- Salary
- $100k – $140k/yr
- Location
- San Francisco, California, US
- Type
- Full-time
- Department
- Finance
- Seniority
- Lead
- Source
- Y Combinator
Description
Business Operations and Finance Lead @ Mentra
Mentra is building the operating system and hardware platform for enterprise smart glasses.
We recently shifted our focus entirely to the enterprise market. Customers are preparing deployments involving tens of thousands of units over the next eight months, building on the thousands of Mentra Live glasses shipped since our launch in February. We are a fast-moving team of more than 10 people across San Francisco and Shenzhen.
We are hiring an exceptional Business Operations and Finance Lead to take hands-on ownership of the critical operational, financial, and administrative work that keeps Mentra organized, accountable, and moving forward.
This is a hands-on ownership role. You will coordinate with many people, but your primary responsibility is personally ensuring that the work is completed accurately and on time. This position is ideal for someone who takes ownership, meets demanding deadlines, and ensures that every commitment is followed through to completion.
What You Will Own
- Shipping, freight, customs documentation, inventory, fulfillment, procurement, and RMAs
- Accounts payable and receivable, invoicing, collections, payments, account reconciliations, bookkeeping, and monthly-close support
- Payroll, benefits, employee onboarding and offboarding, HR administration, and compliance
- Insurance, corporate registrations, office operations, travel, vendors, and subscriptions
- Coordination with factories, suppliers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and logistics partners
- Tracking company commitments, deliverables, and deadlines across multiple functions
- Maintaining accurate operational, financial, and administrative records
- Identifying risks early, escalating issues clearly, and driving them to resolution
- Building practical systems, checklists, and automations that make operations reliable, efficient, and repeatable
What We Are Looking For
The right person is exceptionally organized, dependable, emotionally intelligent, and relentless about closing loops. You must be capable of managing many competing responsibilities without allowing deadlines, commitments, or important details to fall through the cracks.
You should have:
- Strong practical bookkeeping skills, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing, collections, account reconciliation, and monthly-close support
- Experience maintaining accurate financial records
- Familiarity with QuickBooks and financial platforms such as Ramp and Mercury
- Experience administering payroll and employee benefits through systems such as Gusto
- A practical understanding of purchasing, inventory, freight, customs, fulfillment, and product returns
- The ability to coordinate international shipments and work effectively with factories, suppliers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers
- Exceptional organization, prioritization, and deadline-management skills
- Strong written and verbal communication
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with founders, employees, customers, accountants, factories, vendors, and logistics partners
- The judgment to recognize risks before they become serious problems
- The discipline to document processes, maintain accurate records, and verify that commitments have been completed
- The confidence to follow up, ask direct questions, and hold people accountable for required information and deadlines
- The flexibility to shift between different responsibilities as the company’s priorities evolve
- A willingness to personally perform the work required to achieve the result
Experience with hardware companies, fast-moving startups, international logistics, U.S.–China operations, QuickBooks, Gusto, Ramp, or Mercury would be especially valuable.
What Success Looks Like
Success means that invoices are issued and collected, vendors are paid, shipments arrive, inventory is accurate, payroll is completed, records are current, and company deadlines are met.
You will be expected to know:
- What needs to happen
- Who is involved
- When it is due
- What information or action is still outstanding
- Whether the commitment has actually been completed
When a problem arises, you will take ownership and follow it through until it is resolved. When a deadline is at risk, you will communicate it early and drive the necessary action. The company should not be surprised by missed commitments or unresolved operational issues.
Why This Role Matters
Mentra is entering a period in which disciplined execution will determine our success. We will face demanding customer commitments, production schedules, shipping requirements, financial deadlines, and operational challenges simultaneously.
This role will be foundational to ensuring Mentra meets those commitments. You will help create the organizational discipline and operating structure required for the company to scale successfully.
The importance of this position comes from its ownership, reliability, and impact—not from managing a large team or the promise of a future executive title. The right person will become essential to Mentra’s success by ensuring that critical work is organized, completed correctly, and delivered on time.
If you are an exceptional doer who takes pride in organization, accuracy, meeting deadlines, and closing every loop, we want to hear from you.