Accounting & Operations Coordinator

Location: San Francisco, CA / Partial on-site required 

Team: Operations 

Reports To: Co-founder / Head of Operations

About Laude

Laude is a research organization built by and for computer scientists who ship their research. We back impact-driven researchers turning breakthrough ideas into open-source infrastructure and real-world tools. Our goal is to accelerate the most important research and get it into people's hands faster.

We are funded by individual technologists and anchored by a $100M commitment from Andy Konwinski. Our inaugural $150M ventures fund is backed by top institutional LPs and 50+ of the world's leading computer scientists. Our community is a who's who of AI and computer science researchers from the most advanced labs in the world, and we convene them regularly to push the frontier forward together.

About the Role

We're hiring an Accounting & Operations Coordinator to own the day-to-day accounting administration and operational workstreams that keep the organization in order. You'll support our Finance Lead on bookkeeping, monthly close, and reporting, while helping the team manage ops for grant programs, contractor and vendor relationships, compliance filings, payroll, and expense operations. You'll also support the broader ops team and our people as we grow.

This role sits at the intersection of finance and operations, and it requires someone who is genuinely skilled at both. You know your way around a set of books, not just our expense tools, but also actual journal entries, reconciliations, and close processes. You're a builder of systems and trackers, not just a filler-in of them. And you bring the organizational discipline to manage multiple workstreams across the organization without dropping the ball.

You'll report directly to the Head of Operations and work closely with our Finance Lead. This is a hands-on, execution-oriented role for someone who takes ownership seriously and finds satisfaction in the work landing cleanly.

Work Location

This role requires in-office presence 3 days per week at our San Francisco office location. Significant presence is expected per leadership and operational needs.

What You'll Do

Bookkeeping & Accounting Support

• Own day-to-day bookkeeping in Xero: journal entries, reconciliations, and data entry
• Support the Finance Lead on monthly close and department budget tracking
• Manage accounts payable, cash flow tracking, and expense operations, including receipt collection and approval workflows
• Process payroll and manage onboarding of new employees into payroll systems
• Maintain state payroll accounts and ensure compliance across multi-state payroll registrations and filings
• Administer employee benefits programs including enrollment, changes, and carrier coordination

Grant Operations

• Own administrative and accounting operations for specific grant programs following grantee selection: tax document collection, payment setup, disbursement processing, and expense tracking
• Manage disbursements across payment types including cash, equity compensation, and paid-in contributions
• Collect W-9s, W-8 BENs and manage annual 1099 filings for advisors and contractors

Compliance & Reporting Support

• Track and manage annual entity compliance filings, including state annual reports, and statements of information.
• Maintain accurate, organized records in support of audit readiness and annual reporting

General Operations & Team Support

• Support the Head of Operations on cross-functional ops initiatives as the organization grows
• Provide day-to-day support to team members on expense, payroll, and administrative needs

Who You Are

• 3 to 5 years of relevant experience in bookkeeping, accounting operations, or a coordinator role with real financial responsibility
• A hands-on bookkeeper with real experience including journal entries, reconciliations, and month-end close work
• Proficient in Xero, or deeply experienced in a comparable platform (QuickBooks, NetSuite) and ready to work in Xero from day one
• Experienced with administering tools like Ramp and Rippling. 
• A strong spreadsheet builder that creates and maintains tracking systems
• Experience with payroll processing or coordination
• Organized across complexity, you can manage multiple workstreams across two entities and keep the details clean without being reminded
• Comfortable with compliance-adjacent work. You follow process carefully and flag when something needs attention
• Low ego and high ownership. You're motivated by the work being right, not by being seen doing it
• A clear communicator who can work across a small team, support a Finance Lead, and be a reliable point of contact for team members

Nice to Have

• Experience with multi-entity accounting
• Exposure to equity compensation plans or equity-based grant disbursements
• Experience supporting a growing team in a startup or early-stage org environment

Compensation

• Salary range $90,000 to $140,000 plus equity based on experience
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 401(k)
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid parental leave
• San Francisco-based, partial on-site required