Head of Finance

MATS (Machine Alignment, Transparency, and Security) Research is an AI safety research fellowship and talent development nonprofit operating at ~$31M annual budget and scaling roughly 2x annually. We run cohorts of 120–175+ fellows across the full spectrum of AI Alignment & Security research with offices in Berkeley, London, and Washington DC. We are mid-build-out of a full C-suite (CEO, CFRO, COO) as the organization professionalizes its operating infrastructure to match its growth trajectory. Role Summary About MATS MATS (Machine Alignment, Transparency, and Security) Research is an AI safety research fellowship and talent development nonprofit operating at ~$31M annual budget and scaling roughly 2x annually. We run cohorts of 120–175+ fellows across the full spectrum of AI Alignment & Security research with offices in Berkeley, London, and Washington DC. We are mid-build-out of a full C-suite (CEO, CFRO, COO) as the organization professionalizes its operating infrastructure to match its growth trajectory. Role Summary The Head of Finance owns MATS's financial operations end-to-end: the org's books, its money in (grants, donations) and money out (payments, stipends, procurement), the plan that ties spend to strategy (budgeting/FP&A), and the controls that keep all of it defensible (audit, risk, treasury). This is the senior operating finance role under the CFRO and runs the function day to day, designs functional processes and systems, sets policies, and informs organizational financial strategy. This role is right for someone who wants to build financial infrastructure for a nonprofit doubling in size annually — not maintain a steady-state function. Expect to design systems (not just operate them), make judgment calls under real ambiguity (multi-currency, multi-entity, cross-border grant flows), and professionalize processes that have outgrown their current scale. We anticipate this person will be scaling the finance team as well. You won’t be doing this on your own. We have dedicated internal resources as well as external bookkeepers to support the day to day. This role will be able to advise on the appropriate finance team structure that will support MATS’s into the next leg of its journey, as well as build for sustainability and growth. What You'll Own Accounting & Controllership Day-to-day bookkeeping, month-end/year-end close, chart of accounts, and general ledger integrity across US (and UK, when applicable) entities Financial statement preparation (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) for leadership and Board reporting Reconciliations, journal entries, and maintaining a clean audit trail Budgeting & FP&A Build and maintain the annual operating budget in partnership with the CFRO and function leads Rolling forecasts and scenario planning (e.g., funding upside/downside cases, cohort-size sensitivity) Variance analysis and monthly/quarterly financial reporting to the leadership team and sometimes Board Unit economics and cost-per-fellow type modeling to inform program-side resourcing decisions Forecast and scope the financial impact of proposed new initiatives , including projected costs, resource requirements, and staffing plans, to support leadership decision-making and prioritization. Develop and maintain financial models to support planning and forecasting across key operational areas such as headcount, compensation and benefits, tax liabilities, facilities and real estate costs, and other major cost drivers — providing leadership with clear, data-driven insight into current and future financial obligations. Partner with cross-functional teams (e.g., People/HR, Operations) to gather inputs and assumptions needed to build accurate, scenario-based models that inform strategic and budgetary decisions. Grants & Revenue Manage the full lifecycle of receiving and accounting for grants and donations: tracking restricted vs. unrestricted funds, allocation of expenses to each grant, donor/grantor reporting requirements, and compliance with funder terms Partner with development/fundraising on grant proposal financials and post-award financial reporting Payments, Payroll & Stipends Vendor and contractor payments, expense reimbursements, and accounts payable Own the policies and tooling (e.g., Brex/Ramp-style platforms, payroll providers) that make this scale without manual overhead Procurement Set procurement policy and approval workflows appropriate to a fast-scaling org (avoiding both bottlenecks and uncontrolled spend) in partnership with CFRO Vendor selection and contract financial terms for major spend categories (compute, office leases, software) Audit & Compliance Lead annual financial audit (or audit readiness) and manage auditor relationships Ensure compliance with nonprofit financial regulations across US, UK, and any other operating jurisdictions (e.g., 990 filings, UK Charity Commission requirements if applicable) Maintain internal controls appropriate to MATS's size and risk profile, and evolve them as the org grows Financial Strategy & Risk Management Co-develop financial strategy with the CFRO: runway planning, reserve policy, funding diversification, multi-year financial modeling Identify and mitigate financial risk (currency exposure, funding concentration, cash flow timing across grant cycles) Translate financial strategy into operating policies that function leads work within Treasury / Investing Funds Manage cash and short-term investment of organizational reserves consistent with a nonprofit risk posture (capital preservation and liquidity first) Recommend and execute an investment policy for reserves, in partnership with the CFRO and Board as needed Leadership Advise on finance team structure, hiring and day to day management of future finance team members Work closely with other functional leads to advise on budgeting and expense best practices Who You Are 7+ years in finance/accounting roles with progressively increasing scope, including direct ownership of close, budgeting, and compliance — nonprofit, startup, or high-growth environment strongly preferred Comfortable being a builder, not just an operator: you've stood up or significantly overhauled financial systems and processes, not just run an existing playbook Fluent in nonprofit fund accounting (restricted/unrestricted funds, grant compliance) — or able to ramp quickly if your background is for-profit Strong FP&A instincts: you can build a model, explain the assumptions, and use it to actually inform complex and significant decisions High trust, high discretion — this role touches sensitive compensation, donor, and organizational risk information Comfortable operating across currencies/jurisdictions (US/UK at minimum) and in a remote-friendly, multi-office org CPA or equivalent strongly preferred, not required Excited by MATS's mission and able to make financially sound calls in service of a fast-moving, mission-driven org — not just compliance-minded #J-18808-Ljbffr MATS Research