporate requirements.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long‑range planning, ensuring alignment with company objectives and measurable performance targets.
• Provide clear, actionable analysis of variances and trends that directly inform operational decision‑making and drive corrective actions.
• Evaluate, prioritize, and track financial impact of cost savings initiatives, capital investment projects, and productivity improvements.
• Own delivery of cash flow visibility and forecasting accuracy, including proactive working capital management.
• Lead an integrated planning process that connects financial forecasts, operational assumptions, capital requirements, and business priorities into a coherent view of plant performance.
• Provide forward‑looking financial leadership to support resource allocation, business cases, scenario analysis, and strategic decision‑making.

Cash Flow Management

• Own site cash flow planning, visibility, and performance, ensuring the business has timely insight into short, medium, and long‑term liquidity requirements.
• Drive cash flow 13 weeks forecasts, including analysis of operating cash flow, capital expenditures, inventory movements, customer collections, supplier payments, and other key drivers of liquidity.

Operational Partnership

• Act as a strategic business partner to the President and the Senior Leadership Team.
• Provide financial guidance that results in improved margins, reduced waste, and achievement of plant productivity goals.
• Support lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and efficiency projects with value‑focused financial analysis and business cases.
• Monitor and report on key performance indicators (KPIs), linking financial performance with operational drivers and holding functions accountable to achieve targets.
• Reduce production supplies costs over time through analysis of usage, benchmarking, and best practices adoption.
• Increase plant profitability by driving costs down through improved productivity, efficiency, and elimination of non‑value‑added activities.
• Guide operations and support functions in achieving profitability targets, ensuring accountability against plan.
• Influence decisions across operations, supply chain, quality, engineering, and support functions by translating financial and operational data into clear priorities and actions.

Inventory and Cost Management

• Ensure accurate tracking, valuation, and reporting of raw materials, WIP, and finished goods inventory.
• Lead the physical inventory and cycle counting processes, ensuring variances are explained, contained, and prevented going forward.
• Oversee cost roll‑ups, bills of material, and program specific labor/overhead rate setting to ensure accurate product costing and accountability for margin realization vs. planned.
• Initiate, evaluate, and deliver continuous improvement projects designed to remove costs month‑over‑month from the business.
• Drive working capital discipline across the site, including inventory optimization, cash flow visibility, and timely escalation of inventory, receivables, or cost risks.

Compliance, Audit and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with tax, government, and corporate reporting requirements at the business unit level.
• Support external and internal audit processes, ensuring timely and accurate responses.
• Identify financial risks and recommend mitigation strategies with ownership of follow‑through until risk is remediated.
• Own the finance governance framework for the site, including audit readiness, policy compliance, control effectiveness, and escalation of material issues.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the finance team, including performance management, succession planning, and capability building.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement, ensuring a focus on results and operational excellence.
• Partner with cross‑functional leaders to provide financial insights and recommendations, building a responsive and trusted finance organization.

EXPECTATIONS

• Consistently improve profitability by delivering measurable margin expansion and recurring cost reductions such as production supplies and other overhead versus plan.
• Maintain accurate, timely financials and forecasts, with clear root‑cause variance analysis and corrective actions that keep results within agreed tolerances.
• Improve cash flow performance through accurate rolling forecasts, stronger working capital discipline, and proactive management of liquidity risks and opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement by initiating, evaluating, and delivering cost takeout and productivity projects that generate visible monthly savings and efficiency gains.
• Strengthen working capital and operational performance through improved inventory accuracy and turns, effective cash flow management, and disciplined cost control across operations and support functions.
• Build a high‑performing finance team by coaching and mentoring staff, executing succession plans, and being recognized by Operations as a proactive, accountable business partner.
• Establish a culture of accountability across the finance organization, where ownership, responsiveness, and measurable business impact are expected at all levels.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration. MBA is an asset.
• CPA, CA, or equivalent designation is an asset.
• 10+ years of progressive finance experience, including significant leadership responsibility in a manufacturing environment and prior ownership of plant controllership, finance management, or finance director‑level responsibilities.
• Experience building or upgrading finance processes, controls, and team capability in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of cost accounting, inventory management, operations and ERP systems (Syteline/Epicor or similar preferred).
• Proven experience partnering with operations to drive cost improvements and efficiencies with demonstrated margin or cash flow impact.
• Manufacturing environment mandatory, aerospace or other highly regulated manufacturing experience is an asset.