Head of Finance

Job description

ABOUT ASTRA Astra is building mission-critical infrastructure for moving money at scale. Our platform processes billions in annual transaction volume with 99.9%+ uptime, powering real-time transfers, bank debits, card disbursements, and complex financial compliance systems. We provide APIs and automation tools that enable businesses to move money programmatically while maintaining strict regulatory requirements. THE ROLE Astra is seeking a Head of Finance to lead and scale our finance function during a period of rapid growth. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will own the company's financial strategy, planning, reporting, and operational rigor, while serving as a key thought partner to the leadership team. We're looking for a strategic finance leader who can help shape how the business scales — from pricing strategy and capital planning to long-range forecasting, investor readiness, and operational decision-making. This is a highly impactful role that sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and execution. You will build the financial infrastructure that enables Astra to scale efficiently, provide visibility into company performance, support fundraising and board reporting, and help drive critical decisions across every department. As Astra’s first finance leader, you’ll own the oversight of tactical work, while defining processes, standard procedures, and building a team to deliver for our fast-growing company’s operational needs. With those foundational systems in place, you will be expected to direct and grow that function rather than execute it yourself – freeing you to focus on the financial strategy, modeling, and investor-facing work that the business needs most right now. Over time, you'll build out the team further as Astra's needs grow. The ideal candidate has helped scale a venture-backed fintech, payments, or infrastructure company through multiple stages of growth, ideally from seed or Series A through later-stage scale, and has sat close enough to a fundraising process to know what investors actually look for. This person brings strong judgment, executive presence, and the ability to influence decisions in environments where there is no existing playbook. If you have run the finance function before or were a senior high-performing contributor to a finance team and you want end-to-end ownership at a company moving fast, keep reading. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Own financial strategy and capital planning - Monitor cash flow, runway, and capital needs. Build forecasting frameworks that ensure Astra can make informed investment decisions while maintaining financial discipline. - Guide strategic decision-making - Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and leadership team. Evaluate pricing strategy, resource allocation, and growth initiatives through a financial lens. - Tell the financial story - Own board materials, investor updates, fundraising analyses, and executive reporting. Translate complex payments and fintech economics into narratives that support decision-making among internal and external stakeholders. Lead data room preparation and diligence processes, drawing on prior fundraising experience to anticipate what investors will ask. - Drive FP&A - Build and maintain the financial models that power decision-making across the business — driver-based models for GMV/TPV, take rate, revenue yield, and unit economics. Develop reporting, dashboards, and KPI frameworks that provide visibility into performance and operating drivers. - Own payments and fintech economics - Analyze and forecast payments revenue streams, including interchange, network fees, processor costs, and revenue share agreements. Build models around interchange-plus, buy-rate, and blended pricing structures. Evaluate merchant profitability, cohort performance, and partner economics. - Own treasury and settlement operations - Direct reconciliation and settlement accounting across payment rails (ACH, RTP, FedNow, wires, and card networks settlement). Own treasury and liquidity management, and partner with Astra's compliance and payments teams on capital requirements and licensing tied to our payments operations. - Own company planning - Lead the annual budgeting process, long-range planning, and recurring forecasting cycles. Partner with department leaders to align investments, headcount, and operating plans with company goals. - Oversee accounting and financial operations - Direct monthly close, accounts payable/receivable, and treasury, and bookkeeping in collaboration with existing Finance team members while ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and strong controls. Coordinate audits and manage relationships with external auditors, tax advisors, and banking partners. Establish the accounting policies and internal controls appropriate for a scaling fintech. - Improve business performance - Analyze trends across revenue, merchant/partner economics, pricing, and operating expenses. Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, strengthen unit economics, and accelerate growth. - Build the function - Manage and develop Astra's existing finance employees, and recruit further as the team grows. Establish repeatable processes and scale the function alongside the business. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR Required Experience - 7+ years of experience in finance, FP&A, investment banking, strategic finance, or related fields, with exposure to accounting/controllership fundamentals - Experience operating in an early-stage or venture-backed startup, ideally as a founding or first finance hire - Direct hands-on experience running point on fundraising processes — data rooms, diligence, investor materials, or board reporting - Exceptional financial modeling, forecasting, and analytical skills - Strong understanding of fintech or payments business models and operating drivers - Experience partnering directly with executive leadership and presenting to boards or investors - A track record of building scalable financial processes and reporting frameworks - Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate financial insights into business recommendations - Comfort directing tactical work through others rather than owning every detail personally Education - Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field; CPA, CFA, or MBA a plus Preferred Experience - Experience in payments, fintech, SaaS, or embedded finance - Familiarity with interchange, network fees, acquirer/processor pricing, and revenue share models - Prior fundraising, investor relations, or corporate development experience - Experience building and managing a finance team from the ground up - Exposure to BI tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) and/or SQL WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS Astra is scaling from roughly 30 toward 50–60 employees, and finance has been run informally up to this point. This hire will set the financial strategy and infrastructure Astra needs for its next stage — credible forecasts, investor-ready reporting, and sound capital planning — while directing the tactical work rather than getting buried in it. It's a rare chance to shape financial strategy at a fintech company from the ground floor, with real leverage from day one. WHAT WE OFFER - Competitive compensation with equity in a growing fintech company. - Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements - Small team, big impact — your work directly supports Astra’s ability to scale responsibly - Professional growth opportunities in compliance and risk management - Mission-driven — build infrastructure that powers financial innovation while meeting the highest regulatory standards REMOTE WORK AND CULTURE Astra is a remote-first company hiring only within the U.S. We value thoughtful collaboration, clarity, and initiative. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.