Strategic Finance Director

<div class="content-intro"><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Thinking Machines Lab's mission is to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence. We're building a future where everyone has access to the knowledge and tools to make AI work for their unique needs and goals.&nbsp;</p> <p>We are scientists, engineers, and builders who’ve created some of the most widely used AI products, including ChatGPT and Character.ai, open-weights models like Mistral, as well as popular open source projects like PyTorch, OpenAI Gym, Fairseq, and Segment Anything.</p></div><h3><strong>About this role</strong></h3> <p>As a member of our Strategic Finance / FP&amp;A team, you will operate at the core of our finance organization, driving the financial strategy for major functional domains (e.g., Compute &amp; Infrastructure, Go-to-Market, Product). You will build and maintain sophisticated financial models, analyze business performance and investment trade-offs, partner closely with leaders across the business, and deliver executive-level presentations to inform decision-making.</p> <p>This role is ideal for someone who thrives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, has deep analytical rigor, strong business partnership skills, and is excited to make a meaningful contribution to scaling a technology business.</p> <h3><strong>What you’ll do</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Develop, own and maintain financial models (P&amp;L, operating model, scenario modelling) to support planning, forecasting, and strategic decision-making.</li> <li>Help us stand up a strong compute measurement and budgeting process to help plan the largest cost bucket</li> <li>Lead budgeting and quarterly/annual forecasting processes; analyze variances and translate them into actionable insight.</li> <li>Partner cross-functionally with business stakeholders (e.g., engineering, product, sales, marketing, infrastructure) to understand drivers, demand, capacity, against financial targets.</li> <li>Provide financial guidance on major investment decisions: build business cases (e.g., expand capacity, build vs. buy, launch new product, entering new market), quantify ROI, present recommendations to senior leadership and/or Board.</li> <li>Develop and monitor key metrics and dashboards (e.g., unit economics, cost trends, efficiency, productivity, capacity utilisation) and drive insights and optimization.</li> <li>Prepare high-quality executive &amp; Board-facing deliverables including presentations, memos, and scenario summaries.</li> <li>Stay abreast of market and competitive dynamics (e.g., technology/infrastructure market, go-to-market channels, pricing models, business model shifts), and ensure financial strategy evolves accordingly.</li> <li>Partner with accounting and other finance functions to ensure alignment of financial planning with the broader company’s financial framework and strategy.</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Qualifications</strong></h3> <ul> <li>10+ years of experience in strategic finance, corporate finance, FP&amp;A, investment banking, consulting, growth/private equity, or an equivalent high-growth technology environment</li> <li>Proven expertise in financial modelling and forecasting; skilled at building detailed P&amp;Ls, operating models, scenario analyses.</li> <li>Strong business partnering skills: ability to work with non-finance leaders, translate complex financial data into actionable business insights, influence leadership decisions.</li> <li>High comfort with ambiguity, rapid change, and scaling-up environments.</li> <li>Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, able to craft compelling narratives and presentations for executives/Board.</li> <li>Familiarity with SQL, BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker) and advanced Excel/Google Sheets proficiency.</li> <li>Experience with AI or R&amp;D-heavy companies is a major plus.</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Logistics</strong></h3> <ul> <li><strong>Location</strong>: This role is based in San Francisco, California.</li> <li><strong>Compensation</strong>: Depending on background, skills and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $275,000 - $325,000</li> <li><strong>Visa sponsorship:</strong> We sponsor visas. While we can’t guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you’re the right fit, we’re committed to working through the visa process together.</li> <li><strong>Benefits</strong>: Thinking Machines offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed.</li> </ul> <h3><br><br></h3><div class="content-conclusion"><p><em>As set forth in Thinking Machines' Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. </em></p> <p><em>Thinking Machines Lab will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the California Fair Chance Act, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other applicable state or local fair chance ordinance or law.</em></p></div>