Head of Finance

Work Arrangement: In-office strongly preferred; exceptional remote or hybrid candidates may be considered. Employment Type: Full-time Compensation: Competitive compensation commensurate with experience, plus an annual performance bonus and significant equity. The equity opportunity is intended to be meaningful and has the potential to substantially exceed cash compensation if Laurel achieves its growth and exit objectives. The Opportunity This job description cannot fully define the role because Laurel Innovations is scaling too quickly for a static list of responsibilities. The Head of Finance will have one enduring mandate: Help Laurel scale intelligently, reach profitability, build enterprise value, and prepare for a successful exit within a target three-year timeline. Priorities will change. New challenges will emerge. The successful candidate will not wait for someone else to define the job—they will help create it. About Laurel Innovations Laurel Innovations is an AI-powered race timing, tracking, and storytelling platform that powers more than 500 endurance events annually, including premier races such as Bay to Breakers, the Surf City Marathon, the Boston 10K for Women, the Houston Half Marathon, and Run the Wharf. Serving hundreds of thousands of athletes each year, Laurel delivers accurate race timing, real-time athlete tracking, AI-powered race storytelling, live spectator experiences, and advanced race operations. Laurel's combined hardware and software platform is transforming how large-scale events track participants by replacing legacy RFID timing technology with patent-pending micro-checkpoints deployed throughout the course. This enables true real-time athlete tracking, richer race data, enhanced safety insights, and unprecedented operational visibility for race directors while creating more engaging experiences for athletes, spectators, broadcasters, and brand partners. Laurel was born out of an endurance event production company co-founded by an MIT engineering PhD. After developing the technology internally and proving it across hundreds of events, the founders separated the technology business, sold the event production division, and reinvested the proceeds into Laurel to focus exclusively on scaling the platform. With a proven technology platform, an established sales and engineering team, and rapidly growing revenue, Laurel is focused on expanding its market leadership, achieving profitability, and building toward a successful exit. The Role The Head of Finance will become a key member of Laurel's leadership team and serve as a hands-on financial partner to the founders. This is not a traditional corporate finance position. The successful candidate will build the financial models, reporting systems, forecasts, controls, and decision-making tools required to support a high-growth technology company. This person must be equally comfortable: Advising leadership on growth and profitability Forecasting cash and capital requirements Evaluating pricing, margins, and customer economics Investigating why an account does not reconcile No task is beneath this role, and no important financial question is outside its scope. Key Responsibilities Build and maintain an integrated financial model connecting revenue, hiring, product investment, expenses, cash flow, and capital requirements. Translate financial and operating data into clear recommendations for the founders and leadership team. Evaluate pricing, margins, customer economics, growth investments, and strategic initiatives. Identify the financial and operational drivers with the greatest impact on profitability and enterprise value. Help define the milestones required to become exit-ready. Forecasting & Planning Lead budgeting, forecasting, and long-term planning. Maintain rolling forecasts that reflect current conditions rather than outdated assumptions. Model runway, liquidity, profitability, and future capital requirements. Help leadership evaluate funding strategies and determine when additional capital is needed. Build scenarios that enable faster, better-informed decisions. Analytics & Business Performance Define the key performance indicators that reveal whether the business is scaling effectively. Build dashboards that make financial and operational performance visible and actionable. Analyze revenue growth, gross margin, customer profitability, retention, working capital, and cash conversion. Identify trends, risks, and opportunities before they become obvious. The goal is not simply to report what happened. It is to determine what should happen next. Accounting & Financial Operations Oversee the in-house accounting function and monthly close. Produce accurate and timely financial statements. Manage cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll coordination, and expense processes. Improve financial systems, accounting processes, internal controls, and data quality. Address the accounting and operational complexities of a combined hardware and software business. Coordinate with outside tax, accounting, banking, insurance, and legal advisors. Build financial records and processes that can support future transaction diligence. Determine when and how to expand the finance team. The Questions This Role Must Help Answer How much additional capital might Laurel need, and when? What funding strategy best supports the company's objectives? What can Laurel do to reach profitability faster? Which products, customers, and investments create the most value? What does rapid revenue growth mean for cash flow and working capital? Which metrics are the strongest indicators of future performance? What should the company accelerate, change, or stop doing? What must be true for Laurel to achieve a successful exit within three years? AI & Technology Laurel expects its Head of Finance to use artificial intelligence, automation, and modern financial tools to increase speed, insight, and personal leverage. The successful candidate should be comfortable using AI to support: Financial modeling and analysis Reporting and data review Research and documentation AI should augment judgment, not replace it. Strategy, recommendations, and accountability remain with the finance leader. Who Will Thrive Here This role is well suited for someone who embraces ambiguity, enjoys building systems from scratch, and wants to help shape the future of a rapidly growing technology company. This is not a predictable 9-to-5 corporate role. Priorities may change quickly, and periods of significant intensity should be expected. Qualifications Required Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or a closely related field. Strong financial modeling, forecasting, and strategic planning capabilities. Solid accounting knowledge and the ability to oversee an in-house accounting function. Experience translating financial analysis into business decisions. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Comfort working directly with founders and senior leaders. Preferred MBA or actively pursuing one. Experience at a startup, growth-stage technology company, private equity-backed business, or a similarly fast-moving environment. Understanding of software, recurring revenue, hardware, connected devices, or related business models. Experience with transaction preparation, due diligence, or exit planning. Fluency with modern financial systems, analytics platforms, automation tools, and AI-enabled workflows. Why Laurel This is a rare opportunity to join a company at a pivotal moment. The product is built. The market is ready for disruption. The technical and sales teams are in place. Revenue is growing rapidly. The owners are fully committed. The Head of Finance will have the opportunity to shape major decisions, build the finance function from the ground up, guide the company toward profitability, and help prepare Laurel for a successful exit—one that has the potential to create significant personal wealth through meaningful equity ownership. #J-18808-Ljbffr