Associate Director, Strategic Finance

Job description

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. About the team The Finance & Corporate Development team at Airwallex drives the company's financial strategy and growth. Our team focuses on financial planning, analysis, and corporate transactions to ensure Airwallex's long-term success. We collaborate across departments to identify opportunities, manage risks, and execute strategic initiatives. Our goal is to support the company's mission to empower businesses to operate anywhere, anytime. What you'll do Reporting to the Head of Strategic Finance, you will operate as a senior leader within the team, owning critical parts of Airwallex’s financial strategy and influencing company-wide decision-making. This is a highly visible role with direct exposure to executive leadership, where you will shape strategic direction, drive financial rigor, and ensure alignment between long-term vision and near-term execution. You will lead complex, high-impact initiatives across planning, performance management, and corporate strategy—bringing structure to ambiguity and driving clarity in decision-making. Beyond analysis, you will play a key role in influencing outcomes, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring disciplined execution across the organization. You are both a strategic thinker and an operator: equally comfortable building detailed financial models, crafting executive narratives, and leading cross-functional initiatives. You bring strong business judgment, a bias for action, and the ability to scale impact through others. This role can be based in San Francisco or London (UK). Responsibilities: - Own and lead strategic financial planning processes, including long-range planning, annual budgeting, and forecasting across business units - Drive company-level financial insights and narratives, shaping materials for board meetings, investor communications, and executive decision-making - Lead capital strategy and capital allocation decisions, ensuring resources are deployed effectively against the company’s highest priorities - Partner with senior leadership (Product, GTM, Operations) to evaluate and influence major strategic initiatives such as new market entry, product investments, pricing strategies, and partnerships - Oversee business performance analysis, identifying key drivers, risks, and opportunities while ensuring accountability against targets - Build, mentor, and scale talent within the Strategic Finance function, raising the bar on analytical rigor, strategic thinking, and execution - Drive cross-functional initiatives that improve financial visibility, operational efficiency, and decision-making frameworks across the company - Enhance finance infrastructure, including reporting systems, tools, and processes to support a global, scaling organization Who you are We’re looking for individuals with strong analytical foundations, sharp business judgment, and the ability to turn insight into action. The minimum qualifications are essential to succeed in this role. Preferred qualifications help you stand out, but are not mandatory. Minimum qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Finance, or a related field - 8+ years of experience across strategic finance, management consulting, investment banking, or private equity - Proven experience operating at a senior level, influencing executives and driving company-wide initiatives - Advanced financial modeling skills with the ability to design and own complex models that inform critical decisions - Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving ability, with a track record of navigating ambiguity and delivering outcomes - Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership or boards - Demonstrated leadership experience, including mentoring team members and leading cross-functional workstreams - Strong commercial acumen and deep understanding of business performance drivers in a scaling company Preferred qualifications: - Experience in high-growth environments, ideally within the Technology space - Have worked in top-tier management consulting, investment banking, or private equity firms - Experience with capital markets, fundraising, or IPO readiness - Familiarity with SQL, business intelligence tools (e.g. Tableau), and/or working with large, complex datasets across functions and regions APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.