International Controller – U.S. & Mexico Operations in Chandler, Arizona at SONORAN SALES COMPANY LLC
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Job Description
Sonoran Sales Company is seeking an experienced International Controller – U.S. & Mexico Operations to lead financial reporting, accounting operations, internal controls, and cross-border financial coordination across the company’s U.S. and Mexico operations.
This position will oversee the integrity of Sonoran’s financial reporting while coordinating accounting activities associated with its U.S. and Mexico entities and operations, including intercompany transactions, consolidations, foreign-currency activity, inventory and manufacturing accounting, and cross-border customer and vendor transactions.
The International Controller will also coordinate with qualified U.S. and Mexico-based tax, accounting, legal, customs, and other professional advisors to support applicable statutory, tax, and regulatory requirements.
This is a hands-on leadership position requiring someone who can move comfortably between high-level financial strategy and detailed operational accounting. The ideal candidate has experience with manufacturing or project-based businesses and understands the financial complexities created when materials, products, payments, and business activity move across the U.S.–Mexico border.
Primary ResponsibilitiesFinancial Accounting & Reporting
- Lead accounting operations and maintain the accuracy and integrity of the company’s financial records and general ledger.
- Manage monthly, quarterly, and annual financial close processes.
- Prepare and review financial statements, management reporting, account reconciliations, and supporting schedules.
- Establish and maintain accounting policies, procedures, documentation, and internal controls.
- Oversee Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, cash management, banking activity, and other core accounting functions.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning, and financial analysis.
- Provide executive leadership with timely financial reporting and analysis to support strategic and operational decisions.
U.S.–Mexico Entity & Cross-Border Accounting
- Coordinate accounting activities across Sonoran’s U.S. and Mexico entities and operations.
- Maintain appropriate separation and reconciliation of entity-level accounting records.
- Coordinate the consolidation of financial information across entities as required.
- Manage and reconcile intercompany transactions, balances, charges, payments, and allocations.
- Establish procedures to ensure intercompany activity is properly documented and consistently recorded by both entities.
- Oversee accounting for foreign-currency transactions, exchange-rate impacts, and realized or unrealized foreign-exchange gains and losses, as applicable.
- Ensure cross-border customer and vendor transactions are properly recorded and supported.
- Maintain appropriate documentation supporting international payments, receipts, transfers, and other cross-border financial activity.
- Partner with leadership and external advisors to identify and address accounting and financial risks associated with international operations.
Mexico Accounting & Statutory Coordination
- Coordinate with Mexico-based accounting and tax professionals to support local statutory accounting, tax filings, financial reporting, and other applicable requirements.
- Ensure information required by Mexico-based professional advisors is accurate, complete, organized, and provided timely.
- Reconcile local Mexico accounting information to Sonoran's consolidated or management reporting as applicable.
- Coordinate resolution of differences between U.S. management reporting and Mexico statutory accounting records.
- Maintain appropriate supporting documentation for Mexico-related transactions and financial activity.
- Serve as Sonoran's primary internal financial liaison with external accountants, tax professionals, auditors, and other financial advisors supporting the Mexico entity.
Intercompany & Transfer-Pricing Coordination
- Maintain accurate accounting and documentation for transactions between related U.S. and Mexico entities.
- Coordinate with qualified tax professionals regarding the company's transfer-pricing policies and supporting documentation.
- Help ensure intercompany charges and transactions are consistently applied and properly recorded.
- Maintain documentation supporting intercompany services, materials, inventory transfers, allocations, and other applicable transactions.
- Assist external advisors with information required for transfer-pricing analyses, documentation, or compliance requirements.
- Monitor intercompany balances and ensure timely reconciliation and resolution of differences.
Manufacturing, Inventory & Cost Accounting
- Oversee inventory accounting across applicable U.S. and Mexico operations.
- Partner with Plant Operations, Project Management, Purchasing, and Shipping & Receiving to maintain accurate inventory records.
- Monitor inventory valuation, adjustments, transfers, variances, and reconciliation.
- Oversee or support manufacturing and project cost accounting.
- Analyze material, labor, overhead, freight, production, and project costs to improve visibility into profitability.
- Support physical inventory counts and ensure appropriate reconciliation to financial records.
- Establish controls around purchasing, receiving, material movement, production, shipping, and invoicing.
- Analyze estimated versus actual project and production costs and identify significant variances.
Cross-Border Logistics & Financial Documentation
- Partner with Sonoran’s Logistics, Shipping & Receiving, and Operations teams to ensure financial records align with cross-border material movements.
- Help ensure appropriate commercial and financial documentation is maintained for cross-border transactions.
- Reconcile inventory movements and related financial transactions between locations and entities.
- Coordinate with appropriate customs brokers, freight providers, and external advisors regarding financial documentation affecting imports and exports.
- Research discrepancies between shipping, receiving, inventory, customs-related documentation, invoices, and accounting records.
- Support Accounting and Operations in maintaining a clear audit trail from Purchase Order, Receipt, Inventory, Production, Shipment, Invoice, Payment.
Tax, Audit & Regulatory Coordination
- Coordinate information required for U.S. federal, state, local, and applicable Mexico tax filings with qualified external professionals.
- Coordinate annual audits, reviews, tax engagements, banking requirements, and other financial examinations.
- Work with outside advisors regarding international tax, transfer pricing, customs, and other specialized cross-border matters.
- Maintain organized supporting documentation and financial records for audit and compliance purposes.
- Monitor financial and accounting requirements affecting Sonoran's international operations and escalate specialized legal, tax, or regulatory matters to the appropriate professional advisors.
Internal Controls & Process Improvement
- Develop scalable accounting processes capable of supporting Sonoran's continued U.S. and international growth.
- Strengthen internal controls around purchasing, PO approval, receiving, inventory, vendor payments, customer billing, intercompany transactions, and financial reporting.
- Establish clear reconciliation and approval processes between U.S. and Mexico operations.
- Identify control weaknesses, accounting discrepancies, and operational inefficiencies and lead corrective actions.
- Improve communication and workflow between Accounting, Operations, Project Management, Purchasing, Shipping & Receiving, and Executive Leadership.
- Support implementation and improvement of ERP, inventory, accounting, and financial reporting systems.
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a closely related field required.
- Progressive accounting leadership experience, including Controller, Assistant Controller, Accounting Manager, or comparable responsibilities.
- Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP and financial reporting.
- Demonstrated experience managing general ledger accounting, financial statements, reconciliations, and month/year-end close.
- Experience with international or cross-border accounting strongly preferred.
- Experience with manufacturing, inventory, cost accounting, or project-based businesses strongly preferred.
- Experience managing or coordinating accounting activities across multiple legal entities.
- Understanding of intercompany accounting, foreign-currency transactions, and consolidated financial reporting.
- Experience working with external CPAs, auditors, tax professionals, and other professional advisors.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and strong proficiency with accounting and ERP systems.
- Strong analytical, organizational, documentation, and problem-solving skills.
- CPA or CMA designation strongly preferred.
- Previous Controller experience within manufacturing, steel fabrication, construction, industrial, or project-based operations.
- Direct experience supporting U.S.–Mexico entities or business operations.
- Experience coordinating with Mexico-based accountants and tax professionals.
- Familiarity with Mexico statutory accounting and reporting requirements.
- Experience with consolidated financial reporting.
- Experience managing intercompany reconciliations and transactions.
- Working knowledge of international and U.S.–Mexico transfer-pricing concepts.
- Experience with foreign-currency accounting.
- Familiarity with import/export transactions, customs documentation, freight, and cross-border logistics.
- Experience implementing or improving ERP and inventory-management systems.
- Professional fluency in English and Spanish strongly preferred due to regular interaction with U.S. and Mexico-based employees, customers, vendors, advisors, and business partners.
The International Controller will serve as a key financial partner to Sonoran's executive leadership and will be expected to connect Finance with the operational realities of the business.
This individual will work closely with the CEO, Plant Manager, Project Managers, Engineering, Purchasing, Logistics/Shipping & Receiving, and outside professional advisors.
The Controller must be equally comfortable reviewing consolidated financial results with leadership, investigating an inventory discrepancy at the plant, reconciling an intercompany balance with the Mexico operation, or working with outside advisors to provide documentation for a cross-border accounting or tax matter.
Key Attributes for SuccessThe successful candidate will be highly accountable, analytical, organized, collaborative, and exceptionally detail-oriented.
This individual should be capable of creating structure and strong financial controls without unnecessarily slowing down Operations. They should be proactive in identifying discrepancies, risks, and process weaknesses and comfortable taking ownership of issues through resolution.
Success in this position means Sonoran leadership can confidently understand the financial performance of the business—by entity, operation, project, and consolidated company—while maintaining accurate, organized, and scalable financial processes across the United States and Mexico.