Contract GovCon Cost & Margin Optimization Lead (Cost-Plus, DCAA)

About the role

We are hiring a contract Cost & Margin Optimization Lead for a growing U.S. aerospace and defense company formed from three businesses. The company holds cost-plus services contracts, bids fixed-price work on full and open competitions, and runs a fab shop with manufacturing contracts. It is also looking at growth in international sales.

You will find cost savings across the whole company, not only the back office, and recommend changes to how work is delivered and how costs are structured. Every recommendation has to raise margin while staying compliant with FAR, CAS where it applies, and DCAA review.

What you will do

• Benchmark costs across all three businesses against GovCon peers and best practices, covering labor, subcontracts, facilities, indirect staff and tools.
• Recommend specific cost savings, each with its margin impact, one-time cost to achieve and timing.
• Recommend delivery model changes that improve margin, for example labor mix, subcontractor versus employee use, shared services across the three businesses, and offshore or nearshore support where contracts allow it.
• Design the future cost center and indirect rate structure (fringe, overhead, material handling and G&A pools and their allocation bases) for the company's mix of cost-plus, fixed-price and manufacturing work.
• Model how each change affects provisional billing rates, wrap rates on competitive bids, and recovery on cost-plus contracts, so savings show up in margin and are not simply passed back to the government.
• Recommend the government reporting structure that supports the new cost centers, including incurred cost submissions and forward pricing rates.
• Flag cost and compliance issues for international sales, including export controls (ITAR and EAR) and foreign military sales pricing.
• Use AI and analytics tools to speed up benchmarking, spend analysis and scenario modeling.
• Present findings and a ranked plan to company leadership and the private equity owner.

What you bring

• 10+ years in government contracts finance, pricing or cost optimization, including senior roles such as CFO, VP Finance, controller or pricing director.
• A track record of lowering costs and raising margin in a cost-plus environment, with results you can show.
• Deep knowledge of indirect rate structures, FAR Part 31 cost allowability, CAS and DCAA audits.
• Experience pricing competitive fixed-price bids and building wrap rates.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting and financial modeling skills.
• Hands-on use of Deltek Costpoint, Unanet or JAMIS.
• Experience using AI or analytics tools to find savings faster.

Preferred

• Cost and margin work in a private equity-backed company or after an acquisition.
• Manufacturing cost structures: standard costing, job costing and material overhead.
• International defense sales or foreign military sales experience.

How to apply

Send a short note describing one cost or margin project you led at a government contractor: what you changed, the margin impact, and how you kept it compliant under DCAA review.

Pay: $125.00 - $200.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 – 50.0 per week

Application Question(s):

• How many years have you spent automating finance or back-office processes?
• How many of those years were with government contractors?
• Have you built an AI or LLM workflow that is running in production today, not just a pilot?
• If so, describe the AI and the impact it's had
• Have you had experience with Deltek/Unanet and/or Jamis?
• Have you automated a process covered by DCAA requirements, such as timekeeping, billing or labor distribution, and kept it audit-ready?
• Have you handled controlled unclassified information (CUI) in an environment that meets NIST SP 800-171 or CMMC requirements?
• Which automation platforms have you used in production? Power Automate, UiPath, n8n, Zapier or Make, Custom Python, Other
• Are you available for a 40-hour-a-week contract?
• Describe one back-office automation you built: the process, the tools, the hours or cost it saved, and how you kept the controls auditable.

Work Location: Remote