Director of Finance

Are you ready to build an entire Finance function for a frontier AI & Robotics company? Look no further!! CSuite Financial Partners has been retained by our client, a San Mateo, CA based $1.8B funded robotic intelligence engineering company, to place their first true finance leader in the role of Director of Finance. The ideal candidate will build the entire finance function from scratch! Owning everything from strategic planning and financial modeling to accounting oversight and board reporting! The Director of Finance will partner directly with the company's founders & contribute to the overall success of the organization by effectively managing all financial tasks. They will oversee the financial operations of the business and provide frequent financial reports. They will also assure strict adherence to financial regulations and compliance. About the Company Our client is building the world's first general-purpose robotic intelligence — an omnibodied AI brain that can be deployed into any hardware platform, from humanoid robots to warehouse automation systems to quadrupeds. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, our client takes a fundamentally different approach to the robotics race: rather than building a single robot, they've created a platform-agnostic foundation model that makes any robot a dramatically better version of itself. The company operates at the intersection of massive-scale machine learning and physical robotics, believing that data-driven AI is the key to unlocking robust robotic intelligence that adapts to unseen scenarios without failing. Their customers include major technology companies like Amazon and NVIDIA, who integrate Skild's brain into their own hardware platforms. With over $1.8 billion in funding from world-class investors including SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, NVIDIA, Bezos Expeditions, and Samsung, Skild AI has grown from a 12-person team to nearly 200 employees in under two years. The company also pursues strategic acquisitions — such as Fetch Robotics — to expand their hardware footprint and demonstrate the transformative power of their AI when deployed into existing platforms. This company fosters a fast-paced, high-ownership startup culture where team members work directly with founders and have outsized impact. The founding team emerged from CMU's robotics ecosystem, and the company values demonstrated ability and attitude over pedigree, welcoming individuals from new graduates to domain experts who are passionate about exploring uncharted territory in embodied AI. Key Responsibilities Building the company's financial operating model from zero — budgets, cost centers, projections, burn/runway analysis, and long-range forecasts Serving as the "adult in the room" for finance — ensuring bills are paid on time, numbers are accurate, and spend is thoughtful Partnering directly with founders to educate, advise, and drive strategic financial decisions for a capital-intensive business managing billions in funding Assessing current finance/accounting talent and determining the size and shape of the finance team going forward Owning board reporting, investor materials, and fundraising support for a high-profile Series C company Key Qualifications Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, or economics; MBA or CPA nice to have 10-15+ years of experience in strategic finance, FP&A, or corporate finance with meaningful startup operating experience Has been a first finance hire or built/scaled a finance function at a high-growth, venture-backed company (Series B-D stage) Experience in capital-intensive or AI/tech businesses — ideally from recognizable logos (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI, Grok/NVIDIA, 11 Labs, or similar hyperscaler/frontier AI companies) Confident, unflappable communicator who can go toe-to-toe with founders, push back with conviction, and educate non-finance leaders Comfortable managing billions in capital and making strategic investment decisions at scale Builds complex financial models from scratch (burn, runway, scenario planning, headcount, budgets) Ideally based in the Bay Area; able to work on-site 5 days/wk in San Mateo Comfortable coming into an IC role for the first 6-12 months before they start building out their team Compensation Offered Relocation support, if needed #J-18808-Ljbffr