Head of Finance & Operations - San Francisco Bay Area
Head of Finance & Operations - San Francisco Bay Area at Flagright — San Francisco, US
- Company: Flagright
- Location: San Francisco, US
- Employment type: FULL_TIME
- Posted: 2026-07-17
About this role
About Flagright:
Flagright is an AI operating system for financial crime compliance used globally by Fortune 500 companies, large banks, fintechs, and fast growing startups. Flagright enables real-time risk detection, automated investigations, and intelligent decisioning, helping compliance teams operate at their full potential in the fight against financial crime.
We operate as a lean, high-performance team with high individual ownership and direct access to leadership.
Role overview:
The Head of Finance & Operations will take ownership of Flagright’s financial, HR, and legal operations globally, spanning our offices in the US, UK, India, and Singapore. This is a hands-on, operational role for a generalist with strong finance & legal expertise who thrives in high-growth environments and is excited to take on significant responsibilities while building and optimizing processes to support rapid scaling.
People who thrive at Flagright:
Take ownership and operate with urgency
Are resourceful and solution-oriented
Learn quickly and adapt to changing priorities
Have strong opinions and can defend them
Want to work with no-BS people building something important
People who struggle here:
Need extensive hand-holding
View high expectations as “unreasonable”
Actually prioritize work-life balance
Can’t handle ambiguity
Prefer consistent routine over fast-changing priorities
Key responsibilities:
Finance
Prepare and manage investor updates, Board meetings, and monthly consolidated management accounts spanning 4 entities across US / UK / India / Singapore
Lead financial planning and analysis (FP&A), including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
Develop and maintain detailed financial models to support strategic decision-making and operational planning
Oversee accounts payable and enforce accounts receivable processes to maintain smooth cash flow operations
Collaborate with external accountants and tax experts to optimize accounting and tax strategies, ensuring compliance and efficiency
Implement inter-company pricing measures, including managing transfer pricing documentation and compliance
Oversee external auditors for a yearly audit across 4 global entities
Contribute to pricing and deal desk operations
Operations
Lead the HR function, setting clear standards for policies, execution, compliance, employee experience, and operational discipline
Manage and mentor the HR team, ensuring strong ownership across onboarding, offboarding, employee documentation, payroll coordination, benefits, and HR systems
Build scalable people processes across multiple jurisdictions, partnering with external counsel and advisors where needed
Partner with leadership on performance management, compensation reviews, promotions, role changes, workforce planning, and organizational design
Establish people dashboards, reporting cadences, and operating rhythms to give leadership visibility into headcount, hiring, retention, performance, and people risks
Legal Operations
Partner with leadership and sales on commercial negotiations and MSAs, balancing speed, risk management, and business priorities
Liaise with external lawyers to manage contracts, mitigate risks, and ensure global compliance
Manage an internal legal team working across employment, commercial, corporate, insurance, regulatory, and cross-border matters
Who we are looking for:
5+ years of professional experience, with a solid background in Finance (must have) and HR and Legal operations (preferred) in a high-growth environment
Must have hands-on FP&A or Strategic Finance experience, including budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, variance analysis, and leadership reporting, gained in roles such as FP&A Analyst, FP&A Manager, Head of FP&A, or Strategic Finance Lead
Must have prior experience in a SaaS start-up environment (Series A to C)
Experience operating across multiple entities, jurisdictions, currencies, and time zones, with an understanding of cross-border finance and multi-entity accounting, as well as HR, legal, tax, and compliance considerations
Strong working knowledge of SaaS business models, including ARR, retention, gross margin, CAC/payback, burn, runway, cash forecasting, and investor-facing operating metrics
Comfortable being both strategic and hands-on: able to advise leadership while also diving into models, contracts, payroll issues, vendor workflows, and operational details when needed
Proven people-management experience, ideally managing distributed or offshore teams, with high standards for ownership, responsiveness, and execution - note that the team reporting to this role is based in the Philippines
Based in the Bay Area with right to work in the USA (visa sponsorship not available). This is a fully in-person role, based in our Santa Clara office.
What we offer:
Leadership position with direct impact on how Flagright runs and grows globally
High-bar environment focused on execution, learning, and continuous improvement
Health insurance through Kaiser Permanente in California
Equity from day 1 at a Y Combinator startup
Housing subsidy if you live within 1 mile of our office
Work alongside a highly competent, top-tier team, including professionals from Y Combinator, ex AWS, and Palantir
Enjoy a low-bureaucracy environment, minimal meetings, and an asynchronous communications culture