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Posted 1w ago

Accounting Lead

@ Virtue AI
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San Francisco, California, United States
$150k-$200k/yrOnsiteFull Time
Responsibilities:Build the Accounting Machine, Full-Cycle Infrastructure, Strengthen Finance process
Requirements Summary:8+ years accounting experience in a high-growth startup; IPO readiness; build accounting function; partner with leadership; hands-on in finance processes and systems.
Technical Tools Mentioned:QuickBooks, Pilot, NetSuite
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Job Description

Accounting Lead – Virtue AI

About Virtue AI

Virtue AI sets the standard for advanced AI security platforms. Built on decades of foundational and award-winning research in AI security, its AI-native architecture unifies automated red-teaming, real-time multimodal guardrails, and systematic governance for enterprise apps and agents. Deploy in minutes—across any environment—to keep your AI protected and compliant. We are a well-funded, early-stage startup founded by industry veterans, and we're looking for passionate builders to join our core team.

About the Role

  • As the Accounting Lead at Virtue AI, you won't just be managing books—you will be the primary architect of our financial foundation and the engine behind our fiscal scaling.

  • You are joining at a pivotal moment as we scale our team to meet the demand for AI security, governance, and adversarial safety.

  • As our first dedicated in-house accounting hire, you will have a blank canvas to build the accounting function from the ground up.

  • You will partner directly with our founders and leadership team to establish world-class financial operations across every department, from R&D to GTM.

What You’ll Do

  • Build the Accounting Machine: Establish our internal accounting "operating system" by transitioning functions from QuickBooks and our outside consultants (Pilot) to an in-house model.

  • Full-Cycle Infrastructure: Own the end-to-end setup and management of our initial accounting, order-to-cash (O2C), and payroll functions. This person will help with collections and accounts receivables to ensure that our cash balance is healthy.

  • Strengthen Finance process: Lead the preparation for future public markets, including implementing GAAP-compliant processes, robust internal controls, and audit readiness.

  • Strategic Partnering: Act as a financial consultant to the leadership team, providing real-time market data on spend, headcount planning, and fiscal trends in the AI sector.

  • Process Implementation: Define monthly close loops, create financial rubrics, and train team leads on how to manage their budgets effectively.

  • Vendor & Consultant Management: Partner closely with our outside consultants to bring as much work in-house as possible while maintaining high standards of integrity.

  • Financial Visibility: Use financial data to track the health of our operations and communicate progress and bottlenecks to the executive team.

Requirements

  • Experience: 8+ years of accounting experience, with a significant portion spent in-house at a high-growth startup (Series A through C).

  • IPO Track Record: Proven experience navigating IPO readiness, S-1 preparation, or operating within a public-company accounting environment.

  • Operational Grit: You have a proven track record of building financial processes and scaling functions from the ground up.

  • Full-Stack Versatility: You are equally comfortable managing a complex payroll run as you are architecting a multi-year order-to-cash strategy for enterprise SaaS deals.

  • Independence: You are comfortable being a "department of one" and managing multiple high-priority financial roles simultaneously.

  • Technical Fluency: You understand the financial nuances of AI/ML software and can credibly "pitch" our fiscal strategy to internal and external stakeholders (nice to have).

  • Closing Prowess: You are a "closer" of the books. You know how to navigate complex reconciliations and equity explanations in a highly competitive market.

Nice to Haves

  • AI/SaaS Network: An existing understanding of the financial landscapes within the AI safety, cybersecurity, or enterprise SaaS ecosystems.

  • Tooling Expertise: Experience transitioning from QuickBooks/Pilot into a broader ERP tech stack (e.g., NetSuite) integrated into a modern software environment.

  • Agency & In-House Mix: A background that includes both rigorous public accounting (Big 4) and strategic in-house financial management.

Why Join Virtue AI?

  • Unmatched Impact: You will personally build the systems that define the financial future of AI security.

  • Direct Influence: Your fingerprints will be on every financial process and team we build.

  • Foundational Role: As our first accounting hire, you will have an outsized influence on the company’s trajectory and culture, with the opportunity to build and lead a team as we continue to scale.