Controller

Fiddler AI•Palo Alto, CA

30d•$190,000 - $215,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At Fiddler, we understand the implications of AI and the impact that it has on human lives. Our company was born with the mission of building trust into AI. The rise of Generative AI and Agents has unlocked generalized intelligence but also widened the risk aperture and made it harder to ensure that AI applications are working well. Fiddler enables organizations to get ahead of these issues by helping deploy trustworthy, and transparent AI solutions. Fiddler partners with AI-first organizations to help build a long-term framework for responsible AI practices, which, in turn, builds trust with their user base. AI Engineers, Data Science, and business teams use Fiddler AI to monitor, evaluate, secure, analyze, and improve their AI solutions to drive better outcomes. Our platform enables engineering teams and business stakeholders alike to understand the "what", “why”, and "how" behind AI outcomes. Our Founders Fiddler AI is founded by Krishna Gade (engineering leader at Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Microsoft) and Amit Paka (product leader at Microsoft, Samsung, Paypal and two-time founder). We are backed by Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Lux Capital. Why Join Us Our team is motivated to help build trust into AI to enable society harness the power of AI. Joining us means you get to make an impact by ensuring that AI applications at production scale across industries have operational transparency and security. We are an early-stage startup and have a rapidly growing team of intelligent and empathetic doers, thinkers, creators, builders, and everyone in between. The AI and ML industry has a rapid pace of innovation and the learning opportunities here are monumental. This is your chance to be a trailblazer. Fiddler is recognized as a pioneer in the field of AI Observability and has received numerous accolades, including: 2022 a16z Data50 list, 2021 CB Insights AI 100 most promising startups, 2020 WEF Technology Pioneer, 2020 Forbes AI 50 most promising startups of 2020, and a 2019 Gartner Cool Vendor in Enterprise AI Governance and Ethical Response. By joining our brilliant (at least we think so) team, you will help pave the way in the AI Observability space. 👩🏽‍🚀 The Mission: Build and scale the accounting foundation of our rapidly growing SaaS company (following our recent Series C raise). This role will establish the financial infrastructure, reporting, and controls needed to support accurate financials, board and investor reporting, audit readiness, and help usher in the company’s next stage of growth. 🪐 About The Team: The Ops team is a lean, collaborative group that partners closely with leaders across the company. We focus on building strong financial foundations while providing the insights and systems that help the business scale. While numbers are our comfort zone, we’re also frequent recipe sharers. Our Slack channels feature almost as many pet photos as spreadsheets, and we enjoy swapping travel tips and weekend plans along the way. We value ownership, clarity, and practical problem-solving, and we enjoy building processes that make the company stronger as it grows. This role will partner closely with the VP of Finance and leadership team to build scalable financial processes, implement a new ERP system, and ensure the company’s financial operations meet the standards expected of a high-growth venture-backed SaaS company.

Requirements

Proven experience leading core accounting operations, including GL, AP, AR, and the month-end close process.
Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP, including ASC 606 revenue recognition and ASC 842 lease accounting.
Experience managing multi-entity accounting and consolidations, ideally across international subsidiaries.
Demonstrated experience preparing audit-ready financials and working with external auditors.
Experience supporting equity compensation accounting, 409A valuations, and financial statement disclosures.
Experience building SaaS financial reporting frameworks, including metrics such as ARR, deferred revenue, and gross margin.
Experience leading ERP implementations or accounting system transformations (e.g., Sage Intacct, NetSuite, or equivalent).
Strong process improvement mindset with a track record of automation and reducing manual workflows.
Experience designing charts of accounts, reporting structures, and internal controls in a growing company.
Ability to operate hands-on in early stages while building scalable systems and teams.
Experience managing and developing accounting staff and external accounting partners.
Comfort working in a start-up, high-growth SaaS environment.
Ability to commute and work at our Palo Alto office 3 days a week (Mon & Thur are core days)

Responsibilities

Build and own the accounting function.
Establish strong foundations across general ledger, AP/AR, and the monthly close process while operating hands-on initially as the team grows.
Deliver reliable, GAAP-compliant financial reporting.
Ensure accurate financial statements and maintain audit readiness while managing external audit relationships.
Establish scalable SaaS revenue accounting.
Build and maintain revenue recognition and deferred revenue processes aligned with ASC 606.
Create board-ready financial reporting.
Deliver clear financial insights and SaaS metrics such as ARR, gross margin, burn rate, and cash runway to support executive and investor decision-making.
Modernize the company’s financial systems.
Lead the evaluation and implementation of a scalable ERP platform and build an automated accounting infrastructure that reduces reliance on manual processes.
Design a scalable financial reporting structure.
Redesign the chart of accounts and reporting framework to align with SaaS reporting standards and support future growth.
Build global accounting processes.
Ensure accurate consolidation and intercompany accounting across U.S. and international entities, including the India subsidiary.
Strengthen financial governance and internal controls.
Develop accounting policies, processes, and controls appropriate for a venture-backed company scaling toward the next stage of growth.
Help build and develop the accounting team.
Establish a scalable team structure while managing both internal staff and external accounting partners.