About Karya:

Why was Karya on the cover of the Time Magazine , highlighted by Satya Nadella , and chosen by Google as its partner for Project Vaani? 

In part, because Karya is on a mission to provide AI enabled earning and learning opportunities to economically underserved communities, thereby building a pathway out of poverty for them. Karya achieves this while also delivering high quality, timely, and price competitive data to its clients.

Karya’s workers make at least 20 times the Indian minimum wage and through our one-of-a-kind digital work platform, we have delivered over 40 million digital tasks and are poised to positively impact over 100 thousand workers by the end of the year. In the coming years, our goal is to rapidly scale our impact by bringing economic opportunities to millions of underserved users in India.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced finance professional to join Karya as our Senior Finance Executive. This offers an exciting opportunity for a motivated candidate to help build a strong Finance function at Karya. The Senior Finance Executive will play a critical role in managing daily accounting activities such as invoicing, reconciliations (client & vendor ledger), reconciliations related to bank and taxes (TDS and GST). Further, this role will work with other functions in ensuring all support related to Finance information. It may be noted that basic accounting in Tally is an outsourced function and hence, ledger scrutiny and differences arising out of such scrutiny need to be reported to the outsourced partner for corrections.

Reporting, roles and responsibilities

The post will report to the Finance Manager and the role is based in Bengaluru. The scope of responsibilities is as follows:

Manage daily finance operations

1. Lead and manage the daily accounting operations with the help of Karya’s outsourced accounting partner. This includes ensuring client invoices are raised in time, vendor invoices are paid in time after due approval and  ledger scrutiny is carried out to ensure accuracy of expense booked by partner.
2. Ensuring all people in the organisation abide by Karya’s financial policies.
3. Ensuring continuous compliance with regulatory requirements including determination and payment of TDS and GST liabilities by providing all the inputs required for doing so on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
4. Manage procurements to ensure rigorous and conscious fiscal spending. 
5. Corroborate and verify employee requests for claims and reimbursements, including scrutiny of invoices and bills.
6. Coordinate with other functions at Karya to ensure all finance support is provided for them to carry out their roles. 
7. Maintaining internal controls and financial procedures to safeguard company assets and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.

Provide support in  financial reporting

1. Ensure donor reports are prepared and reviewed before  sharing with the Founders with accuracy and in a timely manner.
2. Ensure all donor due diligence is completed in time by providing the required financial data for due diligence.  
3. Work closely with the management to liaise with external auditors and internal team members, ensuring a smooth audit process, and address any audit findings or recommendations.
4. Contribute to and manage annual financial reporting requirements as they may arise. 

Required skills and experience

We are looking for the following competencies as a part of this role:

• B Com / CA (Inter) 
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in Financial accounting and management, with a strong track record of accounting and forecasting.
• Experience in both non-profit and for-profit financial management is preferred
• Strong knowledge of accounting principles, financial regulations, and financial software tools including MS -Excel with an eye for detail is essential.
• Ability to handle large payments dataset and carry out reconciliations.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration and communication with the members of other teams within Karya.
• Proven ability to work independently, adapt to a dynamic startup environment, and drive financial initiatives.
• Prior experience of handling banking relationships would be an added advantage.

What We Offer

• Flexible leave and vacation policy
• Hybrid work options
• Insurance as per industry standards
• Access to leaders in technology and social impact sectors
• A chance to contribute meaningfully to AI, digital equity, and rural development

Karya celebrates diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected status.

Karya’s mission is to leverage the AI revolution to create dignified earning and learning opportunities for low-income communities across the world. In India, our smartphone-based digital work platform has enabled over 120,000 people to build language datasets and evaluate AI models while earning fair wages. With pilots in Kenya and Ethiopia and partnerships with leading AI labs, we are advancing language technologies for underrepresented communities. By combining dignified digital work with frontier AI innovation, Karya hopes to build a new AI economy that is equitable, inclusive, and community driven.

We are seeking a Head of Finance to lead all aspects of financial management at Karya. This role is pivotal in ensuring financial sustainability, operational excellence, and trust in our systems—especially as it relates to ensuring fair and timely compensation to the thousands of rural workers we serve.

The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise in financial operations, compliance, and revenue management, with a deep appreciation for the social impact space. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines strategic thinking with execution and ownership.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Financial Strategy & Budgeting

- Lead annual budgeting and financial planning processes aligned with Karya’s mission.

- Provide leadership with visibility into cash flow needs, project burn rate, and funding gaps to support timely decision-making.

- Drive cost efficiency and strict budget adherence across departments.

- Provide financial insight and analysis to support strategic decision-making.

- Ensure transparency and accountability in use of funds.

2. Worker Payments Management

- Own the end-to-end process of disbursing timely and accurate payments to thousands of Karya’s field workers.

- Build scalable, tech-enabled payment systems that are auditable and transparent.

- Work closely with the Operations and Tech teams to ensure seamless financial integration with worker data.

3. Revenue & Client Payments

- Ensure timely invoicing and revenue collection from Karya’s clients and partners.

- Track receivables, forecast cash flows, and maintain healthy working capital.

- Liaise with the Partnerships/BD team to ensure contractual financial terms are executed effectively.

4. Compliance & Controls

- Ensure full compliance with Indian accounting standards, regulatory requirements (including FCRA), and statutory filings (TDS, GST, PF, etc.).

- Work with legal and external advisors to maintain financial and legal hygiene.

- Establish and enforce internal controls to minimize financial risk.

5. Financial Operations & Reporting

- Oversee all day-to-day financial operations including bookkeeping, vendor payments, payroll, and audits.

- Lead monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting for internal and external stakeholders.

- Coordinate with external auditors and ensure timely completion of audits.

6. Team Leadership

- Lead a small but high-performing Finance team.

- Mentor junior finance staff and build capacity within the team and the organization.

- Foster a culture of ownership, integrity, and mission-alignment.

Ideal Candidate:

- 10+ years of progressive finance experience, preferably in a fast-growing organization.

- CA or equivalent education background. 

- Proven experience with budgeting, revenue collection, payment systems, and compliance in the Indian context.

- Prior exposure to social impact, non-profits, or mission-driven organizations is a strong plus.

- Deep understanding of statutory compliance including income tax, GST, PF/ESI, labor laws, etc.

- Strong knowledge of accounting systems and tools (e.g., Tally, Zoho, QuickBooks, Excel).

- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

- Strategic thinker who can also get hands dirty in execution.

- Demonstrated commitment to equity, transparency, and service.