Strategic Finance Lead
190k – 225kSan Francisco, CAFinance & AccountingRemote6+ YOE
Summary
Own and scale Ambience's financial forecasting, planning, and reporting infrastructure. Build company-wide financial models, lead annual planning, and partner with GTM, Product, and leadership to drive high-confidence decision-making.
About the role
What you will accomplish
- Fully own and maintain Ambience's 2-year financial model and rolling P&L forecast, including version control, updates, and internal distribution.
- Lead the annual planning process end-to-end, including bottoms-up budgeting, goal alignment with department leads, and integration into the operating model.
- Establish and run a monthly reporting cadence for forecast vs. actuals, including budget variance analysis, cash forecasting, and key variance commentary.
- Lead financial preparation for quarterly board meetings, including top-line forecast updates, performance narratives, and investor-ready materials.
- Build forecasting engines that link rep capacity, pipeline stages, and pricing into revenue forecasting, partnering with GTM and RevOps to validate assumptions.
- Represent finance at deal desk to ensure effective margin representation across customer engagements.
Early success indicators (first 3 to 6 months)
- Full ownership of the financial model and monthly forecast is transitioned, with a clear cadence for updates and scenario modeling.
- Monthly reporting for forecast vs. actuals is stood up and running within 3-5 business days of close, with variance commentary that surfaces operational drivers.
- A bottoms-up budgeting process is launched and underway with department leads, rolling into the operating model.
- Financial preparation for board materials is delivered on time, with polished and exec-ready outputs that translate complex models into clean insights.
- Pipeline-to-revenue forecasting models are operationalized, improving accuracy of long-range CARR forecasts.
Must-have qualifications
- 6-10 years in strategic finance, FP&A, or investment banking with progression into operating roles at high-growth SaaS or technology companies.
- Direct experience owning company-wide financial models and annual planning processes, including multi-year P&L forecasting and scenario analysis.
- Strong fluency in SaaS metrics, cohort-based revenue modeling, and enterprise sales finance (pipeline conversion, rep productivity, CARR/ARR).
- Demonstrated ability to partner cross-functionally with GTM, Product, and G&A leaders to align financial planning with business strategy.
- Excellent executive communication: translates complex financial models into crisp, defensible insights for leadership and board audiences.
- High ownership mentality: independently manages forecast updates, builds repeatable processes, and drives automation without hand-holding.
Nice-to-have qualifications
- Healthcare or other regulated industry experience.
- Experience partnering closely with Accounting on GAAP revenue recognition, close processes, and audit readiness.
- Familiarity with modern planning and BI tools such as Adaptive, Pigment, Sigma, or similar.
- Experience supporting fundraising processes or investor relations at a venture-backed company.
- Background in management consulting or investment banking prior to operating roles.
Compensation & Benefits
- Base compensation approximately $190,000 to $225,000 per year, excluding equity or bonus targets.
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents.
- 401(k) with a company match of up to 3% of base salary.
- Remote-friendly culture (with a San Francisco HQ) and full equipment provisioning.
- Parental leave.
- Annual company-wide off-sites, team off-sites and regular team lunches and all-hands gatherings, with travel, lodging and meals covered.
- Flexible time off with no annual cap, company-wide holidays and an annual holiday shutdown from December 24–January 1.
Skills
Financial modelingFP&AP&L forecastingSaaS metricsCohort-based revenue modelingPipeline forecastingBoard reportingVariance analysisCash forecastingScenario analysis
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