[Hiring] Senior Director of Finance @BrainChild Bio

Role Description

The Senior Director of Finance owns Brainchild Bio's day-to-day finance engine and serves as the primary finance partner to R&D, product operations, clinical, and business operations leaders. The role reports to the CFO and will interact with the entire executive team.

This is a hands-on leadership role at a company that is still building its financial infrastructure. You will improve and, in some cases, establish processes, systems, and controls that scale from Series A to later-stage financing and, eventually, public-company readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Financial planning and reporting:
  • Lead the annual budgeting, forecasting and long-range operating planning processes with all business functions, partnering with the executive team to meet established targets.
  • Drive the process for rationalizing department investments (headcount, OPEX spend, and CAPEX) within the established frameworks; maintain visibility into cash runway and other financial goals.
  • Prepare board and investor reporting packages, KPIs, and management dashboards.
  • Support financing and business development activities, including diligence, data rooms, and grant or non-dilutive funding reporting.
• Business partnering:
  • Serve as the finance business partner to R&D, CMC and product operations, clinical and G&A leaders.
  • Provide and review quarterly budget/forecast-vs-actual analyses with each function and understand key business drivers; give clear, timely insight into trends and variances.
  • Model program costs, clinical trial budgets, and headcount plans to support portfolio and resourcing decisions.
  • Review and support major contracts (CROs, CDMOs, licensing, facilities) for financial terms and business impact such as operational efficiency and cost-savings opportunities.
• Accounting operations:
  • Provide oversight of all accounting operations (financial close, procure-to-pay, payroll, financial reporting; equity administration); ensure management reports and financial statements are prepared timely and in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
  • Manage cash, treasury, and banking relationships; produce rolling cash and runway forecasts.
  • Oversee R&D and clinical trial accruals in partnership with clinical operations and CRO/CDMO partners.
  • Build and document internal controls appropriate for a growing private company, with a path to SOX readiness.
  • Coordinate 409A valuations, tax compliance, corporate insurance programs and future external audits with outside advisors.
• Team and systems:
  • Build, lead, and develop a lean finance and accounting team, using outsourced partners where it makes sense.
  • Own the finance tech stack (ERP, AP automation, expense, spend management) and integrations with HRIS and payroll.
  • Establish and improve finance policies, processes, and spend controls across the company that will support organizational growth and increasing complexity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.
• 12+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including 4+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Experience in venture-backed biotech or life sciences, including clinical trial accruals and R&D cost accounting.
• Solid foundation of US GAAP, close management, and internal controls.
• Proven business partnering record: budgets, forecasts, and variance analysis for leaders.
• Hands-on with ERP and spend tools and advanced Excel modeling.
• Experience managing audits and outside advisors.

Requirements

• CPA (active or inactive) preferred.
• Experience scaling finance through Series A/B+ financings or IPO readiness preferred.
• Exposure to grant accounting, licensing deals, or CDMO/CRO contract structures preferred.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• First 90 days: Monthly close runs on a documented calendar, cash runway and operating forecast is refreshed monthly and trusted by leadership.
• 6 months: Every budget owner gets a periodic budget-vs-actual review; insight and roadmap to implement more robust financial systems and processes.
• 12 months: The annual budget is built bottoms-up with functional leaders; earn trust of executive team and board, provide clear line of sight into long range planning resource requirements.

Location

Remote, with a preference for candidates based in the Seattle area.

Salary

$205,000 - $275,000 a year.

AI Tools in Hiring Process

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.