Director of Finance

Computing's growth is limited by energy. Efficient Computer, a fabless semiconductor company spun out of Carnegie Mellon University, exists to change that. We build general-purpose processors that run the same workloads as a CPU or GPU on a small fraction of the energy, which makes real computing possible in places where power and battery life have always been the limiting factor. We have taped out multiple test chips, our first production chip is back from the foundry, and we will be shipping to customers soon. Those customers are building everything from industrial and automation systems to wearables to spacecraft. We are well capitalized, backed by leading venture and strategic investors, and growing quickly across sites in Pittsburgh, Austin, and San Jose.

The opportunity

This is our first dedicated finance hire. You will own finance and accounting end to end, working with the right third parties where that makes sense, and shape the function into one that is ready for the scale ahead of us. How that gets built is largely yours to define, and as the company grows, so does this function and the team behind it. Day to day you will work with the VP of Operations, closely with the CEO, and directly with department heads across engineering, supply chain, and people ops, along with our outside accountants, auditors, and counsel.

In your first few months, we would expect you to get the close running on a predictable cadence, form a clear view of our cash position and committed spend, and sit down with every department head to understand the spending behind the budgets they have been given. By the end of your first year, leadership should be running the business off a forecast you own and trust, department heads should own their budgets rather than receive them, our controls and documentation should be in a place where an audit would not be a fire drill, and we should have a real plan for what finance looks like at several times our current size.

What you will own

Accounting, tax, and compliance. Run the month-end close with our outsourced bookkeepers and make it fast, clean, and repeatable. Ready the books for taxes, work with our external CPAs through filings and year end, and manage those partner relationships to a standard you set. Own the GL, revenue recognition, and inventory and cost accounting as we move into production volume, including the contract manufacturer and international vendor questions that come with it. Own payroll, AP, AR, billing, and collections as commercial revenue ramps, along with R&D tax credits and Section 174 treatment, sales tax, and the multi-state obligations of a distributed team.

Planning, forecasting, and budgeting. Own the operating model, the annual budget, and the rolling forecast, and improve all three: better drivers, tighter assumptions, and a model people trust enough to decide against. Build a real departmental budgeting process hand in hand with department heads, so each function owns its numbers instead of inheriting them. Deliver variance analysis that explains what the numbers mean, not just what they are.

Cash and capital. Forecast cash and manage treasury in a business that commits large amounts of capital well ahead of revenue, including the impact of tape-outs, wafer and substrate commitments, test hardware, and other long-lead spend. Own our banking and insurance relationships, and support future financings, debt facilities, and the diligence that comes with them.

Systems, controls, and reporting. Own the finance systems roadmap and make sure our stack is ready for scale: integrated, well understood, and able to support a much bigger company without a rip and replace. Build the controls, approval flows, and documentation a company our size should have, without adding process for its own sake, and get us audit ready. Prepare board and investor reporting alongside the VP of Operations and CEO, and support equity administration, 409A refreshes, and cap table work with our counsel and outside partners.

What we are looking for

• 10+ years in finance and accounting, including ownership of both a close and a forecast
• Experience doing this in a capital-intensive business, whether semiconductor or another industry where large commitments are made long before revenue and cash planning has to run years out
• Time in a fast-moving startup, ideally as an early or first finance hire, and comfort operating without a finance team behind you
• A track record of maturing a finance function: taking something scrappy and making it rigorous without slowing the company down
• Clear communication with people who do not think in accounting terms, including engineers, executives, and the board
• Comfort being hands on. For a while you will be doing the work, not directing it

Bonus points for a CPA, semiconductor or hardware experience, having run a company's first audit, having implemented finance systems that outlasted your tenure, or having prepared a company for the reporting rigor that comes with an IPO track or an acquisition. Semiconductor experience is a plus rather than a requirement: what matters is that you have built and run this function somewhere capital intensive before.