Head of Finance & Operations - San Francisco Bay Area

About Flagright:

Flagright is an AI operating system for financial crime compliance used globally by Fortune 500 companies, large banks, fintechs, and fast growing startups. Flagright enables real-time risk detection, automated investigations, and intelligent decisioning, helping compliance teams operate at their full potential in the fight against financial crime.

We operate as a lean, high-performance team with high individual ownership and direct access to leadership.

Role overview

The Head of Finance & Operations will take ownership of Flagright’s financial, HR, and legal operations globally, spanning our offices in the US, UK, India, and Singapore. This is a hands‑on, operational role for a generalist with strong finance & legal expertise who thrives in high‑growth environments and is excited to take on significant responsibilities while building and optimizing processes to support rapid scaling.

People who thrive at Flagright

• Take ownership and operate with urgency
• Are resourceful and solution‑oriented
• Learn quickly and adapt to changing priorities
• Have strong opinions and can defend them
• Want to work with no‑BS people building something important

People who struggle here

• Need extensive hand‑holding
• View high expectations as “unreasonable”
• Expect strict 9 to 6 boundaries
• Can’t handle ambiguity or rejection
• Prefer consistent routine over fast‑changing priorities

Key responsibilities

Finance

• Prepare and manage investor updates, Board meetings, and monthly consolidated management accounts spanning 4 entities across US / UK / India / Singapore
• Lead financial planning and analysis (FP&A), including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
• Develop and maintain detailed financial models to support strategic decision‑making and operational planning
• Oversee accounts payable and enforce accounts receivable processes to maintain smooth cash flow operations
• Collaborate with external accountants and tax experts to optimize accounting and tax strategies, ensuring compliance and efficiency
• Implement inter‑company pricing measures, including managing transfer pricing documentation and compliance
• Oversee external auditors for a yearly audit across 4 global entities
• Contribute to pricing and deal desk operations

Operations

• Lead the HR function, setting clear standards for policies, execution, compliance, employee experience, and operational discipline
• Manage and mentor the HR team, ensuring strong ownership across onboarding, offboarding, employee documentation, payroll coordination, benefits, and HR systems
• Build scalable people processes across multiple jurisdictions, partnering with external counsel and advisors where needed
• Partner with leadership on performance management, compensation reviews, promotions, role changes, workforce planning, and organizational design
• Establish people dashboards, reporting cadences, and operating rhythms to give leadership visibility into headcount, hiring, retention, performance, and people risks

Legal Operations

• Partner with leadership and sales on commercial negotiations and MSAs, balancing speed, risk management, and business priorities
• Liaise with external lawyers to manage contracts, mitigate risks, and ensure global compliance
• Manage an internal legal team working across employment, commercial, corporate, insurance, regulatory, and cross‑border matters

Who we are looking for

• 5+ years of professional experience, with a solid background in Finance (must have) and HR and Legal operations (preferred) in a high‑growth environment
• Must have hands‑on FP&A or Strategic Finance experience, including budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, variance analysis, and leadership reporting, gained in roles such as FP&A Analyst, FP&A Manager, Head of FP&A, or Strategic Finance Lead
• Must have prior experience in a SaaS start‑up environment (Series A to C)
• Experience operating across multiple entities, jurisdictions, currencies, and time zones, with an understanding of cross‑border finance and multi‑entity accounting, as well as HR, legal, tax, and compliance considerations
• Strong working knowledge of SaaS business models, including ARR, retention, gross margin, CAC/payback, burn, runway, cash forecasting, and investor‑facing operating metrics
• Comfortable being both strategic and hands‑on: able to advise leadership while also diving into models, contracts, payroll issues, vendor workflows, and operational details when needed
• Proven people‑management experience, ideally managing distributed or offshore teams, with high standards for ownership, responsiveness, and execution - note that the team reporting to this role is based in the Philippines
• Based in the Bay Area with right to work in the USA (visa sponsorship not available). This is a fully in‑person role, based in our Santa Clara office.

What we offer

• Leadership position with direct impact on how Flagright runs and grows globally
• High‑bar environment focused on execution, learning, and continuous improvement
• Health insurance through Kaiser Permanente in California
• Equity from day 1 at a Y Combinator startup
• Housing subsidy if you live within 1 mile of our office
• Work alongside a highly competent, top‑tier team, including professionals from Y Combinator, ex AWS, and Palantir
• Enjoy a low‑bureaucracy environment, minimal meetings, and an asynchronous communications culture