Chief Financial Officer

New York, NY

We seek a Chief Financial Officer to join us in the next part of WaitWhat’s journey, overseeing FP&A for our thriving organization. You must be an extraordinarily talented leader with impeccable skills in budget planning, modeling, financial management, financial reporting, strategy, contracts, audits, operations, and governance. The way you present information couldn’t be clearer with beautifully laid out financial summaries and well-structured supporting spreadsheets that allow the leadership team to quickly see the business impact of varied underlying assumptions.

You understand the fluid nature of a startup and joyfully jump into tasks that ultimately will be managed by more junior team members, but for the moment require attention until those resources are in place. Our Board and investors will see you as a confident, calm and creative force behind WaitWhat’s business strategy, supporting the founders in their vision, and helping us reach ‘escape velocity’ (inspired by Masters of Scale, of course!) as we enter our fifth year.

The intersection between media and technology thrills you, and your standards for excellence, quality and originality match WaitWhat’s mission to create media properties that support our “4 E’s” theory of the game — excellent, enduring, engaging and extensible. Naturally, you love start-up culture — working hands on and at a fast pace! You’re energized by good-natured, soulful, highly creative people who are kind and talented in ways that you might not have experienced in your career. And you do everything with unflappable steadiness and a lovely sense of humor.

Responsibilities:

Financial Management

Manage our third-party service company that provides ‘controllership’ of WaitWhat, including all book-keeping functions utilizing our financial software (Quickbooks, Bill.com) such as invoicing, accounts payable, and accounts receivable — ensuring revenue is collected in a timely manner, expenses are paid pursuant to contract obligations, and WaitWhat’s financial records are maintained in accordance with GAAP accounting best practices.
Manage the accumulation and consolidation of all financial data necessary for an accurate accounting of consolidated business results, and coordinate all activities necessary with WaitWhat’s accounting firm to perform its functions in preparing taxes and financial audits.
Prepare and review financial reports with the CEO within 10 business days following the end of each month with particular emphasis on actuals versus budget and cash flow.
Establish and execute annual budget cycles, including creation of the corporate budget and subsequent variance analyses to drive accountability and to elevate the team’s understanding of the company’s financial performance.
Work with event production contractors to develop and manage budgets for multi million dollar events.
Develop and implement approval processes for company wide purchases. Work with legal counsel to secure board approval for contracts exceeding minimum budget thresholds.
Work with the CRO to prepare financial models including sensitivity analysis for go/no go decisions with regards to initiating media properties, prospective sponsorship deals, products and partnerships.
Prepare financial packages and presentation materials (including graphs, charts and other financial analysis) for quarterly Board and investor meetings. Respond to quarterly formal and informal reporting requests from investors.
Support the closing of additional funding rounds, as determined by the founders, including but not limited to keeping financial documents current (balance sheet, P&L, cash flow); conducting financial modeling, preparing cap tables under different investment scenarios, overseeing due diligence (creation/management of data room, supporting investor requests, etc.), providing valuation analysis with clearly stated comps and assumptions, and working with outside legal counsel, all with a commitment to the highest standards of excellence.

Operational

Oversee PEO administrator in defining annual company benefits packages and approval of bi-monthly payroll processing.
Oversee administration of 401K plan through PEO. Handle staff inquiries with respect to anything related to the services provided by the company’s PEO.
Oversee all administrative processes with respect to leave (sick leave, paid family leave, etc) and correspond with PEO to prepare appropriate forms for staff to complete, as well as make appropriate adjustments in timesheets and payroll.
Negotiate rates and set-up vendor relationships with technology companies, service firms, and other third parties that support core company functions.
Oversee and cultivate the relationship between the company and its banks and financial institutions.
Work with legal counsel to develop processes for the preparation of contractor agreements with vendors incorporating established business risk mitigating best practices. Document best practices for writing statements of work (SOWs) and serve as the point person on the team for the preparation of all vendor agreements.
Keep all company documents (contracts, employment offers, bank statements, PEO records, IRS communications, corporate governance and filings, 409A valuations, issuances of securities, legal matters, etc.) in an exquisitely well-organized, clear and secure filing system, including login information, passwords, contact information with vendors (Carta, Sequoia, Brex, Bill.com, etc.).
Manage the business relationship with the landlord of company’s office space, ensuring a great tenant relationship that serves our long-term interests in a joyful, well-functioning work environment. The company is currently working out of a shared work space with future plans to build out an HQ in NYC.

Strategic

Collaborate with WaitWhat’s Head of Audience Growth on growth initiatives, including ROI analysis for paid marketing spends.
Design and manage ongoing performance tracking for each media property, including key metrics such as downloads, listen-through rates, etc. and collaborate with founders and head of audience growth to analyze trends and make recommendations based on the data.
Provide ad-hoc support, including leading special projects such as merchandise and other initiatives that require additional hands-on deck to bring to fruition.
Serve on the Directors Team and as a thought-partner to the founders on all strategic matters.

Requirements

PLEASE SUBMIT BOTH A THOUGHTFUL COVER LETTER AND RESUME.

Qualifications:

10+ years relevant finance and accounting experience. Background in investment banking, PE/VC, startups, corporate controllership and/or FP&A within a media organization is a plus.
Strong knowledge of GAAP and management accounting. Big 4 audit experience a plus.
Expert in Excel with exceptional modeling skills.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills with a knack for getting things done — always thorough and attentive to detail.
Strong business acumen and motivated by ambitious goals in an “all hands on deck” collaborative, giving culture.
An insatiable learning disposition — open to the ideas and experiences of others to deepen your skills and stretch your talents and perspectives of the world around you in new ways.
Highly organized multitasker who can manage multiple projects, relationships and outreaches with tight deadlines.
Superior verbal communication skills, diplomacy and optimism.
Extremely kind, soulful, and empathic — you shine bright and people love working with you.
BS/BA required. MBA/CFA/CPA, JD with contract experience a plus

Benefits

We offer a benefits package that’s generous and competitive with larger companies. Benefits include 3 weeks of company holiday (2 weeks in summer + one week between Christmas and New Years), 5 personal days, healthcare (PPO, vision and dental), short- and long-term disability, life insurance and 401(k). We’re an anti-racist organization, committed to equity and diversity of all kinds — on our team, among our investors, and as represented on our media properties. Most importantly, we only hire extremely kind people.

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