Controller – Grand Rapids

Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Employment Type: Full-Time
Salary Range: Based on experience

About Wolverine Crane & Service, Inc.

Wolverine Crane & Service, Inc. is a privately held, employee-owned company specializing in the design, manufacturing, installation, and service of overhead crane systems and material handling solutions. For decades, Wolverine has built a formidable reputation across the Midwest for engineering excellence, practical innovation, and responsive customer service.

Our purpose is simple:
to help our customers move materials safely, efficiently, and reliably—every day. We do this by combining strong engineering fundamentals with hands‑on industry experience and a culture that values accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

Wolverine is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company. That means our employees are also owner‑sharing directly in the company’s success and long‑term growth. As we continue to expand our engineering capabilities and geographic reach, we are investing in talented professionals who want to develop their careers while helping shape the future of the organization.

The Controller is responsible for overseeing all accounting operations, financial reporting, budgeting, cost accounting, and internal controls. This role partners closely with the CEO, and operations leadership to provide timely financial insight, improve margins, and support disciplined growth.

This is a working manager role
—expect a mix of strategic oversight and hands‑on execution.

• Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close process
• Prepare timely and accurate financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow)
• Analyze and explain variances vs. budget, forecast, and prior periods
• Ensure GAAP compliance and consistency

• Spend time with production and estimating
• Help refine labor standards and overhead absorption
• Challenge margin assumptions

• Maintain and improve job costing, labor absorption, overhead rates, and WIP reporting
• Analyze margins by job, customer, and product line, and location
• Partner with operations to identify cost drivers and margin improvement opportunities
• Oversee inventory accounting, cycle counts, and physical inventories

• Lead annual budgeting and rolling forecasts
• Develop cash flow forecasts and working capital plans
• Provide scenario analysis for pricing, capital investments, and growth initiatives

• Drive AR discipline and DSO improvement
• Improve inventory turns
• Manage bank relationships and covenants
• Forecast cash weekly or bi‑weekly

• Manage AR, AP, payroll, and general ledger
• Monitor and improve DSO, inventory turns, and cash conversion cycle
• Maintain banking relationships, debt compliance, and covenant reporting
• Establish and enforce internal controls and accounting policies

• Supervise accounting staff (typically 1–3 people)
• Coordinate with external CPA firm for tax filings and year‑end review/audit
• Support ownership with ad hoc financial analysis and decision‑making
• Assist with ERP usage, reporting improvements, and process automation

• Quickbooks
• Payroll and inventory systems

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance
• 5–10 years of progressive accounting experience
• Quick Books Expertise
• Manufacturing and job‑costing experience required
• Strong understanding of WIP, absorption costing, and inventory accounting

• Experience in an ESOP is preferred
• CPA or CMA
• Prior experience in a $10M–$50M manufacturing environment

• Detail‑oriented but business‑minded
• Comfortable “rolling up sleeves”
• Able to translate numbers into operational insight
• Strong communicator with non‑financial leaders
• Practical, not overly theoretical

Wolverine Crane & Service, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.