Position Description:
BASE SALARY: $150,000–$165,000 + 10% Performance Bonus
COMPANY SUMMARY
ELIA Group is a multi-faceted, fully integrated real estate and hospitality company that acquires, develops, and manages commercial properties in landmark locations throughout the United States. In Real Estate & Development and Hospitality, we don’t sit back and let things happen, we make things happen! Whether we’re crafting deals or cocktails, our unparalleled attention to detail leads to award-winning real estate development and hospitality projects.
Come join our expanding team that is located in Birmingham, MI and has a growing presence in Nashville and play a meaningful role in continuing ELIA’s legacy of creating unique opportunities and iconic experiences!
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Corporate Controller serves as the senior accounting leader for ELIA Group and is responsible for the overall integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of the Company’s accounting and financial reporting functions across its hospitality, real estate, and corporate entities.
Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Senior Corporate Controller will lead and oversee the accounting department, and will have ultimate responsibility for the Company's accounting operations, monthly and annual close processes, financial statement preparation, internal controls, accounting policies, and financial reporting.
This position requires a hands-on accounting leader capable of managing a complex, multi-entity organization while building the processes, systems, controls, and team necessary to support continued growth. The Senior Corporate Controller will balance strategic oversight with detailed review and will remain ultimately accountable for the quality and accuracy of the accounting function, regardless of whether particular responsibilities are delegated to other members of the accounting team.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Accounting Leadership & Oversight
- Lead and oversee the accounting function across ELIA Group's hospitality operating companies, real estate entities, and corporate entities.
- Establish clear responsibilities, workflows, deadlines, and accountability throughout the accounting department.
- Oversee the delegation and execution of day-to-day accounting activities while maintaining ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the Company's accounting records.
- Establish, maintain, and enforce accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls consistent with GAAP and sound accounting practices.
- Identify accounting and reporting risks and proactively implement processes and controls to address them.
- Oversee general ledger, AP/AR, payroll accounting, revenue recognition, cost accounting, and fixed assets.
Financial Close & Reporting
- Own and oversee the monthly, quarterly, and annual financial close processes across all hospitality and real estate entities.
- Establish and enforce a disciplined monthly close calendar, including deadlines for reconciliations, accruals, financial statement preparation, review, and final reporting.
- Review and/or prepare entity-level and consolidated financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and supporting schedules.
- Ensure all balance sheet accounts are appropriately reconciled and reviewed and that outstanding reconciling items are timely investigated and resolved.
- Review journal entries, accruals, allocations, reserves, and other significant accounting adjustments.
- Oversee consolidation of financial results, including intercompany transactions, allocations, and eliminations.
- Ensure financial statements accurately reflect the underlying operations of the business and are prepared consistently across entities and reporting periods.
- Develop and maintain standardized monthly financial reporting packages for executive leadership.
Multi-Entity Accounting & Financial Management
- Oversee accounting for a complex organizational structure consisting of multiple operating businesses, real estate entities, holding companies, and related entities.
- Ensure appropriate accounting for intercompany transactions, management fees, shared expenses, distributions, contributions, loans, and other related-party activity.
- Maintain consistency in chart of accounts, accounting policies, reporting methodologies, and financial presentation across entities.
- Oversee cash management and monitor cash positions, working capital requirements, and significant upcoming obligations across the organization.
- Support accounting integration for acquisitions, dispositions, new business concepts, new locations, and newly formed entities.
Hospitality Accounting
- Provide senior-level oversight of accounting for restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, and other hospitality operations.
- Oversee location-level P&Ls and ensure accurate reporting of revenue, labor, cost of goods sold, operating expenses, and other key performance metrics.
- Oversee food and beverage inventory accounting, inventory reconciliations, and cost controls.
- Monitor accounting processes associated with POS, payroll, inventory, AP, and other hospitality systems.
- Partner with operations leadership to investigate material variances and provide meaningful financial insight into venue performance.
Real Estate Accounting
- Oversee accounting and financial reporting for ELIA Group's real estate portfolio and related ownership entities.
- Review property-level income statements, balance sheets, cash activity, capital expenditures, and other financial reporting.
- Ensure appropriate accounting for leases, tenant activity, debt, interest, capital improvements, acquisitions, dispositions, and other real estate transactions.
- Coordinate with ownership, lenders, property managers, tax professionals, and other parties regarding financial reporting requirements.
Accounting Systems, Infrastructure & Controls
- Evaluate, develop, and continuously improve scalable accounting processes, systems, reporting tools, and workflows.
- Ensure effective integration and reconciliation between accounting systems and the Company's POS, payroll, inventory, banking, and other operational systems.
- Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve the efficiency and reliability of financial reporting.
- Maintain appropriate user access, approval authority, segregation of duties, and financial controls.
- Develop dashboards, reporting packages, and analytical tools that provide executive leadership with clear and actionable financial information.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Financial Analysis
- Lead or oversee the preparation of annual budgets and periodic forecasts in collaboration with executive leadership and operational teams.
- Compare actual financial results to budget, forecast, and prior periods and identify significant trends and variances.
- Provide executive leadership with timely analysis regarding business performance, cash flow, operating results, and financial risks.
- Support capital allocation, financing, acquisition, development, and other strategic business decisions through financial analysis.
- Assist leadership in developing financial models and evaluating new opportunities and initiatives.
External Reporting & Financial Partners
- Coordinate annual financial statement, tax, and other external reporting processes.
- Ensure required financial information and supporting documentation is complete, accurate, organized, and delivered timely.
- Support lender reporting, covenant compliance, and other financial reporting obligations as applicable.
Team Leadership & Development
- Recruit, train, mentor, and develop a high-performing accounting team.
- Provide direct leadership, coaching, and professional development to the Junior Controller.
- Establish measurable performance expectations and hold team members accountable for accuracy, responsiveness, and deadlines.
- Develop appropriate cross-training and documentation to reduce key-person dependency and ensure continuity within the department.
- Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, accuracy, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Build an accounting organization capable of supporting ELIA Group's continued growth and increasing operational complexity.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
- 8–12+ years of progressive accounting experience, with significant leadership responsibility.
- Demonstrated experience leading an accounting team and reviewing the work of other accounting professionals.
- Significant experience managing accounting and financial reporting across multiple legal entities and operating businesses.
- Strong experience preparing and reviewing income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, account reconciliations, and consolidated financial statements.
- Strong working knowledge of GAAP, financial reporting, internal controls, and accounting best practices.
Preferred
- CPA or equivalent certification.
- Experience with private, founder-led, or entrepreneurial organizations.
- Exposure to real estate accounting, including property-level reporting and lease accounting.
- Hands-on experience with POS, inventory, and hospitality-specific financial systems.
Ideal Candidate Profile
- Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort operating in a fast-moving, evolving organization.
- Hospitality, restaurant, or multi-location operating experience.
- Experience with private, founder-led, entrepreneurial, or rapidly growing organizations.
- Experience with real estate accounting, property-level reporting, debt accounting, and lease accounting.
- Experience with consolidations and complex intercompany accounting.
- Hands-on experience with ERP/accounting systems and hospitality-related POS, inventory, payroll, and reporting platforms.
- Experience supporting acquisitions, new entity formation, and integration of new businesses or locations.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
At ELIA, we use our unique experience and contributions to deliver more than value – we set new standards! We seek someone that is looking for more than a job – we want to work with someone who is as passionate as us about what we do and how we go about doing it.
The Senior Corporate Controller will play a critical leadership role within the organization and will be expected to bring structure, discipline, accountability, and financial visibility to a growing and increasingly complex portfolio of businesses.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Competitive salary (commensurate with experience)
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k)
- Opportunity for long-term growth within a multi-venue hospitality group
WORK ENVIRONMENT
We’re a bold and imaginative team with a proven record. Our robust team has extensive subject matter expertise and cohesive team chemistry in every facet of our business. We’re strategic-planners and boundary-pushers in the best possible way. It’s important to our culture to have fun while also exceeding everyone’s expectations.
This is a full-time, primarily in-office position based at ELIA Group's corporate office in Birmingham, Michigan. Typical working hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., although additional hours may be required based on business needs, particularly during financial close periods, year-end, audits, acquisitions, new openings, and other significant business activities.
The position may require periodic visits to ELIA Group's hospitality venues.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
At ELIA, we are all about setting you up for success! The physical demands described here are representative of those you must possess to successfully perform the essential functions of this role.
This is primarily an office role that requires you to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time although standing in, and moving between, work areas may be required. You will need to be able to operate a computer and other office productively machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer, for a significant part of each day. This role frequently requires you to move around our office or our other properties. This role occasionally requires the ability to move objects weighing up to 25 pounds. You will also need to be able to operate a motor vehicle to visit various properties and meeting sites and communicate effectively in person, before groups, and over the telephone.
OTHER DUTIES
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
