Strategic Finance Director

Strategic Finance Director

Thinking Machines Lab's mission is to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence. We're building a future where everyone has access to the knowledge and tools to make AI work for their unique needs and goals.

We are scientists, engineers, and builders who've created some of the most widely used AI products, including ChatGPT and Character.ai, open-weights models like Mistral, as well as popular open source projects like PyTorch, OpenAI Gym, Fairseq, and Segment Anything.

About This Role

As a member of our Strategic Finance / FP&A team, you will operate at the core of our finance organization, driving the financial strategy for major functional domains (e.g., Compute & Infrastructure, Go-to-Market, Product). You will build and maintain sophisticated financial models, analyze business performance and investment trade-offs, partner closely with leaders across the business, and deliver executive-level presentations to inform decision-making.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, has deep analytical rigor, strong business partnership skills, and is excited to make a meaningful contribution to scaling a technology business.

What You'll Do

• Develop, own and maintain financial models (P&L, operating model, scenario modelling) to support planning, forecasting, and strategic decision-making.
• Help us stand up a strong compute measurement and budgeting process to help plan the largest cost bucket
• Lead budgeting and quarterly/annual forecasting processes; analyze variances and translate them into actionable insight.
• Partner cross-functionally with business stakeholders (e.g., engineering, product, sales, marketing, infrastructure) to understand drivers, demand, capacity, against financial targets.
• Provide financial guidance on major investment decisions: build business cases (e.g., expand capacity, build vs. buy, launch new product, entering new market), quantify ROI, present recommendations to senior leadership and/or Board.
• Develop and monitor key metrics and dashboards (e.g., unit economics, cost trends, efficiency, productivity, capacity utilisation) and drive insights and optimization.
• Prepare high-quality executive & Board-facing deliverables including presentations, memos, and scenario summaries.
• Stay abreast of market and competitive dynamics (e.g., technology/infrastructure market, go-to-market channels, pricing models, business model shifts), and ensure financial strategy evolves accordingly.
• Partner with accounting and other finance functions to ensure alignment of financial planning with the broader company's financial framework and strategy.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in strategic finance, corporate finance, FP&A, investment banking, consulting, growth/private equity, or an equivalent high-growth technology environment
• Proven expertise in financial modelling and forecasting; skilled at building detailed P&Ls, operating models, scenario analyses.
• Strong business partnering skills: ability to work with non-finance leaders, translate complex financial data into actionable business insights, influence leadership decisions.
• High comfort with ambiguity, rapid change, and scaling-up environments.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, able to craft compelling narratives and presentations for executives/Board.
• Familiarity with SQL, BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker) and advanced Excel/Google Sheets proficiency.
• Experience with AI or R&D-heavy companies is a major plus.

Logistics

• Location: This role is based in San Francisco, California.
• Compensation: Depending on background, skills and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $275,000 - $325,000
• Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas. While we can't guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you're the right fit, we're committed to working through the visa process together.
• Benefits: Thinking Machines offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed.

As set forth in Thinking Machines' Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Thinking Machines Lab will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the California Fair Chance Act, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other applicable state or local fair chance ordinance or law.