VP/SVP Finance — Job Description 

Job description: VP/SVP of Finance

About Backstory

Backstory (formerly People.ai) is the leading AI answers platform for sales teams. With more than a decade of training AI models on billions of sales interactions, Backstory enables modern sales teams to ask questions and get the right answer in the moment directly within their existing AI workflows. Sales leaders from companies like OpenAI, IBM, Red Hat, Verizon, Palo Alto Networks, Iron Mountain, TransUnion, Randstad and others rely on Backstory to get trusted answers wrapped in real business context helping them orchestrate deals more effectively and drive revenue. 

By connecting every signal to the right accounts and opportunities, Backstory shows teams exactly what is happening and what to do next. Customers across industries including enterprise, cybersecurity, data and analytics, and defense use Backstory to drive trillions in pipeline and revenue.

Recognized by Gartner and Forrester, the Inc. 5000, Y Combinator Top Companies, and the Forbes AI 50, Backstory is based in San Francisco and backed by ICONIQ Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Akkadian Ventures and Mubadala Capital.

The role

We’re hiring an VP/SVP of Finance to lead Finance end to end for an enterprise B2B software business: FP&A, accounting, and cash. Reporting to the CEO, you’ll lead a lean team, shape the company’s financial strategy, represent Finance on the exec team, and support board and investor reporting.

It’s a hands-on role: you’ll get into the model, the close, or the analysis when it matters.

The mandate is focused: help take the business to its next major growth milestone, making the right financial and operational choices along the way, alongside a top-tier group of venture investors.

What success looks like in your first year

• The company is delivering on its ARR growth plan, with Finance's planning and investment decisions a visible part of how it gets there.

• The CEO, exec team, and investors rely on a predictable forecast across subscription and usage revenue, built on clear ARR and metric definitions.

• The Finance team is set up for the next stage of growth, with a fast, reliable monthly close.

• The company is audit-ready and well prepared for future financing.

Key responsibilities

Financial planning and analysis

• Own the annual budget, scenario modeling, and rolling forecasts for revenue, headcount, opex, and cash, tied directly to how each part of the business plans and operates.

• Deliver monthly and quarterly reporting with plan-to-actuals, and partner with each operating leader to highlight and understand the drivers behind their results.

• Partner with Sales, Customer, Marketing, and Product leaders on investment trade-offs as we move from a cash-flow-neutral business to growing cash flow.

• Provide leadership and the board with guidance on our financial trajectory in out quarters.

Strategy and capital

• Serve as the CEO's and executive team's trusted financial advisor on strategic decisions.

• Prepare board materials and investor reporting with the CEO, and serve as the primary contact for routine investor reporting and information requests.

• Prepare the company for its next funding event.

• Keep the company audit-ready: audited financials, clean metric definitions, and an organized data room.

Pricing and unit economics

• Partner with Product on pricing and packaging, modeling the revenue, margin, and customer impact of each SKU.

• Build predictable forecasting across our subscription base and its usage-based element.

• Set revenue recognition policy for commits, prepaid credits, overages, and unused commitments, including allocating contract value between subscription and usage components.

• Keep clear definitions for the metrics we report: ARR (recurring vs. variable), committed vs. consumed revenue, net dollar retention, and RPO.

• Model and govern gross margin, including inference, cloud, and model-vendor costs.

Deal economics

• Assist deal desk for enterprise contracts: non-standard terms, discount governance, and contract review.

• Design sales compensation with Sales and People, including how subscription, commits, and usage are credited, and its accounting treatment.

• Oversee billing and collections for hybrid contracts.

Accounting and controllership

• Ensure a timely, accurate monthly close and GAAP-compliant financials.

• Own and improve internal controls, policies, and procedures as we scale.

• Oversee AP, AR, payroll, revenue recognition (ASC 606, including variable consideration), and the general ledger.

• Manage external auditors and tax advisors, and ensure compliance with tax filings, sales tax nexus, and other regulatory requirements.

Cash and treasury

• Own cash flow forecasting, liquidity management, banking relationships, and treasury operations.

• Monitor burn and runway, and flag risks or opportunities early.

• Manage working capital across billing, collections, and vendor terms.

Team and People partnership

• Lead and shape a lean finance team.

• Partner with the VP of People on headcount planning, compensation and equity (409A, refresh pool, retention equity), benefits costs, payroll, and HR systems.

• Build scalable finance systems, BI and reporting tools, and close processes.

Qualifications

Core experience

• 8+ years of progressive finance leadership, currently as an SVP of Finance or as a VP of Finance ready to step up.

• Experience across the whole finance function, with real depth in FP&A and a track record of connecting planning back to how the business runs.

• Time at a productized, enterprise B2B software company of 50M–100M ARR, with a subscription or platform model and larger enterprise deals, run on ARR rather than recognized revenue alone.

• A disciplined operator who has taken a business from cash-flow neutral to growing cash flow. Not a growth-at-all-costs background, and not someone who manages only to gross margin and opex.

• A track record of building finance teams, with the judgment to assess talent across accounting, FP&A, treasury, and AP/AR.

• Fluency in SaaS metrics and how they connect to financial performance.

• Hands-on ownership of the monthly close, GAAP reporting, internal controls, and revenue recognition (ASC 606).

• Experience managing external auditors, tax advisors, and banking relationships.

Leadership

• A player-coach who sets direction and rolls up their sleeves on modeling, close, or analysis when needed.

• Sees Finance as a partner to growth functions, not a gatekeeper.

• A sharp, clear communicator who translates the numbers into clear implications and decisions for operating leaders and the CEO.

• A collaborative peer who reads the exec room, gives space when needed, and claims the mic when needed.

• A steady presence for a team coming through a leadership transition.

Nice to have

• Experience in revtech or CRM.

• Experience with hybrid subscription-and-usage models, and with finding predictability in variable revenue.

• Understanding of AI and cloud cost structures and how they drive gross margin.

• Active involvement in a strategic exit before, during, and after close.

• Experience supporting a capital raise or debt facility.