Finance Systems Manager - 18 months contract

Advanced Navigation is the world’s most determined innovator in AI robotics and navigation technologies across land, air, sea and space applications. Founded on a culture of research and discovery, Advanced Navigation's mission is to be the catalyst of the autonomy revolution. Fields of expertise include artificial intelligence, underwater sonar, GNSS, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, robotics, quantum sensors and photonics. 

Today, Advanced Navigation is a supplier to some of the world's largest companies, including Airbus, Boeing, Google, Tesla, NASA, Apple, and General Motors. Discover it for yourself: https://youtu.be/F7uAqs1gtuk

Employment type: 18 Month Fixed-Term contract (with potential for permanent conversion)

The opportunity

Advanced Navigation is a global leader in AI robotics and autonomous navigation technologies. We are embarking on a major transformation of our operational infrastructure, replacing our fragmented legacy systems with Microsoft Dynamics 365 across five global legal entities.

We are seeking a Finance Systems Manager to own the Finance workstream of this program end-to-end. This is a critical, high-impact role requiring a rare blend of program management capability and deep finance systems expertise. Reporting directly to the CFO, you will act as the primary point of accountability for all financial outcomes of the rollout—bridging the gap between our internal finance teams, IT, and our external implementation partner. If you are a hands-on specialist who thrives on delivering complex ERP systems, this role offers the chance to build a world-class foundation for a fast-growing deep-tech company.

Key responsibilities

As the program leader for our finance ecosystem, your responsibilities will bridge deployment delivery and future-state systems governance:

• ERP Program Delivery: Own the Finance workstream of the MS Dynamics 365 implementation, serving as the strategic liaison between internal finance stakeholders and the external implementation vendor.
• Functional Alignment: Translate complex business requirements across AP, AR, General Ledger, Fixed Assets, Intercompany transactions, and Financial Reporting into functional Dynamics configuration decisions.
• Data Migration Strategy: Lead the migration framework—including chart of accounts mapping, opening balances, and master data cleansing—across our five legal entities in Australia, the UK, and the US.
• Testing & UAT Oversight: Design robust testing scripts, coordinate internal finance team participation, and actively manage defect resolution with the vendor during User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Change Management: Design and deliver a comprehensive training and change management program, ensuring our global finance team is capable, confident, and ready for day-one go-live.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with IT and the CRM workstream to define and validate integration points for billing workflows, revenue recognition, payroll, expenses, and banking.
• Post Go-Live Administration: Act as the primary system administrator for Dynamics Finance modules post go-live, managing user access, security role design, and ongoing software optimization.
• Systems Governance & Analytics: Establish a formal governance framework for change requests and master data ownership, partnering with the Manager of Reporting & Analytics to ensure data structures support clean downstream reporting.

What you will bring to the role

We are looking for a deeply technical finance systems expert who is willing to roll up their sleeves and work directly inside the system, rather than just providing high-level oversight:

• Proven ERP Track Record: Minimum 6 years of experience across finance systems, ERP implementations, or finance operations, featuring at least two full-cycle ERP deployments in a hands-on lead capacity.
• Dynamics 365 F&O Expertise: Deep functional knowledge and hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (or Dynamics AX) as a functional lead or systems manager is essential.
• Global Entity Fluency: Strong background operating within a multi-entity, multi-currency corporate structure; direct experience managing Australian and US entities is highly desirable.
• Industry Acumen: Experience within a technology, hardware, manufacturing, or defense-adjacent business is a distinct advantage given our product complexity and US defense-subsidiary framework.
• Technical Depth: Ability to write and interpret functional design documents, legal entity configurations, number sequences, posting profiles, and data migration specifications.
• Vendor Management: A proven ability to manage external software integrators, holding them strictly accountable to agreed scope, timelines, budget, and quality parameters.
• Change Leadership: Natural communication skills with the ability to build immediate trust with cross-functional teams undergoing significant operational change, alongside the executive presence to report program risks directly to the CFO.

What success looks like

In your first 90 days, you will achieve a comprehensive understanding of our current-state system architecture across all five entities, map out all active risks, and build a highly collaborative working relationship with the Head of Finance and our external implementation partner. By go-live, you will have successfully deployed a stable, clean finance module across all global entities, delivered a fully trained finance team, and established a post go-live governance framework ensuring a continuous roadmap for process improvement.