Senior Financial Accountant at COVE

Who is COVE?

COVE is a tech hub and commercialization partner home to more than 400 organizations that use its facilities, services and programs. COVE brings together industry, academia and government to accelerate marine technology development and commercialization - from seabed to space - ensuring resilient supply chains built with Canadian solutions. Through its vast international network, COVE has been at the forefront of providing invaluable networking opportunities, fostering connections, and leading discussions within the global marine technology community.

COVE spearheads programs aimed at nurturing talent, expediting the release of technology products, and bolstering the success of emerging ventures by startups, scaleups, and SMEs. These initiatives, coupled with COVE's ability to harness diverse skills and expertise nationally within the innovation ecosystem, serve as an enabler for overcoming industry challenges, driving economic growth, and delivering value to investors.

As COVE experiences rapid expansion, we are actively seeking to expand our team to further bolster our transformational influence on the marine sector. We recognize that our journey toward this goal hinges on the strength of our team - a group of individuals who collaborate, innovate, and continually strive for excellence. Join us as we embark on this exciting journey of discovery and advancement.

The Opportunity

The Senior Financial Accountant is responsible for leading key core accounting operations, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of financial information, supporting month-end and year-end processes and providing expert guidance on complex financial matters. This role manages general ledger activities, prepares financial statements, supports audits, ensures compliance with accounting standards, and drives improvements to financial controls and processes.

The Senior Financial Accountant also is a subject matter expert for technical accounting, mentors junior staff, and supports operational and strategic decision making. Working both independently and collaboratively with cross functional teams, this role requires exceptional attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and the ability to multitask in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. The Senior Financial Accountant will handle sensitive financial information ensuring confidentiality. Multitasking and interpersonal skills are essential for this position.

What You'll Do:

• Lead the preparation of financial reporting including preparing monthly, quarterly, and year-end financial statements and reports, ensuring adherence to GAAP and internal reporting standards.
• Oversee the full cycle accounting process, reviewing journal entries, accruals, and adjusting entries for accuracy and strategic standards.
• Provide senior-level analysis and commentary on financial results to inform executive decision-making.
• Provide technical accounting expertise and interpret and apply complex accounting standards, providing recommendations on accounting treatments for unique transactions and agreements, ensuring COVE remains compliant with evolving regulatory requirements.
• Provide senior oversight of the accounts payable, accounts receivable, expense management, and payroll accounting.
• Lead preparation for internal and external audits to ensure compliance with accounting principles and regulations and act as primary liaison with auditors.
• Oversee the preparation of statutory filings including HST/GST returns, compliance reports, and funder required financial schedules.
• Lead enhancements to ERP accounting modules, workflows, chart of accounts, and reporting capabilities, advancing continuous improvement initiatives aimed at scalability and operational excellence.
• Assist in developing and implementing financial policies and controls and managing risk.
• Support the finance team with ad-hoc analysis, presentations, and special projects as required.
• Ensure compliance with COVE’s policies and procedures, including human resources, safety, and operational standards.
• Take on additional responsibilities as required to support the success and growth of COVE’s programs and strategic initiatives.

What You Bring:

• CPA Designation.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting Economics, or Business Administration.
• Minimum 5 years of related experience.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite programs, particularly Microsoft Excel.
• Deep knowledge of GAAP, internal control frameworks, and financial reporting best practices.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Thrives in a fast paced, challenging, and ever-changing environment with a commitment to achieving results and achieving deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in account reconciliations and large data sets.
• Advanced experience in ERP systems and excel, e.g., SAP, QuickBooks, Oracle, etc. is preferred.
• Ability to interpret and resolve financial transaction issues.
• Professional attitude with a strong work ethic and ability to work both independently and within a team.
• Strong organizational skills with an ability to prioritize and multi-task and ability to adapt to changing priorities, problem solve and be efficient in a fast-paced environment is a must.
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail, with an aptitude for numbers.
• Ability to act responsibly and ethically when working with sensitive financial information, whether it is company or personal information with the ability to maintain confidentiality at all times.

Additional Assets:

• Additional credentials such as an MBA or CFA is desirable.
• Experience in the Not-for-Profit sector.
• Exposure to the marine industry is an asset.

Working at COVE

At our core, we are a team driven by our passion for empowering marine tech innovators, serving as unwavering advocates for every visionary who walks through our doors. Integrity, creativity, and diversity are not just values to us - they are the bedrock of our identity. We thrive within an integrated team environment, where collective efforts culminate in tangible results. Embracing diversity in our workforce is paramount for fostering genuine collaboration and fulfilling the impactful responsibilities we hold within our community. We cultivate a workplace culture that celebrates individual differences, ensuring that each person's unique talents and strengths are fully recognized, appreciated, and utilized. Operating within a hybrid and flexible work environment allows us to optimize the collective potential of our highly collaborative team, enabling us to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Benefits:

• Opportunity to learn and make an impact by working for a dynamic, growing company on meaningful projects that find solutions to real-life problems.
• Vacation, personal days, and sick time
• Remote work and flexible work hours
• Team wide bonding activities and casual work environment
• Tech focused office location, convenient via transit and bike paths
• Employee wellbeing including full medical & dental benefits and a health spending account
• Group RRSP matching program & Income Insurance Plans
• Maternity & parental leave top-up allowance
• Learning and growth opportunities
• Employee referral program
• Competitive salary

Talent Pool

As part of our ongoing recruitment efforts, we continually identify candidates who demonstrate the skills, experience, and potential to contribute to our organization. By submitting your application, you will be considered for current and future opportunities that match your qualifications and interests.

Should your profile align with our current or future needs, a member of our recruitment team may reach out to you to discuss potential opportunities and to further assess your fit for specific roles within our organization.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At COVE, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about this role, but your past experience does not align with every single qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

We are committed to ensuring accommodations are made available to persons with disabilities during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes and will provide reasonable accommodation upon request.

We offer an excellent working environment where life balance is valued. Our people and their commitment to quality work is what drives our success. You can find out more information about COVE at www.coveocean.com. Salary for this position will be commensurate with experience, note that relocation costs are not supported.

To be considered for this position, please apply online by clicking “Apply”. The deadline for submission is January 27th, 2026 at 5pm (Atlantic). We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.