Director - Finance

Zealant Consulting Group; Dadri; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Zealant Consulting Group in Noida (Work from Office - 5 days a week) leads a senior finance function covering FP&A, accounting, compliance, treasury, and investor relations.

The Associate Director - Finance will own strategic financial planning, fundraising, AI-enabled forecasting, and investor communications to drive disciplined growth.

Qualifications

• CA qualification required with senior finance leadership experience.
• Experience leading FP&A, accounting, treasury, compliance, and investor relations.
• Ability to build AI-enabled forecasting and automate financial operations.
• Experience in fundraising and communicating with investors.

Responsibilities

• Own fundraising activities and present monthly finance insights to leadership.
• Build the Financial Command Center and be the single source of truth on performance and unit economics.
• Lead investor relations, due diligence coordination, data room prep and governance.
• Oversee accounting, compliance, treasury and AI adoption across finance functions.
• Develop and refine revenue recognition, cash flow projections, and runway planning.

Skills

FP&A

Accounting

Compliance

Treasury

Strategic Finance

Investor Relations

AI Adoption

Education

CA (Chartered Accountant)

Job description

Associate Director - Finance

Location: Noida (Work from Office - 5 days in week)

CA (Chartered Accountant) Qualified

Associate Director - Finance

Location: Noida (Work from Office - 5 days in week)

CA (Chartered Accountant) Qualified

Own financial strategy and operations for 20M+ users across 15+ regional languages with scope to go global soon. Build systems that enable disciplined growth and turn financial data into strategic advantage — not just close books.

What You Will Own (Non-Negotiable)

This role owns the financial health and strategic clarity of the business, not just accounting.

You Are The Final Authority On

• How company allocates resources (content budgets, marketing spend, expansion decisions)
• How company plans for the future (fundraising, runway, scenario modeling)
• What the real numbers are — and what they mean for decision-making
• How company leverages AI to automate, predict, and optimize financial operations
• How company communicates with investors — with clarity, confidence, and credibility
• The systemic rigor that turns financial data into strategic advantage

Your mandate spans FP&A + Accounting + Compliance + Treasury + Strategic Finance + Investor Relations + AI Adoption.

Key Responsibilities

Own All Fundraising Activities

• Financial Planning & Analysis (Strategic Finance Engine)
• Build company's Financial Command Center — the single source of truth on business performance, unit economics, and growth levers.
• Own monthly/quarterly financial reviews with sharp insights on:
  • Revenue trends by region, language, and content category
  • Subscriber cohorts, churn, LTV, and payback periods
  • Content ROI and acquisition efficiency
  • Cash burn and runway projections
• Present a monthly Finance Insights Deck to leadership with clear, articulate recommendations on resource allocation and strategic pivots.
• Influence Content, Marketing, Product, and Growth roadmaps with financial clarity and strategic foresight.
• Build predictive financial models using AI/ML tools for forecasting, anomaly detection, and scenario planning.
• Content Economics & Unit Economics Mastery (OTT-Specific Intelligence)
• Build and continuously refine the unit economics model:
  • Subscriber acquisition cost (CAC) by channel, region, and language
  • Lifetime value (LTV) by cohort, content genre, and user behavior
  • Content cost per hour watched and per subscriber
  • Revenue per user (ARPU) trends and payment method analysis
  • Churn drivers and retention economics
  • Master content economics:
    • Content amortization schedules for library valuation
    • Licensing vs. original content ROI trade-offs
    • Content asset valuation and depreciation
    • Regional content performance (Haryanvi vs. Gujarati economics)
    • Structure content deals from a finance lens:
      • Minimum guarantees, revenue shares, licensing windows
      • Creator contract economics and payout structures
      • Content investment cycles and working capital management
    • Identify margin leaks and partner with Growth, Product, Content, and CX teams to improve efficiency.
    • Use financial data to uncover hidden consumer pain points — subscription drop-offs, regional pricing mismatches, payment gateway issues.
  • 3. Fundraising & Investor Relations (Capital Strategy & Articulation) This is a senior-level, strategic mandate requiring exceptional articulation skills.
  • Build compelling pitch decks and financial models
  • Lead investor conversations with clarity, confidence, and strategic depth
  • Coordinate due diligence processes with legal, product, and operations teams
  • Manage data room preparation and investor queries

  Growth Fundraising Expertise Required

  • Series B/C dynamics: growth metrics scrutiny, path to profitability, valuation defense
  • Secondary transactions and cap table optimization
  • Investor syndicate management

  Own Investor Communication

  • Monthly investor updates with sharp insights and honest assessment
  • Quarterly board decks that tell the business story through numbers
  • Annual audited financials and investor reporting
  • Board relationship management and governance
  • Accounting, Compliance & Regulatory Rigor (Operational Foundation)

  Accounting Operations

  Own ALL finance verticals with zero gaps:

  • P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statements
  • Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) management
  • Month-end and year-end close processes
  • Fixed asset management and depreciation schedules
  • Revenue recognition under Ind AS 115 (subscription complexity, bundles, ads, B2B licensing)

  Compliance & Statutory

  • GST (registration, filing, reconciliation, audits across multiple states)
  • TDS (deduction, payment, returns — especially for content creators and licensing)
  • Income Tax (advance tax, returns, assessments)
  • ROC filings (annual returns, financials, director KYC)
  • Audit coordination (statutory, tax, internal)
  • FEMA compliance (for foreign investments and international content deals)
  • Digital Media regulations (Intermediary Guidelines compliance)
  • Audit Committee readiness and governance

  Treasury & Banking

  • Cash flow management and liquidity planning
  • Bank account management and signatories
  • Forex management for international content licensing
  • Vendor payment systems and approval hierarchies
  • Crisis/runway management under stress scenarios
  • Payment Infrastructure & Tier 2/3 Economics
  • Payment gateway economics and transaction costs
  • Carrier billing partnerships and economics
  • UPI, wallets, and regional payment behavior
  • Payment failure patterns and recovery
  • Regional pricing strategy and elasticity
  • AI Adoption & Finance Automation (Future-Ready Finance) This is a core requirement, not a nice-to-have.

  Lead AI Adoption Across The Finance Function

  • Implement AI-powered tools for expense categorization, invoice processing, and reconciliation
  • Build predictive analytics for cash flow, churn, and revenue forecasting
  • Automate financial reporting and dashboard generation
  • Use AI for fraud detection, vendor analysis, and spend optimization

  Evaluate and deploy finance tech stack (ERPs, FP&A tools, automation platforms).

  Train the finance team to work alongside AI systems — not resist them.

  Stay ahead of AI trends in finance and continuously improve automation maturity.

  • Strategic Thinking & Cross-Functional Leadership You are not just the Finance head — you are a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team. Translate complex financial concepts into clear, compelling narratives for board, investors, and teams. Influence company culture around financial discipline, data-driven decisions, and long-term thinking. Your strategic thinking must elevate every major business decision.
  • Team Building & Finance Culture (Leadership Excellence) Create a culture of curiosity, rigor, and continuous improvement within finance. Train non-finance teams to understand key financial metrics and think like owners. Foster an AI-first mindset where automation is embraced, not feared. You create the systems and culture that make the finance engine run predictably, intelligently, and with quality.

  Requirements

  Experience: 10–15+ years in Finance, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (Head of Finance, CFO, VP Finance, or equivalent).

  Proven Ownership Of

  • Financial planning & analysis (FP&A)
  • Accounting operations (AR, AP, GL, fixed assets)
  • Compliance & statutory (GST, TDS, Income Tax, ROC, FEMA)
  • Treasury & cash management
  • Fundraising & investor relations
  • Strategic finance & unit economics

  Must-have Experience

  • Growth Fundraising (Series B/C+) — Series C scrutiny is different — path to profitability, valuation defense, investor syndicate management
  • AI Adoption — Implemented automation tools or used AI/ML for forecasting/analytics
  • Content Deal Structuring — Experience structuring content licensing deals, MGs, revenue shares from finance POV
  • Compliance Mastery — Zero compliance delays or penalties in previous roles
  • Consumer Business — OTT, fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, food delivery, or mobility with deep understanding of unit economics
  • Payment Infrastructure — Understanding of Tier 2/3 payment behavior, gateway economics, carrier billing
  • Revenue Recognition (Ind AS 115) — Subscription revenue complexity — bundles, ads, B2B licensing
  • Strategic Thinking — Changed business strategy or resource allocation through financial insights
  • M&A / Strategic Partnerships — Evaluated acquisition targets or structured strategic deals
  • International Finance — Multi-currency, transfer pricing, international entity setup (preferred, given global expansion plans)
  • Crisis Management — Runway extension under stress, turnaround scenarios
  • Audit Committee Experience — Board-level governance and audit processes

  (preferred)

  Skills: financial planning & analysis (fp&a),accounting operations,compliance & statutory,treasury & cash management,undraising & investor relations,finance head