Head of Accounting

Cartesia•San Francisco, CA

3d•$230,000 - $300,000•Onsite

About The Position

Cartesia is hiring a Head of Accounting to build out the financial operations and prepare the company for long term strategic milestones. This is a foundational hire and the first dedicated accounting leader at Cartesia. You will stand up the business processes, financial controls, and regulatory infrastructure that allow the company to scale with institutional rigor through growth stage fundraising, formal audit processes, and the reporting sophistication required for public company readiness. You will own core workflows end-to-end initially and eventually build an accounting team underneath you.

Requirements

3–5 years in Big 4 audit, followed by progressive accounting leadership experience at a growth stage SaaS or AI native company where you were one of the first dedicated accounting hires and helped stand up the FinOps function from scratch. You know what institutional rigor looks like and how to apply it in a fast moving environment.
CPA required
Deep ASC 606 fluency. You have owned revenue recognition end to end and can navigate complex contract structures without outside help
Owned at least one Big 4 audit end to end. You know what auditors look for before they ask, and you build process and reporting toward it proactively
Carta administration experience, including cap table management, 409A process, and equity operations are not new territory for you
Hands-on operator: you are comfortable getting into the details, running the work yourself, and building process before delegating it
High agency. You ou identify what needs to happen, make it happen, and write up what you learned in a way that is useful to the people around you
Strong written communication; your memos, reconciliations, and board-ready summaries are clean on first draft

Nice To Haves

Experience managing a tax compliance domestically and internationally (US Federal, State, and International)
Prior experience at a growth stage company that scaled from Series A to Series D and beyond.
Led and drove multiple formal audit processes
Familiarity with AI or developer-tools business models, including usage-based or consumption pricing and the revenue recognition nuances they create
Experience evaluating or implementing ERP systems at a high-growth company (NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or similar)
Background in international entity structures, transfer pricing, or multi-jurisdiction payroll

Responsibilities

Own the full accounting and FinOps scope: Accounts Receivable / Payable, monthly close, audit readiness, tax compliance, equity administration, treasury, payroll, regulatory filings, and ERP oversight
Drive monthly close with precision and speed. Implement the processes, controls, and tooling needed to close reliably at growth-stage scale
Own ASC 606 revenue recognition end to end, ensuring accuracy across contract structures and geographies as our revenue model evolves
Lead audit readiness: build the controls and documentation so that we are proactively ready for formal audits
Manage the tax compliance relationship for US Federal, State, and International filings. Own the oversight, timelines, and quality assurance
Administer equity via Carta, including cap table accuracy, 409A valuations, option grants, and employee-facing equity support
Oversee treasury and cash management; ensure forecasting and controls match our growth trajectory
Own ERP and financial systems. Evaluate, implement, and optimize the stack as complexity increases
Run payroll and ensure compliance across all active jurisdictions
Build the operational playbooks and team structure required to scale the finance function from Series B through the next stages of company growth