SVP of Finance & Accounting

Saxbys•Philadelphia, PA

About The Position

The SVP of Finance & Accounting serves as the financial steward of Saxbys, providing both strategic financial leadership and hands-on accounting management. This role owns the full scope of the finance function — from day-to-day cafe and HQ accounting to capital strategy, treasury, unit economics, and board- and investor-facing financial leadership — ensuring financial health, compliance, and growth across the organization. As Saxbys evolves beyond four-wall cafe economics into a multi-revenue-stream platform, this leader will bring the expertise and rigor needed to grow responsibly and translate our experiential-learning mission into a hard financial business case. This is a startup-stage build: the right person gets into the details, designs the processes the function needs, and builds a team that can execute against them at scale. The role is a direct strategic partner to the CEO/Founder and a primary financial point of contact for the Board of Directors and outside investors.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience
Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
Experience managing multi-unit accounting operations
Proven success developing and leading accounting teams
Experience with financial modeling and pro forma creation
Experience preparing board materials and/or managing investor or lender relationships
Experience building financial or operational processes from the ground up in a fast-scaling or startup environment
Support, exhibit, and promote Saxbys Mission and Core Values in all daily activities
Ability to travel up to 10% of the time
Valid driver's license
Able to stand, walk, and smile for extended periods of time
Able to stoop and kneel
Push, pull, lift or carry up to 35 lbs
Ascend or descend ladders, stairs, ramps

Nice To Haves

CPA preferred
Experience with capital raising, debt financing, or treasury functions preferred
Experience at a company of similar scale and maturity that was diversifying its revenue model beyond a single core channel
Background in hospitality or retail finance preferred

Responsibilities

Oversee all financial operations including 4-wall cafe accounting, HQ accounting, and financial reporting.
Develop and implement financial policies, procedures, and controls to ensure accuracy, compliance, and operational efficiency.
Lead the annual budgeting process for cafes and HQ departments.
Create, analyze, and present financial reports and forecasts to leadership, providing actionable insights to drive business decisions.
Develop new partnership pro formas and financial models to evaluate business opportunities, expansion initiatives, and capital investments.
Lead capital allocation across competing growth paths — cafes, strategic partnerships, and future platform revenue streams — balancing risk and innovation and defending the resulting tradeoffs.
Own a rolling 3–5 year financial plan and translate complex financial data into strategic recommendations for the CEO/Founder and Board.
Manage cash flow, liquidity, and working capital across cafe and HQ operations.
Own banking relationships and credit facilities, and evaluate and execute financing strategies (debt, equity, or lease financing) needed to fund growth.
Define and measure partner acquisition cost, lifetime value, and payback for our long-cycle, higher-ed sales motion, using cohort and location-ramp analysis.
Partner with the Partnerships team to instrument clean pipeline and cost data in HubSpot (distinguishing heavy hitters, standard partners, and management-fee accounts) so unit-economics models are built on real inputs.
Translate the experiential-learning mission into a financial business case that shortens the sales cycle and lowers acquisition cost.
Serve as the primary financial point of contact for the Board of Directors and outside investors.
Prepare board decks, financial packages, and periodic investor updates.
Support capital raises and strategic transactions, including due diligence coordination, data room management, and cap table oversight.
Ensure adherence to accounting principles, tax regulations, and financial reporting requirements, and own proactive tax planning (entity structure, credits, and multi-state exposure) rather than compliance alone.
Own the relationship with our third-party tax and audit firm, serving as the primary point of contact for engagement scope, audit timelines, and deliverables.
Identify and mitigate financial risks through effective internal controls, insurance coverage, and audit procedures.
Own the roadmap for accounting and financial reporting systems, ensuring platforms and tools scale with the organization; partner with the Technology team where finance systems intersect with broader HQ platforms.
Build and lead a high-performing accounting team, providing mentorship, training, and career development opportunities.
Get into the details to map out clear, scalable processes — close cycles, reporting cadences, partner-facing financial workflows — and hold the team accountable to executing against them.
Provide financial analysis and insights to support operational decision-making.
Collaborate on cafe performance metrics, labor models, and cost management strategies.
Deliver timely and accurate financial reporting to inform strategic decisions.
Serve as a trusted advisor on financial matters affecting the organization.
Partner with department leaders to develop and manage budgets, analyze spending patterns, and identify opportunities for efficiency and growth.
Partner closely on financial modeling for new partnerships, cafe openings, and expansion opportunities, and on capturing clean pipeline and cost data to ground unit-economics models in real inputs.
Supervise the accounting team and plan for scalable team growth as the organization expands.