Finance Director

Bretton AI

$150K — $200K *
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-10 years of finance experience in FP&A, strategic finance, or operational finance, preferably in high-growth startups, investment banking, or consulting.
  • Strong accounting knowledge to avoid technical debt; ability to recognize when to seek expert advice.
  • Proven track record of setting up or significantly improving financial infrastructure in early-stage companies.
  • Hands-on approach and self-sufficient; comfortable taking initiative without waiting for a team to be built.
  • Ability to operate in ambiguity and make decisions with limited information.
  • Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate/travel.

Responsibilities

  • Act as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team on financial matters such as cash burn and fundraising.
  • Develop a comprehensive vision for the finance department that scales with the company.
  • Collaborate with sales and product teams to improve pricing strategies and margins.
  • Partner with engineering and product teams to align financial goals with business milestones.
  • Build and maintain financial models and dashboards for real-time performance visibility.
  • Lead annual budgeting processes and keep rolling forecasts accurate as the business evolves.
  • Oversee and optimize the finance tech stack for improved efficiency.

Benefits

  • Ownership from day one, shaping the future of the finance function.
  • Direct access to and influence with the CEO and COO on strategic decisions.
  • Clear growth path as the company scales, with opportunities for role advancement.
  • Foundation of a company with existing revenue and trusted products, not a speculative venture.
  • Comprehensive healthcare, 401k matching, and commuter benefits.
  • Unlimited PTO and sick days, plus flexible leave options.
  • Support for late-working employees with DoorDash and Uber home coverage.
Full Job Description
The Role

This is our first full time finance hire, and it's a strategic one. You won't be walking into a complex accounting function with data and technical accounting debt, but instead a company that needs someone to own the finance function end-to-end: building the systems, establishing the data infrastructure, and becoming the Finance partner to the leadership team as we scale.

You need to be hands-on and capable of (initially) doing the work yourself, while being senior enough to think clearly about what we should be building and why. You'll know when to bring things in-house and when to keep them outsourced, and when to tackle things with technology. You'll set up the financial infrastructure that lets us make fast, confident decisions.
What You'll Do
Strategic Leadership & Vision
  • Act as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team on cash burn management, headcount planning, and fundraising preparation.
  • Architect the future of Finance at Bretton: Develop a short-, medium-, and long-term vision for the department, ensuring the team and processes scale efficiently as the business grows.
  • Deeply understand our business: Immerse yourself in our business model, customer base, partnerships, and overarching company vision.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Optimize pricing and margins: Collaborate actively with the sales and product teams to refine pricing strategies and improve profit margins.
  • Align finance with product and engineering: Partner closely with engineering, product, and revenue teams to understand product lifecycles, business milestones, and data availability.
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
  • Own end-to-end FP&A: Build the financial models, forecasts, and dashboards that provide leadership with a clear, real-time view of business performance.
  • Lead budgeting and forecasting: Drive our annual budgeting process and maintain accurate rolling forecasts as the business evolves.
Accounting & Financial Operations
  • Build and manage the finance tech stack: Oversee our end-to-end systems, migrating us to new tools when necessary to improve efficiency.
  • Streamline AP & AR: Own Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, aggressively automating processes wherever possible.
  • Manage the accounting foundation: Partner with our outsourced accounting team to ensure clean data flows into the ledger, and determine the right time to bring the function in-house.
  • Prepare for scale: Lay the accounting groundwork now so that future complexities (like technical revenue recognition) become manageable when they arise.
What We're Looking For
Must-Haves
  • 5-10 years of finance experience, with a mix of FP&A, strategic finance, or operational finance. Demonstrated success at a high-growth startup, investment banking, and/or consulting helps.
  • Strong enough accounting knowledge to avoid building technical debt. You don't need to be a controller, but you need to know what you don't know, and when to go to experts for help and advice.
  • Experience setting up or significantly improving financial infrastructure from an early stage.
  • Hands-on and self-sufficient: you're not waiting to hire a team to get things done - you'll hunt data down on your own.
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making decisions with imperfect information.
  • Based in San Francisco [or willingness to relocate/travel].
Bonus Points
  • Experience in fintech, regtech, or other regulated industries.
  • Experience at a high-growth Series B+ startup.
  • Familiarity with tools like QuickBooks, Orb, Rippling, or similar finance/HR platforms.
  • Experience working alongside outsourced accounting teams and knowing how to get the most out of them.
Why You'll Love Working Here
  • Ownership from day one. You're not joining a finance org - you're building one. The decisions you make in the first 3 months will shape how Bretton thinks about money for years.
  • Direct access and real influence. You'll work closely with the CEO and COO, with a seat at the table on major strategic decisions.
  • A clear path to grow. We're not hiring a Director to stay a Director. As the company scales, so will this role.
  • A company that's already working. We have revenue, strong investors, and a product that customers trust with mission-critical operations. You're joining a real business, not a bet.
Compensation & Benefits
  • Competitive base salary + meaningful equity
  • Comprehensive healthcare, 401k matching, commuter benefits
  • Unlimited PTO + holidays, unlimited sick days
  • Flexible leave options
  • Working late? We've got you covered with DoorDash and an Uber home

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