VP of Finance

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

Lightship is the first American all-electric recreational vehicle manufacturer currently developing an aerodynamic, battery-powered trailer for the electric age. As the macro transition to an all-electric transportation ecosystem accelerates, Lightship is bringing the increased convenience and superior performance that electrification offers to a pastime enjoyed by over 11 million American families.

Honoring Diverse Perspectives

Lightship is committed to hiring and developing top talent from diverse backgrounds. We believe representing and supporting diverse groups is key to the success of our team members, customers, shareholders and the achievement of our mission and vision. We operate in a collaborative environment with a flat organizational structure and expect a high degree of integrity, autonomy and creativity from all members of the team.

About the Role

Reporting to the CEO, you'll own Lightship's financial strategy and operations as we move from early production to manufacturing at scale. You'll be a strategic partner to leadership and the Board, leading FP&A, accounting, business operations, product finance, and treasury.

This is a builder role at an inflection point. You'll turn a young manufacturing business into one with clear unit economics, disciplined capital allocation and audit-ready controls, while funding a factory expansion and a growing product line. Expect everything that comes with a scaling hardware startup: a fast pace, ambitious goals, and tight resources.

Responsibilities

• FP&A and planning: Lead the annual business planning process starting from company level goals and resulting in a robust financial plan. You will own the integrated company financial model and be tasked with ensuring that Lightship’s financial forecast is kept accurate in real time.
• Business operations: act as a strategic business partner to the company supporting critical decisions that drive our commercial and operational initiatives (examples may include pricing, market research, insourcing/outsourcing decisions, operational process implementation)
• Product finance: Manage the product cost of the product with a robust financial bill of material and oversee Lightship’s cost accounting in order to measure performance of product cost forecasts against actual COGS. Drive margin improvement in partnership with the engineering, operations and supply chain teams.
• Accounting and reporting: Oversee corporate accounting policy, internal controls, and GAAP compliance with the Director of Accounting. Review external audits and final financial statements for board and investor reporting.
• Treasury and working capital: Manage cash, runway, banking relationships and working capital, including inventory, supplier terms and customer deposits.
• Fundraising and investor relations: Partner with the co-founders to raise equity and debt, including equipment and asset-based financing. Own models, data rooms, diligence and investor reporting.
• Controls, systems and compliance: Design and maintain financial controls and scale our finance systems including our ERP system as we grow. Oversee tax, sales tax and regulatory compliance across states.
• Board and executive reporting: Present results, KPIs and strategic insight to the executive team and board (this role is part of the executive leadership team).
• Team leadership: Recruit, mentor and grow a high-performing finance and accounting team (currently 4 people). 

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive finance experience, including significant time leading a team at a high-growth company.
• Deep expertise in FP&A, corporate finance and cash management at a hardware, manufacturing or other physical-product company.
• Hands-on experience with product finance at a manufacturing company: BOM management, cost accounting, inventory, COGS and margin analysis in a production environment.
• A track record building and owning integrated three-statement models for a complex hardware business.
• Direct oversight of an accounting function, with strong command of U.S. GAAP, the close process, audits and internal controls for a scaling organization.
• Clear, confident communication with non-finance audiences and the board.
• A bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics or a related quantitative field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in electric vehicle, automotive or other complex hardware manufacturing.
• Finance leadership at a company that does manufacturing in-house (not through a CM)
• Finance leadering experience at a direct-to-consumer company
• A background in investment banking, management consulting, private equity or venture capital.
• Experience leading a company through multiple equity and debt raises.

Employee Benefits & Philosophy - Applies to Full Time Employees only

- Healthcare, Dental, Vision

- 401k

- Flexible Paid Time Off - that we actually want you to use!

- 13 Company Holidays: 8 throughout the year + the company observes a week of scheduled downtime during the end of the year, allowing all employees to enjoy a break

- 12 weeks paid parental leave

- Yearly LightTrip stipend for an RV trip &/or professional development opportunities

Lightship offers all of its full time employees and their dependents full benefits including health, dental and vision insurance. We are on a mission to create a more healthful all-electric experience for a pastime that millions of families enjoy and believe strongly that our team should not have to worry about quality healthcare for themselves or their loved ones along the way.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.