---
title: 'Assistant Controller at Tiberius Aerospace Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-controller-tiberius-aerospace-inc-orange-county-rg8fc41d3ede'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-23'
---

# Assistant Controller at Tiberius Aerospace Inc.

- **Company:** Tiberius Aerospace Inc.
- **Location:** Orange County
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-23
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/tiberius/db15fc9c-c7c2-4778-b45f-02baa69e4b02

## Job description

Assistant Controller Accounting Operations | Financial Close | Controls & Compliance

Location Newport Beach / Orange County, California Employment Type Full-time Department Finance Reports To Dan Hejza, VP of Finance / Controller

## Compensation

150,000–200,000 base salary, plus bonus, equity, and benefits

## About Tiberius Aerospace

Tiberius Aerospace is a cutting-edge aerospace and defense company delivering advanced, mission-critical technologies for government and private-sector customers. We develop high-performance aerospace systems, secure engineering solutions, and complex hardware built for demanding operational environments. Tiberius is scaling quickly and is seeking finance leaders who bring rigor, ownership, and operational discipline to a fast-moving hardware business. Our finance team is a strategic partner to the organization—building the systems, controls, and insight required to support growth while maintaining the standards expected of a high-consequence aerospace and defense company.

## The Role

Tiberius Aerospace is seeking an experienced and hands-on Assistant Controller to help build, manage, and scale the company’s accounting function. Reporting directly to Dan Hejza, VP of Finance / Controller, this role will own critical elements of the monthly and annual close process, general-ledger integrity, financial reporting, internal controls, and day-to-day accounting operations. The Assistant Controller will work closely with leaders across Finance, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, People, Legal, and Program Management to ensure accurate financial information, disciplined processes, and timely decision support. This is a deliberate succession-track role. The successful candidate will have the technical rigor, operating judgment, and leadership ability to take on increasing ownership of the accounting organization and transition into the Controller role within several quarters based on performance. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable working at the detail level—reconciling accounts, reviewing journal entries, and resolving close issues—as they are improving processes, developing accounting policies, supporting audits, building a team, and creating scalable financial infrastructure.

## What You’ll Do

Accounting Operations & Financial Close Lead key components of the monthly, quarterly, and annual financial-close process, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. Maintain the integrity of the general ledger, including account reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, prepaids, fixed assets, intercompany activity, and other balance-sheet accounts. Review journal entries, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and close deliverables prepared by internal team members and external accounting partners. Prepare and review monthly financial statements, management reporting packages, flux analyses, and supporting schedules. Drive timely resolution of accounting discrepancies, unusual transactions, balance-sheet issues, and close-related risks. Establish and maintain close calendars, standard operating procedures, account-ownership structures, and documentation standards. Support cash-management, banking, treasury, and payment-control activities as needed. Financial Reporting, Controls & Compliance Support the preparation of accurate and timely financial reporting in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Develop, document, and strengthen accounting policies, internal controls, and finance procedures appropriate for a scaling aerospace and defense organization. Maintain a strong internal-control environment across accounting processes, including procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, payroll, inventory, fixed assets, expense reporting, and financial close. Support external audit, tax, lender, diligence, and other compliance requests by preparing schedules, documentation, and technical accounting support. Assist with the implementation of new accounting standards, policy updates, and technical accounting analyses. Identify control gaps, operational risks, and process inefficiencies; design practical solutions and drive adoption across the business. Support compliance with applicable government-contracting, defense-industry, export-control, and record-retention requirements as they affect finance operations. Inventory, Cost Accounting & Operational Finance Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Program Management to ensure accurate accounting for inventory, work in process, standard costs, purchase commitments, and capital assets. Support the development and maintenance of cost-accounting processes for complex hardware, engineering development, prototype builds, and production programs. Review inventory reserves, obsolescence, capitalization policies, fixed-asset records, and depreciation schedules. Help improve visibility into material costs, labor, overhead, manufacturing variances, and program-level financial performance. Support accounting and reporting for government contracts, customer programs, milestone-based activity, and revenue-recognition considerations as applicable. Assist in building the processes and controls needed to scale from development programs into repeatable production operations. Systems, Process Improvement & Team Leadership Help optimize the company’s ERP, expense-management, procurement, financial-reporting, and close-management systems. Drive automation and process improvement across recurring accounting workflows, reporting, reconciliations, and approvals. Partner with FP&A to ensure actuals, forecasts, budgets, and operating metrics are aligned and reliably reported. Support, mentor, and develop accounting team members as the function grows. Serve as a trusted finance partner to functional leaders, explaining financial results, policies, controls, and risks clearly and practically. Participate in cross-functional projects, systems implementations, financing activities, acquisition diligence, and other strategic initiatives as needed.

## What You’ll Bring

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field. Active CPA license required. 8+ years of progressive accounting experience, including public-accounting experience at a Big Four firm in audit, assurance, transaction services, or a related accounting-advisory practice. Demonstrated experience in a high-growth startup or scaling technology, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, hardware, or other operationally complex environment. Proven ownership of core accounting operations, including month-end close, financial reporting, general ledger, reconciliations, internal controls, audit readiness, and process improvement. Experience operating in an environment where processes, systems, and organizational structure are still being built—not simply maintained. Strong command of U.S. GAAP, financial-statement preparation, accounting-policy development, and balance-sheet management. Experience with inventory, fixed assets, accruals, cost accounting, or manufacturing accounting. Demonstrated ability to build, lead, mentor, or materially upgrade an accounting team. Advanced Excel skills and comfort working within ERP and financial-reporting systems. Ability to operate effectively in an evolving environment, establish structure where it does not yet exist, and balance urgency with sound financial judgment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across finance and non-finance teams. High integrity, sound judgment, discretion, and a strong ownership mentality. Clear potential to assume the Controller role within several quarters based on demonstrated execution, leadership capability, technical-accounting depth, and ability to scale the accounting function. U.S. Person status, due to access requirements for export-controlled information and facilities.

## Preferred Qualifications

Prior experience as an Assistant Controller, Accounting Manager, Senior Accounting Manager, or Controller within a high-growth or scaling company. Experience supporting audit readiness, external financial-statement audits, due diligence, financing activity, or board reporting. Experience with aerospace, defense, government contracting, project accounting, or manufacturing operations. Familiarity with cost-accounting methods, inventory valuation, standard costing, and manufacturing variance analysis. Experience implementing or optimizing an ERP system, including NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, or similar platforms. Experience building accounting policies, procedures, control matrices, and finance-process documentation. Familiarity with FAR, CAS, DCAA, government-contracting, or defense-finance requirements. Prior people-management and team-development experience. What Success Looks Like Within the first several months, you will establish yourself as a reliable owner of the close process and a trusted partner to Dan Hejza, VP of Finance / Controller, and the broader finance organization. The accounting team will have clearer ownership, stronger reconciliations, more disciplined documentation, and a predictable close cadence. You will demonstrate the ability to lead a reliable and increasingly efficient financial close; improve the integrity and timeliness of financial reporting; strengthen accounting policies and controls; and build credibility with functional leaders, auditors, lenders, and senior leadership. Over time, you will help build an accounting function that delivers timely, accurate, audit-ready information; supports operational decision-making; and scales alongside Tiberius’s engineering, manufacturing, and program execution. Growth Opportunity This is a deliberate Controller succession-track opportunity. The Assistant Controller will work directly with Dan Hejza, VP of Finance / Controller, taking on meaningful ownership of the accounting function from the outset. The successful candidate should be prepared to demonstrate the technical rigor, leadership maturity, operational judgment, and cross-functional credibility required to step into the Controller role within several quarters. Progression will be based on execution—not tenure—including the ability to lead a reliable close, strengthen controls, build a high-performing accounting team, support audit and reporting requirements, and establish scalable finance infrastructure for Tiberius’s next stage of growth.

## Compensation & Benefits

Tiberius Aerospace offers a 150,000–150,000–200,000 base salary, plus bonus eligibility, equity participation, comprehensive health benefits, and a 401(k). Final compensation will be determined based on experience, technical depth, leadership capability, and the needs of the business.

## Equal Opportunity Employer

Tiberius Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Applicants who require a reasonable accommodation during the application process may contact kburchstead@tiberius.com. Tiberius Aerospace participates in E-Verify.

## About Tiberius Aerospace Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Tiberius Aerospace is a modern defense technology company developing advanced weapons systems—including supersonic ramjet munitions, guided munitions, and AI-enabled lethality—for the UK, US, and allied nations under a Defense-as-a-Service (DaaS) model.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; $4.5M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom (with significant operations in Newport Beach, CA, USA and Tucson, AZ, USA)
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Chad Steelberg (Founder), Andy Baynes (Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer), Michael Martin (Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Defense and Space Manufacturing, Aerospace, National Security
- **Target customers**: Government and military customers (US, UK, and allied nations); B2G (Business-to-Government) focus
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "To serve our nations with Strength, Honor, and Purpose - forging the systems that defend freedom and shape the future of defense."

## Products & Services
- **SCEPTRE**: A flagship program focused on guided munitions and advanced missiles, designed for precision and scalability.
- **GRAIL**: An AI-enabled lethality and autonomous platform program, involving software products for next-generation defense systems.
- **LAB**: Tiberius's continuous innovation engine that separates R&D from manufacturing, enabling rapid iteration and sovereign scalability.
- **DAAS (Defense-as-a-Service)**: The company's core operating model—a radically different approach that decouples R&D from production to allow faster adaptation, cost-effective lethality, and continuous evolution of systems.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: $4.5M in total funding (Seed Round, October 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: 4 investors participated in the Seed round (names not publicly listed); key partnerships with US and UK allied governments.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **366.7% year-over-year** to 21 employees; actively hiring across multiple engineering and operations roles; distributed workforce across the US and UK; flagship programs (SCEPTRE, GRAIL) are operational and scaling.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Defense-as-a-Service (DaaS) model**: A unique approach that separates R&D from manufacturing, allowing for rapid iteration, sovereign scalability, and continuous innovation—a stark contrast to traditional prime defense contractors.
- **Speed and adaptability**: Designed for a new era of conflict where speed and cost-effective lethality are critical; the company's ethos is to "adapt faster than emerging threats."
- **AI and software-first mindset**: Leadership and talent come from companies where rapid iteration, software, and AI were the norm; this mindset is applied to hardware and defense systems, creating continuously learning and evolving platforms.
- **Talent acquisition from top defense primes**: Key hires from Raytheon (6 employees), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other defense tech companies, bringing deep domain expertise.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: Scaling the SCEPTRE and GRAIL programs; expanding sovereign manufacturing capabilities for the UK and US; building a continuously learning ecosystem that connects engineers, manufacturers, operators, and governments.
- **Direction for growth**: Global expansion with allied nations; deepening AI and autonomous capabilities; moving from seed-stage to production and deployment at scale.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: A mission-driven environment focused on "difficult problems" with real-world impact at global scale. The company emphasizes that "software can transform hardware" and is building a new model for defense.
- **Remote/Hybrid policy**: Offers remote, hybrid, and on-site work options depending on the role. Many positions are fully remote; engineering roles (e.g., Test Engineer, GNC Engineer) in Tucson, AZ are on-site.
- **Notable perks**:
  - **Equity**: Stock ownership in the company
  - **Medical, Dental & Vision**: 100% employer-paid for employee and/or family
  - **Life Insurance**: 100% employer-paid, 2x salary up to $1 million
  - **401(k)**: Both standard and Roth options available
  - **Unlimited PTO**: At manager's discretion
  - **Paid Parental Leave**: 2 weeks
  - **Sick Leave**: 80 hours annually
  - **Flexible vacation and hybrid/remote schedules**
- **Engineering culture**: Focus on GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control), embedded systems, flight performance, CFD, and AI; the team is described as "redefining not just what gets built, but how defense itself is built."

## Sources
1. [tiberius.com - About Us](https://www.tiberius.com/about-us)
2. [tiberius.com - Join Us](https://www.tiberius.com/join-us)
3. [linkedin.com - Company Profile](https://linkedin.com/company/tiberius-aerospace)
4. [builtin.com - Company Profile](https://builtin.com/company/tiberius-aerospace-inc)
5. [jobs.lever.co - Careers Page](https://jobs.lever.co/tiberius)

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