The AML Story

We've come a long way. AML has 52 years of experience designing and building oceanographic instrumentation and we have clocked consistent year-on-year growth of greater than 15%. We have customers on all seven continents. We have a 70+ person team of employees that care deeply about customer outcomes. In our market, we are known for two things: 1) Going to the ends of the earth to make our customers successful; and 2) Bringing fresh ideas to an established market.

Earlier this year, we were acquired by Union Park Capital. Our mission? To drive the success of Union Park's marine technology thesis. AML is the operating foundation of that thesis, and our focus is on growing the core business while carefully extending our solution set via acquisition. We anticipate dramatic growth and significant change in the next 3 to 5 years.

How we Operate

At AML, we do things a bit differently. Think daily huddles. Think Rockefeller Habits, Scaling Up, and the One Page Plan. Think town hall meetings with on-the-fly Q&A; sessions. If you are familiar with these concepts - or they are of interest to you - then you might be a fit for AML. We want people who want to commit their hands, their heads, and their hearts to their position. You see this commitment in our employee Glass Door rating: an impressive 4.70 on 5.00.

What you inherit

A 51-year-old marine instrumentation manufacturer selling on seven continents, operating in CAD across Canada, the US and the UK with real FX exposure. A finance team of 3: an experienced Controller plus AP and AR coordinators in Victoria, BC. This is a hands-on role. We're PE-backed and buying complementary marine-tech businesses; our sponsor handles deal sourcing, diligence and capital structure. You'll inherit a finance function that is accurate but manual and informal. It needs to get simpler before it gets bigger.

Your Mission

Predictable numbers, built on simple systems. You'll own the 3 year operating plan, the rolling forecast and the monthly reporting that turns numbers into decisions. You'll make finance simpler: fewer manual steps, fewer spreadsheets, more automation, so we can absorb acquisitions without adding headcount. You'll own product costing: fully burdened standard costs, overhead absorption and inventory valuation, so we know what each product costs to make and where margin is won or lost. You'll run the audit and keep our books clean under US GAAP. You'll be the finance partner for the VPs of Business Units and the COO, and you'll bring each company we buy onto AML's books, costing and systems. As AML grows, this seat may grow into a CFO role.

What You'll be Accountable For

- Owns the (3 Year) Operating Plan & Forecast: Are we tracking to plan,



and how much can we trust our view of what's coming?
- Owns a Simple, Automated Close & Reporting: Is finance getting faster and simpler as we grow, not just bigger?
- Owns Product Cost & Margin: Do we know what each product really costs us to make?
- Owns the Cash Conversion Cycle: Is AML's cash conversion cycle hitting target?
- Owns Post-Close Financial Integration of Acquisition Targets: Can we see what we need to see, post close?
- Embeds the AML Way: Are we strengthening our Metronomics implementation?
- Curates a Team of A Players: Are key players delivering A performances?
- Drives Succession Plan Thinking: Do key players on the team have ready successors?

Some Other Daily Duties

- Active business-partnering relationship with VP of Business Unit, COO, CCO, CTO, CPO; on-call financial counsel for material decisions.
- Holds the Controller accountable for the monthly close, statutory reporting, AP / AR / GL and tax compliance. Runs the year-end audit with our auditors and makes sure findings get closed.
- Selects, maintains, and scales the Financial Planning & Analysis stack (planning tool, Business Intelligence / dashboard layer, forecast model architecture); partners with VP of S&S; on integration with Enterprise Resource Planning / Customer Relationship Management.
- Sets and maintains standard costs, overhead absorption rates and inventory valuation. Works with Operations to explain variances.
- Keeps a running list of manual work in finance and gets rid of it or automates it, starting with the close, AP and reporting.

Your Skills & Competencies

- Financial Planning & Analysis Fluency: Technical fluency in plans, variance, and forecasts. Instinct for when a number is wrong.
- Manufacturing Cost Accounting: Knows standard costing, labour and overhead absorption and inventory valuation cold. Sees how an allocation choice changes the margin story.
- Cash Position Sense: Anticipation of cash events. Awareness of bookings-to-cash drag before it lands on the balance sheet.
- Numbers-to-Decisions Translation: Translation of variance into "what should we do." Anticipation of the next question.
- Simplify & Automate: Can't stand manual work. Cuts steps before buying tools, then makes the new way stick.
- Financial Systems Architecture for Scale: Architectural sense for tooling that holds at 2-3× scale,



including post-acquisition shape.
- Talent Density Discipline: Clear sight of each direct report's ceiling. Bench depth as a leadership input, not output.
- Coaching & Emotional Intelligence: In-the-moment read on what a person needs. Calibration of feedback for impact, not comfort.

Required Qualifications: Must-have skills and experience

- Business Education: Business Degree (Undergraduate or MBA); you are a well rounded business leader first, a finance professional second.
- Long Range Operating Plan: You have hands-on experience building and maintaining extended length operating plans, running rolling forecast cycles, and partnering with Business Unit leaders to guide assumptions.
- US GAAP: You've reported under US GAAP in an operating company, not just on paper.
- Manufacturing Cost Accounting: 5+ years in manufacturing finance. You've built or fixed standard costs, set labour and overhead absorption and valued inventory, and you know how those choices move margin.
- Simplification & Automation: You've taken a manual, spreadsheet-heavy finance function and made it simpler and automated (ERP, BI, planning tools). You can show the before and after: days to close, hours saved, headcount.
- Audit: You've run year-end audits from the company side: prepared the file, managed the auditors, closed the findings. Public accounting / audit background is a plus.

Desired Qualifications: Nice-to-have skills and experience

- Certifications: CPA strongly preferred (CMA or MBA also considered).
- Post Acquisition Financial Integration: Ideally, you will have integrated at least one acquisition onto the financial platform of the buyer.
- Investor Reporting Environment: Ideally, you are accustomed to preparing quarterly board packages.
- International & Multi-Entity: Ideally, you have run multi-currency, multi-entity books: consolidations, intercompany and transfer pricing basics.
- IFRS: Ideally, you have also reported under IFRS (or ASPE), alongside US GAAP.
- Revenue Recognition Complexity: Ideally, you have experience with multi-deliverable arrangements, percentage-of-completion, or long-cycle project revenue.

How to Apply

Please send your complete history to [email protected] SIGNIFICANT: In your cover letter, please: 1) speak to what you'd do in your first 100 days in the role; 2) identify the 3 most impactful professional lessons you've learned, with specific examples from your career; and 3) name your personal core values, along with relevant examples of how you've applied each value to guide professional decisions. All applicants must have pre-existing authorization to work in Canada.

Pay: $175,000.00-$241,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person

📌 VP of Finance (Saanichton)
🏢 AML Oceanographic
📍 Saanichton