Altair Infrasec
Website:
altair.in
Job details:
Finance & Commercial Manager
Location: Pune
Function: Finance & Commercial
Reporting to: COO / Leadership Team
About Altair
Altair is a defence and aerospace technology company developing advanced systems across unmanned platforms, aerospace structures, defence electronics, simulation, maritime technologies, and sovereign manufacturing. We work closely with the Indian Armed Forces, DRDO, and strategic government stakeholders to develop indigenous technologies that strengthen national capability.
We are debt free.
Role Overview
We are looking for a hands-on finance professional who can build and run the finance function for a fast-growing defence and aerospace technology company.
This is not intended to be a conventional accounting-only role. The person will work closely with the leadership, programme, manufacturing and commercial teams and will be responsible for translating engineering and business activity into financial plans, budgets, cash-flow visibility, project economics and management information.
The ideal candidate should be equally comfortable analysing a development programme, building a multi-year business plan, working with CA/auditor teams on compliance, preparing information for investors, and sitting with programme managers to understand where money is actually being spent.
Key Responsibilities
The role is expected to own and supervise the finance process rather than merely outsource responsibility to accountants.
1. FP&A and Management Reporting
- Own annual budgets, cash flows & working capital forecasts..
- Develop and own MIS, management dashboards, programme-level financial performance and identify variances early.
- Provide leadership with concise financial analysis to support decision-making.
2. Programme & Project Finance
- Establish programme-wise budgeting and cost tracking across R&D, prototype development, trials and production programmes.
- Develop project P&Ls and track engineering manpower, materials, bought-outs, tooling, testing, manufacturing and other programme costs.
- Build cost-to-complete and Estimate-at-Completion models for major programmes.
- Track milestone-linked customer receipts, grants and programme expenditure.
- Work closely with programme managers to identify cost overruns and corrective actions.
3. Costing & Commercial Analysis
- Develop robust product and programme costing models.
- Support pricing decisions for development, prototype and production contracts.
- Analyse BOM, manufacturing, manpower, tooling, overhead and supply-chain costs.
- Develop contribution-margin and unit-economics models as programmes transition from development to production.
- Support make-vs-buy, CAPEX and outsourcing decisions.
4. Treasury, Cash Flow & Working Capital
- Maintain strong visibility over the company's cash position and future funding requirements.
- Manage receivables, payables and working-capital planning.
- Track customer milestones and collections.
- Support banking relationships, working-capital facilities, BGs, LCs and other banking requirements.
- Develop scenarios for funding growth and major CAPEX programmes.
5. Fundraising & Corporate Finance
- Support leadership during fundraising.
- Maintain financial models, projections, data-room information and investor financial materials.
- Coordinate financial due diligence and respond to investor/advisor information requirements.
- Support valuation, capital-structure and investment analyses.
- Evaluate investments in new programmes, facilities and business opportunities.
6. Controls, Accounting & Compliance
- Ensure timely and accurate books of accounts and financial reporting.
- Coordinate with internal accountants, CAs, statutory auditors, tax advisors and company secretarial resources.
- Strengthen financial controls, approval matrices and documentation.
- Maintain audit-ready financial records and supporting documentation.
7. Defence Programme Finance
- Track expenditure and receipts relating to government-funded and company-funded development programmes.
- Maintain programme-level documentation suitable for audits and customer reviews.
8. Systems & Process Building
- Help establish a scalable finance function as the organisation grows.
- Improve ERP/accounting processes, cost centres and programme codes.
- Automate MIS and financial reporting wherever practical.
Candidate Profile
We are looking for someone who combines strong financial fundamentals with commercial curiosity and an operating mindset.
Preferred qualifications
- CA / CMA / MBA Finance or equivalent strong finance background.
- Approximately 5–10 years of relevant experience.
- Experience in manufacturing, engineering, aerospace, defence, automotive, industrial technology or another project-driven business is strongly preferred.
- Strong FP&A, financial modelling and project-costing capabilities.
- Advanced Excel / financial modelling skills.
- Comfortable working with ERP/accounting systems and large datasets.
- Exposure to fundraising, investor diligence or corporate finance would be valuable.
- Experience dealing with government contracts or R&D programmes would be an advantage, but is not mandatory.
What We Value
The right person should be:
- Hands-on: willing to get into invoices, BOMs, spreadsheets and programme data when required.
- Commercial: understands that finance exists to help the business make better decisions.
- Analytical: able to turn incomplete operating information into useful financial insight.
- Structured: capable of introducing financial discipline without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Ownership-oriented: identifies problems rather than waiting for someone to assign them.
- Comfortable with ambiguity: able to operate in an R&D-led environment where programmes evolve rapidly.
- Business-facing: comfortable working directly with engineers, programme managers, manufacturing teams and senior leadership.
What Success Looks Like
Within the first 6–12 months, we expect this person to establish a finance function where leadership can quickly answer:
How much cash do we have? Where is it being deployed? What is each programme costing us? What will it cost to complete? When will we receive the corresponding cash? What are our margins as programmes move into production? And how much capital will we need over the next 12–24 months?
The objective is to build a finance function that becomes a decision-making engine for the business—not simply an accounting and compliance function.
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