Director, Capital Finance at Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in Jacksonville, FL

Job description

• The Director, Capital Finance owns the financial translation of the Company's capital program. Engineering decides what to build, Procurement buys it, Accounts Payable pays for it and the Grant teams deliver the funded programs; this role is accountable for the accurate tracking of spend, billing and capitalization of the projects. The position is accountable for the integrity of the capital budget in D365 and Adaptive, for the control environment around overruns and reallocations, for capital accounting through capitalization and closeout, and for billing and collecting grant and rebillable receivables from government agencies. It leads the Capital and Grant/Rebillable accounting teams and serves as the primary Finance partner to Program Management, Engineering, Mechanical and field leadership.

Responsibilities

• Capital Budget Integrity & Systems of Record
• Own the accuracy of the capital budget in D365 and Adaptive, ensuring every approved project is set up correctly, funded to the authorized amount, and coded to the right entity, asset class and cost structure.
• Reconcile capital data between D365, Adaptive and project reporting so the organization works from one set of numbers rather than competing spreadsheets.
• Ensure the approved capital plan is faithfully represented in the systems of record, and that subsequent changes are reflected promptly and with an audit trail.
• Manage project financial setup, structure and approval routing, and ensure no spend is incurred against a project that has not been properly authorized.
• Support the annual and long-range capital planning processes by gathering project inputs, validating assumptions, and improving consistency across submissions.
• Capital Deployment Control
• Track actual capital spend against approved budgets and forecasts, identifying risks, timing shifts and areas requiring management attention early enough to act on them.
• Manage the overrun process end to end: surface variances early, quantify the financial impact, and prepare the recommendation for decision. Accountability for the overrun itself rests with Engineering or the Division VP; this role ensures it is visible, quantified and reviewed.
• Manage the reallocation of capital between projects, preparing recommendations, documenting rationale and executing approved transfers in the systems of record.
• Maintain project-level budgets, commitments, accruals, cash flow forecasts and variance analysis in partnership with FP&A and operating teams.
• Evaluate the financial impact of cost estimate changes, schedule shifts and scope adjustments, and make the consequences plain to the leaders who own them.
• Capital Accounting
• Lead capital accounting for the Company, including cost capture, construction in progress, capitalization, in-service dating, asset creation and the start of depreciation.
• Ensure timely project closeout and capitalization in accordance with accounting policy, control requirements and documentation standards.
• Reconcile construction in progress and capital asset balances, and support internal and external audit requests relating to capital.
• Maintain the capitalization policy in practice, working closely with Technical Accounting to ensure consistent treatment of what is capitalized and what is expensed across projects and railroads.
• Grant & Rebillable Receivables
• Oversee the team that is charged with billing and managing receivables for grants and rebillable to federal, state and local agencies, ensuring reimbursement submissions are accurate, fully documented, complete and submitted on time.
• Manage the grant and rebillable receivable balance, including aging, collection follow-up and escalation, and hold reimbursement cycle time as a working capital measure rather than an administrative afterthought.
• Ensure documentation standards for reimbursement are met during project execution rather than reconstructed at billing, working with the grant and public project teams to build the record as the work is done.
• Support Section 130 crossing and other rebillable programs with the financial tracking and billing those programs require.
• Coordinate with the grant teams on compliance requirements that carry financial consequence, including eligible cost definitions, match requirements and reporting deadlines.
• Reporting, Visibility & Governance
• Prepare regular reporting on capital project status, spend, forecast changes, budget variances and execution risks for Finance and operational leadership.
• Improve visibility into capital deployment through consistent reporting tools, dashboards and communication routines.
• Support capital governance by ensuring project financial information is complete, accurate, timely and aligned with approval requirements.
• Coordinate with Accounting, Procurement and other Finance partners on project setup, cost tracking, accruals, capitalization and closeout.
• Cross-Functional Partnership & Process Improvement
• Serve as the primary Finance partner to Program Management, Engineering, Mechanical and field leaders throughout the capital project lifecycle.
• Translate project scopes, timing and operational needs into clear financial plans, and translate financial constraints back into terms operating leaders can act on.
• Identify opportunities to simplify capital planning, tracking, reporting and the handoffs between operating teams and Finance.
• Facilitate regular reviews with stakeholders covering project status, financial performance, risks and required follow-up.
• Promote disciplined financial management of capital while maintaining a practical understanding of operational execution needs.
• Team Leadership & Development
• Lead the Capital accounting and Grant/Rebillable accounting teams through their respective managers, establishing performance objectives, conducting reviews and building capability.
• Develop the team's understanding of the operating business, so that capital accounting judgment is informed by how the work is actually performed.
• Other projects and duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive experience in finance, capital planning, project finance, capital accounting or operational finance support, including people leadership.
• Demonstrated ownership of capital accounting through capitalization and closeout, including construction in progress, in-service dating and asset creation.
• Experience billing and collecting grant or other reimbursable receivables from government agencies, and familiarity with the documentation those programs require.
• Experience maintaining capital budgets in an ERP and a planning platform, and reconciling between them; Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Adaptive Insights experience strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting capital project budgeting, forecasting, spend tracking, variance analysis and financial reporting in a complex operating environment.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with operational teams and translate project scopes, schedules and execution risks into clear financial plans and management reporting.
• The judgment to hold a line on capital discipline without becoming an obstacle to getting work done in the field.
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders including Program Management, Engineering, Mechanical, Procurement, Accounting and field operations.
• Strong financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis skills with emphasis on project-level capital spend and cash flow.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and the ability to build practical models, trackers and reporting tools.
• Strong reporting and data visualization skills, including dashboards, executive summaries and recurring capital status reporting.
• Prior experience improving financial processes, reporting routines or project tracking tools preferred.
• Railroad, transportation or infrastructure experience a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or a related field required.
• CPA strongly preferred given the capital accounting content of the role; MBA or CFA also valued.
• Mix of private and U.S. public company experience preferred.

Skills

Required

• Financial modeling
• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Variance analysis
• Microsoft Excel (advanced)
• Data visualization
• Reporting
• ERP systems (D365, Adaptive Insights)
• Capital accounting
• Grant billing and receivables
• Cross-functional partnership
• People leadership

Preferred

• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Adaptive Insights
• CPA
• MBA
• CFA
• Process improvement