Head of Accounting

Merge Labs•San Francisco, CA

15h

About The Position

Merge Labs is a frontier research lab developing brain-computer interfaces that connect biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability, agency, and experience. The company combines synthetic biology, neuroscience, AI, and non-invasive imaging, and is scaling its operational foundation to support its research. Merge is hiring its first in-house Accounting Lead to own accounting as the company grows. The role will inherit an outsourced accounting model and an evolving finance stack, then establish the internal standards, controls, and operating cadence needed to support scalable operations. It is a hands-on position with accountability for accounting outcomes, including work performed by external partners in areas such as payroll, tax, FP&A modeling, and selected transaction processing. The role reports to an operations and strategy leader. It requires strong technical judgment, clear communication, and the ability to explain recommendations to non-accountants and translate financial data into insights for company-wide decisions. The successful candidate will build finance operations that support research while maintaining accurate, auditable financials and giving leadership a clear view of resource use.

Requirements

Deep command of GAAP, close, financial reporting, controls, and auditability.
Experience owning accounting processes end-to-end rather than contributing to only one part of a large finance organization.
Ability to build and improve imperfect systems so they are simpler, faster, more reliable, and easier to audit.
Experience thriving in a fast-growing startup or similarly dynamic environment where processes have not already been built.
Ability to distinguish accounting requirements, risk-management choices, and conventions, and explain tradeoffs clearly to non-experts.
Everyday use of AI tools to increase productivity and rigor; AI expertise is not required.
Clear, concise communication with scientists, engineers, operators, executives, auditors, and vendors, including the ability to turn financial data into an understandable narrative.
Willingness to remain hands-on while designing processes for future growth.
Experience operating at meaningful accounting scope, likely at the Head of Accounting, Accounting Lead, Assistant Controller, Controller, or comparable level; the employer prioritizes scope and quality of work over a specific number of years.
Alignment with Merge Labs’ mission and interest in building an operational foundation that enables ambitious scientific research.

Nice To Haves

CPA.
Big Four or other public-accounting experience.
Experience in biotech, life sciences, deep tech, robotics, hardware, AI research, advanced manufacturing, or another R&D- and CapEx-intensive environment.
Experience building or scaling an accounting function as an early finance hire.
Equity or stock-based compensation accounting experience and financing-round audit support.
Experience managing outsourced accounting, tax, or payroll partners while retaining clear internal accountability.
Finance-system implementation, automation, data analysis, SQL, or other technical tooling experience.
Fluency with modern AI tools and experience building automations, agents, and tools for finance workflows.

Responsibilities

Own monthly, quarterly, and annual close, including the general ledger, chart of accounts, reconciliations, accruals, coding standards, and financial statements.
Own procurement, accounts payable, and expenses end-to-end, creating a fast, service-oriented process with appropriate controls.
Own accounting for significant capital expenditures and fixed assets across laboratory, hardware, equipment, and facilities spending.
Establish and maintain technical accounting policies for an R&D-intensive company, including policies for R&D spending, leases, prepaids and accruals, equity and stock-based compensation, and other material areas.
Build and maintain a pragmatic control environment that supports accurate, auditable financials without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Lead audit preparation and the external auditor relationship, and make financing diligence and audit support repeatable and well-organized.
Own finance systems and integrations across Rillet, Ramp, Procurify, Rippling, Carta, and external-provider workflows; improve and automate these systems as the company scales.
Own the internal budgeting-input process and ensure clean actuals-to-plan mapping, partnering with the external FP&A team on forecasting and modeling.
Produce clear financial reporting for leadership, the board, and investors, including burn, major variances, CapEx, and other decision-relevant insights.
Direct and review outsourced finance partners, establish service-level agreements and quality standards, and determine what to bring in-house as the company grows.
Translate financial data into clear insights for decisions across the company and explain financial impacts to non-financial teams.
Use sound technical judgment and communicate accounting recommendations and tradeoffs to leadership and other non-accountants.