VP, Accounting & Finance

Oak Brook, IL, United States

Job Description Job Description Recognized as one of Crain’s “Best Places to Work” as well as a 2023 “Great Places to Work” by the Great Place To Work Institute Inc., Sasser prides itself on supporting an employee-driven, opportunity-based culture that empowers, recognizes, and rewards its employees. From highly competitive benefits to exciting employee events to organic, grassroots philanthropy and volunteerism, Sasser is an awesome place to begin and grow your career.

We are a fourth-generation, family-held transportation asset services and management company with roots dating to 1928. Sasser’s six subsidiary units are leaders in providing commercial- and industrial-focused rail, automotive, containerized shipping, and aviation transportation equipment solutions including asset leasing, fleet administration management, asset repair and maintenance, and innovative technology services. Sasser Family Companies includes subsidiaries Chicago Freight Car, Union Leasing, CF Rail Services, Express 4x4 Truck Rental, Xced GSE, and Falcon Lease. To learn more about what makes Sasser special, visit www.sasser.com.

What We Offer

In Sasser’s employee-driven, opportunity-based culture, our employees help chart the course for our success. That is the reason that we believe that the most important investment we'll ever make in our business is you. Sasser employees enjoy a competitive benefits program that:

Covers 85% of your medical premiums

Includes a 100% Company-paid disability and life insurance plans

Includes a 401K plan with company match PLUS additional end-of-year funding

Includes Incentive Plans

Provides training and tuition reimbursement

Provides community service opportunities, employee recognition programs, and lots and lots of celebrations!

As Vice President, Accounting & Finance, Here's What You'll Do:

Reporting to a Business Unit President and the Company's Chief Financial Officer, and serving as an integral member of the senior management team, the Vice President, Accounting & Finance will be responsible for the development of Business Unit financial management strategy and contribute to the development of the organization’s strategic goals. This role ensures the development and implementation of all financial policies, procedures, and controls. This position is responsible for leading all general accounting and financial reporting and analysis activities, budgeting and forecasting initiatives, process improvement initiatives and setting best practices, leading audits, and managing risk.

Be a strategic partner on the Business Unit leadership team. Participate in significant strategic discussions and help set business priorities. Support the BU leadership team with financial analysis to drive informed decision making.

Identify key financial KPI’s for the business. Drive reporting and analysis of performance against these KPI’s.

Review and evaluate all financial operating data. Identify key themes and trends. Develop conclusions based on the data analysis and bring this information to the Business Unit leadership team for discussion.

Identify and evaluate opportunities for profitability improvement. Raise verified opportunities to the Business Unit leadership team for discussion and potential implementation to drive business performance improvement.

Participate in strategic planning activities for the Business Unit. Provide supporting analysis for proposed strategic planning conclusions. Collaborate with Sasser senior management on strategic planning activities.

Oversee all finance and accounting activities for the Business Unit, including the Director of Accounting and other finance and accounting personnel.

Create Finance & Accounting policies and procedures and institute best practices. Focus on continuous process improvement to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the Accounting department. Utilize technology systems to streamline operations while maintaining robust data integrity.

Lead budget and forecasting initiatives, including preparation of annual budgets, quarterly forecasts and long-range financials for all revenue streams that support the Business Unit's strategic plan, establish, monitor and report on key financial performance metrics. Provide insight and analysis to identify the key financial performance drivers and ensure that the budget models accurately capture the appropriate forward-looking financials.

Collaborate with IT regarding Finance and Accounting software enhancements and implementations. Evaluate the effectiveness of present and proposed accounting software and oversee, support and encourage system implementations and upgrades.

Collaborate and coordinate with other automotive business unit’s finance team on overall process improvement and forecasting initiatives, sharing and leveraging best practices where appropriate.

Collaborate with the Corporate Director of Tax regarding the tax accounting functions, including regulatory reporting with government agencies (sales / use tax), represent the Business Unit on tax audits with outside government agencies (sales / use tax audits), facilitate communication with appropriate government agencies and company counsel related to tax matters, formulate tax projections for quarterly income tax payments, for preparation for city, states and federal tax returns with outside public accounting firm.

Develop a Financial Risk Management strategy and lead related activities, including creating and enforcing credit and collections policies and procedures, evaluating customer credit risks, reviewing and analyzing accounts receivable reports.

Manage Financial Analysis and Reporting activities in coordination with the Sasser Corporate Finance Team. Develop meaningful financial analysis of actual to budget results and prepare corresponding reports and commentary that detail the variances and highlight issues related to financial and operational performance and compliance. Assist with the investigation, explanation and documentation of related variances, and tracking cash flow and developing cash forecasts, reviewing CapEx Report on capital spending. Evaluate financial performance on a monthly basis against prior results, budget and forecast.

Here's What it Will Take to be Successful in This Role:

Master’s degree (MBA or Finance) is highly preferred.

10+ years of experience, with a minimum of 5 years in a similar senior leadership position in a similar industry or translatable competitive business environment.

Experience working in a large-scale ERP environment, preferably Intacct.

Experience working with financial budgeting and planning software, preferably Adaptive.

Demonstrated success in analyzing and reporting on business operating results, including comparison of actual results to plan and forecast.

Demonstrated ability to analyze investment decisions, capital spending needs and M&A initiatives.

Knowledge of GAAP and its specific application to auto and truck rental.

Experience in the vehicle Rental / Leasing or transportation industry highly preferred.

Results driven, able to focus on organizational growth and financial performance.

Must have strong executive presence and the ability to communicate concisely with leadership, but also dig in to analyze data as needed.

Strong analytical and financial management skills to continually monitor and assess the performance of the business with respect to established targets, business plans and projected growth strategies. Ability to assess financial viability of new business opportunities, including business expansion and acquisition strategies.

Must be hands on and detail oriented with a roll up your sleeves attitude, with a willingness to dig into the details.

Ability and experience to autonomously direct and lead high-level negotiations, influencing outcomes with vendors and customers.

A high level of personal skill and experience making formal, persuasive presentations to and interacting with a variety of senior internal and external executives, effectively supporting and articulating the strategic positioning of the business enterprise, plus the ability to work effectively with people at all levels of the organization or industry.

Outstanding communication skills, both verbal and written.

Ability to independently drive projects to completion, while also functioning effectively in a team environment.

A leadership style that is transparent, inclusive, customer focused and committed to results with a strong sense of personal accountability and outstanding integrity, with the ability to motivate and develop a high performing team. Strong leadership ability inspiring commitment, professional growth and performance with all members of the team and related organizations.

Experience working in collaborative environments to achieve long term strategic objectives.

Physical Demands

This job operates in a professional environment and routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, copy machines, filing cabinets, printers, and fax machines. This role will require frequent travel, approximately 50+% of the time.

Working Conditions

This position will be based out of our office in Oak Brook, Illinois. Until the Company moves to Oak Brook in early 2026, this will temporarily work out of the office in Schaumburg, Illinois. This role also offers remote work flexibility with 3 days in office, and 2 days remote.

The Company provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

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