Finance Associate

Startup Atlas; Rotterdam; On-site; EUR 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Zeno, an AI-driven legal tech startup, is hiring a Finance Associate in Rotterdam to own daily financial operations and reporting.

You will build the financial foundation for international growth, collaborate with the CFO and external accountants, and drive accurate month-end and year-end closes.

This role requires 5+ years in finance, fluency in Dutch and English, and a proactive mindset in a fast-moving environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant finance experience with ownership of operations.
• SaaS finance, reporting and tax submissions experience a plus.
• Fluent in Dutch and English.
• Proficient with spreadsheets; Excel skills required.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day accounting, tax and financial reporting operations.
• Oversee sales invoicing and core transactional processes (AP, payroll, expenses).
• Lead close processes for month- and year-end; prep monthly management accounts.
• Manage year-end audit with internal/external stakeholders and firm.
• Identify opportunities to build/optimize new finance processes and systems.
• Support the board and leadership on financial matters.
• Stay current on accounting standards and SaaS best practices.

Skills

Finance operations

Accounting

Month-end close

Dutch & English

SaaS experience

Spreadsheet skills

Communication

Tools

Exact Online

Job description

The intelligence engine for legal work, providing AI-powered legal research, contract review, risk assessment, and drafting tools for in-house legal teams.

As the Finance Associate at Zeno, you will own daily financial operations, reporting, accounting, and tax processes in a fast-growing AI startup focused on legal tech. This roll-up-your-sleeves role involves building finance systems from the ground up to support international growth, working closely with the CFO and teams in Rotterdam.

Job Description

Finance Associate

We usually respond within a week

At Zeno we are building a world-class team to redefine knowledge work with AI

We’re redefining how lawyers research, review, and draft documents. With real legal reasoning, not just text prediction. Where most tools automate surface-level tasks, we’re focused on replicating the way lawyers actually think through legal problems.

You’re joining an early-stage startup that is already working with leading firms. Backed with €3M in seed funding, we’re scaling a team of thinkers who want to solve real problems, drive innovation, and create lasting change in the legal sector.

The role

As the Finance Associate you will be the first real owner of our financial operations. You will create the financial fundament that Zeno will need when growing. You'll take ownership of day-to-day finances, reporting, accounting and tax operations. You make sure the company, the teams and board receive timely and accurate financial insights. You will also make sure we are building a best-in-class finance setup that supports the international growth ambition of the company. That means that you:

• Own daily financial operations
• Bring structure and rhythm to reporting
• Provide insights from our financial data
• Further build out finance processes and systems

This is a roll-up-your-sleeves role in a very fast growing AI company. There is a ample room to propose new- and improve current processes, introduce structure, and increase automation over time. You’ll work closely with the CFO, external accounting firm and teams across the company.

Your responsibilities will include

• Manage day-to-day accounting, tax and financial reporting operations.
• Manage the sales invoicing process end-to-end and core transactional processes such as AP, payroll and expenses
• Own the close processes for month-end and year-end, including the preparation of monthly management accounts and board reporting
• Own the year end financial audit process, managing internal and external stakeholders, our external accounting firm towards the preparation of our year-end accounts and tax filings
• Identify and lead opportunities for setting up new processes or systems with the goal of building a best-in-class and future-proof finance process from the ground up.
• Support the board, leadership and rest of our team with related financial matters
• Stay up to date on the latest accounting standards and best practices for SaaS scale-ups

Who you are

We are looking for an exceptional candidate, someone who is ambitious and highly motivated by the opportunity of this fast moving, high impact venture. You will have worked in high-performing finance teams before and will know what good looks like. Experience in SaaS is not required, but is beneficial.

You have or you are:

• +5 years of relevant work experience in a financial role, either (junior) accountant, controller, finance manager, etc. Some level of experience with SaaS is a plus
• Experience with owning finance operations, reporting, accounting, month/year-end closings, and tax submissions
• An operational mindset with the ability to strategise and clearly communicate your ideas. Mindset is more important than years of experience
• Analytical skills and you take responsibility for your numbers. You are comfortable in spreadsheets and are able to work with accounting platforms such as Exact Online (or are willing to learn)
• You are professionally fluent in Dutch and English
• Enjoy working as part of a small team where you can learn about all aspects of the business
• You enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and get excited by it

The ride from startup to scale-up
Things will break, priorities will shift, and there won’t always be a playbook. You’ll wear multiple hats, ship fast, and learn faster. Some weeks will feel chaotic, some problems will feel bigger than your role. That’s the nature of the ride from startup to scale-up: if you need stability and structure, this won’t fit. But if you thrive on ownership, speed, and building from zero, you’ll love it here.

• Be part of a product-driven team reinventing how legal professionals work.
• Join early and shape the foundation of a fast-growing, high-impact startup.
• Work in a place where hierarchy doesn’t matter — only the best ideas do.
• Collaborate with a top-tier team of engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs.
• Competitive compensation, employee benefits and strong upside as we grow.
• An inspiring place to work in the heart of Rotterdam.

Shape the future of legal work with us.

Department

Finance

Locations

About Zeno

At Zeno, we’re building tools that support the way legal professionals do their work. If you care about clarity, craft, and moving fast without breaking what matters, you’ll be in the right place.