Director of Accounting
Centific · East Palo Alto, CA ·
- Work mode
- Hybrid
- Category
- Finance
- Experience
- 10+ years
Centific · East Palo Alto, CA ·
About Centific
Centific is a frontier AI data foundry that curates diverse, high-quality data, using our purpose-built technology platforms to empower the Magnificent Seven and our enterprise clients with safe, scalable AI deployment. Our team includes more than 150 PhDs and data scientists, along with more than 4,000 AI practitioners and engineers. We harness the power of an integrated solution ecosystem—comprising industry-leading partnerships and 1.8 million vertical domain experts in more than 230 markets—to create contextual, multilingual, pre-trained datasets; fine-tuned, industry-specific LLMs; and RAG pipelines supported by vector databases. Our zero-distance innovation™ solutions for GenAI can reduce GenAI costs by up to 80% and bring solutions to market 50% faster.
Our mission is to bridge the gap between AI creators and industry leaders by bringing best practices in GenAI to unicorn innovators and enterprise customers. We aim to help these organizations unlock significant business value by deploying GenAI at scale, helping to ensure they stay at the forefront of technological advancement and maintain a competitive edge in their respective markets.
About Job
Director of Accounting
Finance & Accounting | San Francisco Bay Area, CA or Redmond, WA
Reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Accounting owns the accounting organization end to end: the global close, technical accounting and U.S. GAAP policy, internal controls, and audit. You will act as the company's de facto Controller — the final word on how transactions are recorded and how the numbers are defended.
This role suits a candidate who trained at a large public accounting firm, then moved in-house and grew through Senior Manager or Director of Accounting roles at technology companies. You have carried a close, survived audits, written the memos, and built the processes that let a finance team close faster with fewer surprises. You are comfortable being both the technical expert and the operator, and you have done it across time zones.
Immediate priority: lead the 2026 audit, conducted to PCAOB standards with a Big 4 audit firm, to a clean and on-time opinion. This is the defining deliverable of the role's first year and the primary lens through which candidates will be evaluated.
Close, Reporting & Controllership
Own the global month-, quarter-, and year-end close across all entities, driving cycle-time reduction without sacrificing accuracy.
Own the consolidated financial statements, intercompany accounting, foreign currency translation, and the supporting reporting package delivered to the CFO, executive team, board, and investors.
Own the general ledger, chart of accounts, and accounting systems roadmap, including ERP process design and automation of manual work.
Own accounting operations — revenue, AR/collections, AP, payroll accounting, equity, leases, fixed assets, and treasury accounting.
Technical Accounting & Policy
Serve as the internal authority on U.S. GAAP. Research complex transactions, write the technical position memos, and defend those positions with auditors.
Own the accounting treatment for revenue recognition (ASC 606) across multi-element, milestone, and usage-based arrangements; leases (ASC 842); stock-based compensation (ASC 718); business combinations (ASC 805); and capitalized software (ASC 350-40).
Maintain the global accounting policy manual and drive consistent application across all entities and regions.
Assess and implement new accounting standards, and advise the CFO on the accounting implications of new commercial structures, financings, and M&A activity.
Audit, Controls & Compliance
Lead the 2026 audit to a clean, on-time opinion — conducted to PCAOB standards with a Big 4 audit firm. Own the audit plan, the PBC calendar, sampling and evidence requests, and every technical position put in front of the engagement team.
Own the Big 4 auditor relationship end to end, including the engagement partner and manager cadence, scoping and materiality discussions, component and international audit coordination, and timely resolution of open items.
Drive the company to a PCAOB-grade documentation standard: control descriptions, evidence retention, review sign-offs, and audit trails that withstand inspection-level scrutiny.
Design, document, and operate the internal control environment, building toward SOX-grade controls as the company matures — with no material adjustments or significant deficiencies.
Partner with Tax, Legal, and external advisors on direct and indirect tax provisions, transfer pricing support, statutory filings, and local regulatory compliance across international jurisdictions.
Process Automation & Systems Modernization
Own the accounting automation agenda: identify manual, spreadsheet-dependent, and error-prone processes and systematically engineer them out.
Modernize the close using current tooling — close management and task orchestration, automated account reconciliation and transaction matching, AP/expense automation, revenue and billing systems, and reporting and analytics layers.
Partner directly with Engineering and IT to specify, prioritize, and implement internal tools and integrations that serve Accounting — data pipelines between operational systems and the ERP, automated journal entry feeds, custom reporting, and workflow and approval automation.
Write clear functional requirements, act as business owner on internal tooling projects, and manage them through UAT, cutover, and adoption.
Evaluate where AI and intelligent automation can responsibly reduce cycle time and manual review — and apply the control and auditability standards that make those tools defensible to auditors.
Track and report efficiency outcomes: close-cycle days, manual journal entry volume, reconciliation automation rate, and cost per transaction.
Global Team Leadership
Build, lead, and develop a distributed accounting team spanning U.S. and international locations, including offshore shared-service and outsourced resources.
Set clear close calendars, ownership, and quality standards across regions and time zones, and hold the organization to them.
Partner cross-functionally with FP&A, Legal, Sales, Operations, and Delivery leadership — translating accounting requirements into terms the business can act on.
Serve as a trusted deputy to the CFO on special projects: systems implementations, financing and diligence support, entity setup, and integration work.
Required
Active CPA license, in good standing.
Approximately 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, including a foundation at a large public accounting firm (Big 4 or comparable national/international firm).
Prior in-house experience at technology companies as a Senior Manager or Director of Accounting.
Demonstrated controllership experience — you have owned a close, owned the balance sheet, and owned an audit, not just supported them.
Direct experience leading a Big 4 financial statement audit as the company-side owner, and demonstrated ability to lead an audit conducted to PCAOB standards. You have been the person the engagement partner calls.
Track record of accounting process automation — you have replaced manual processes with modern tooling and can point to measurable results.
Proven experience partnering with IT and Engineering to scope, prioritize, and deliver internal tools, system integrations, and data automation that serve the accounting function.
Deep technical U.S. GAAP expertise, with hands-on application of ASC 606, ASC 842, ASC 718, and consolidation and foreign currency principles — and the judgment to know when a transaction needs a memo.
Proven experience working with international teams in a multi-entity, multi-currency environment, including managing or coordinating staff and stakeholders across time zones.
ERP ownership experience (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar) and comfort driving process automation and system improvements.
Excellent written communication — you can produce a technical memo an auditor accepts and a summary an executive can act on.
Ability to work on-site in the San Francisco Bay Area or Redmond, WA on a hybrid schedule.
Strongly Preferred
Professional fluency in Mandarin — our delivery organization and a significant share of our partners and stakeholders operate in Greater China and across Asia-Pacific.
Experience at a high-growth, venture- or private-equity-backed company, and experience preparing an accounting function for audit readiness, IPO, or SOX compliance.
Hands-on experience with close-management, reconciliation, or automation platforms (e.g., BlackLine, FloQast, Numeric, Trintech) and with reporting or BI tooling (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
Comfort working with data directly — SQL, Power Query, Alteryx, or scripting — enough to prototype and to speak credibly with engineers.
Experience in AI, data services, technology-enabled services, or a global professional-services delivery model.
Experience with international statutory reporting, transfer pricing, and cross-border intercompany structures.
Experience integrating acquisitions or standing up new legal entities.
Salary: $160,000-$200,000 + OTB