Job description

About the role

Wagmo is looking for a dynamic Director of Finance to be at the center of all financial activities of the business. This pivotal role encompasses a wide array of responsibilities, including but not limited to overseeing accounting, finance, forecasting, strategic planning, FP&A, budget optimization, and investor relations and is the sole in-house finance team member. We expect this person to design and implement best practice governance and performance metrics to ensure the business achieves its financial and commercial objectives, while also providing transparent and insightful financial reporting. This position holds significant visibility within the organization, reporting directly to the CEO, serving as a vital member of the leadership team, and contributing to the strategic direction of the company through financial insights.

We are looking for someone who is located in or can relocate to the NYC area, as this role will be hybrid with at least 3 days on-site at our NYC headquarters. The base salary for this role will range from $160,000-$250,000 per year plus equity. We are flexible on both leveling/title and compensation commensurate with experience.

What You'll Do

• Comprehensive Financial Ownership: Develop and own all aspects of the company’s financial planning and analysis, forecasting, accounting, strategic finance, and reporting with a focus on strategic decision-making, as well as tactical day-to-day delivery
• Financial Management: Manage budgeting and planning, cost management, forecasting, financial modeling, and reporting to support business decisions
• Performance Metrics: Own and generate financial models and forecasts, monitor core performance metrics on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, and communicate reports across the business
• Process Enhancement: Expand and shape the finance department, refining standards, processes, and practices for Wagmo’s financial operations; partner with our external accounting firm to lead the monthly accounting close and reporting process
• Strategic Development: Contribute to the development of the company’s strategic goals and objectives in alignment with our mission and growth
• Operational Insight: Develop and leverage a deep understanding of the key drivers of the various business levers; help drive strategic and operational initiatives as the business grows and scales
• Budget Collaboration and Capital Allocation: Collaborate with team leaders to strategize and define team budgets, hiring plans, and other key performance indicators, in a way that will maximize ROI and support the company’s growth
• Analytical Support: Provide analytical support to the leadership team including development of internal management reporting capabilities including financial metrics (KPI) and non-financial metrics (OKR)
• Internal and External Stakeholder Communications: Develop presentations and analytical materials to be presented to the leadership team, the board of directors, and investors, translating complex financial data into actionable insights
• Audit Coordination: Coordinate audits with independent auditors and regulatory agencies, ensuring proactive adherence to regulations and standards
• Fundraising Partnership: Lead and evaluate the company's fundraising plans and capital structure
• Risk Management: Assess and mitigate financial risks related to the company’s operations, investments, and overall market changes to safeguard the company’s financial health

What You'll Need to be Successful

Core Financial Expertise

• Proficient in preparing accurate and timely financial statements, budgets, forecasts, and variance analyses
• Strong analytical skills to perform financial modeling, scenario planning, and sensitivity analyses
• Expertise in managing cash flow, optimizing working capital, and implementing cash management strategies
• Strong understanding of GAAP accounting principles and experience working with external auditors, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements

Strategic Financial Management

• Understanding of financial risks and ability to implement internal controls
• Experience in managing investor relations, fundraising efforts, and financial communications
• Ability to create a story via multiple mediums (e.g. slides, sheets, etc) from numbers and communicate effectively to leadership and board members through - you can put together a decent slide and communicate effectively to exec/board
• Highly strategic, but also tactical, with a high sense of urgency and execution speed

Operational Skills

• Ability to work with limited resources (be a team of one)
• Experience or decent exposure to financial operations (payment reconciliations, data scrubbing, payment tracking, etc.)
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills and a hunger to consistently make things better and get to the truth
• A knack for setting measurable goals for the team and reliably executing against them
• Strong appreciation and focus on data-driven decision making

Personal Attributes

• You are a low-ego team player and share our passion to help inspire and empower responsible pet parenting
• 4+ years in investment banking, private equity, accounting, or VC and 5+ years of experience in finance at a fast-growing tech startup (bonus points if insurtech or health insurance)

The Perks

• Pay Range: $160,000 - $250,000
• Equity in the company
• Generous health care coverage, including dental, vision, mental health, voluntary life
• 401k
• Flexible paid time off (PTO) policy
• 12 weeks parental time off
• Pet friendly office (there’s a literal dog park in the office)
• Company-paid pet wellness and insurance coverage
• Company offsites, team lunches

Who We Are

At Wagmo, we are on a mission to inspire and empower responsible pet parenting. We solve hard problems all day long, but hang out with dogs (and cats!) while we do it. We value authenticity and efficiency, and have no time for egos. We prioritize performance over pedigree, compensate fairly, and never take ourselves too seriously. We’re VC-backed, spun out of the Harvard i-Lab/HBS, Techstars, and based in NYC.

What We Do

Wagmo is a new type of membership plan that makes it easy and affordable to be a better pet parent. For our customers, Wagmo offers pet-parents access to affordable pet wellness and health insurance including coverage for things like exam fees, vaccines, even grooming. On the back end, Wagmo products are designed to collect real-time veterinary pricing data around the country, giving us a unique insight into consumer spending and pet medical histories.