Head of Finance

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers; Auckland; On-site; NZD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Emerge is seeking a Head of Finance to lead the finance function end to end as part of the leadership team. You will shape financial strategy, drive reporting, forecasting and capital efficiency, and partner with the Board on strategic decisions.

This role requires CA/CFA or equivalent, strong GAAP experience, and a track record in fintech or payments. You will implement scalable systems, manage payroll and audits, and mentor a growing finance team in New Zealand.

Qualifications

• CA, CFA or equivalent professional qualification.
• Proven experience in GAAP reporting, financial controls and bank audit.
• Significant finance experience in fintech, payments, SaaS or banking.
• Strong modelling, forecasting, reporting and unit economics skills.
• Experience with senior stakeholders, Boards, auditors or regulators.
• Ability to build robust financial systems and automate processes.
• Strategic thinker who can work close to the detail.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial strategy, budgeting, forecasting and analysis.
• Present performance and SaaS metrics to the Board.
• Improve capital efficiency and runway management.
• Translate data into actionable executive insights.
• Oversee payroll, treasury, month-end close and audits.
• Evolve systems and automation for scale.

Skills

Financial modelling

Forecasting

GAAP reporting

Stakeholder management

Automation

Payroll

Education

CA/CFA or equivalent

Job description

Be part of a fintech rethinking banking and payments

Board-facing role with real influence over strategy, product decisions and growth

Modern, automation-led finance function with space to shape what comes next

About Emerge

Emerge is an ambitious New Zealand fintech scale-up rethinking banking and payments for SMEs and individuals. Emerge is tackling the areas where traditional banks often fall short, especially for small-med businesses. They more than an SME banking alternative. It is building a broader financial technology platform across banking, payments, investment products and customer infrastructure, serving individuals, businesses and an increasing range of specialist segments in New Zealand. This includes personal and investment accounts, SquareOne, and growth areas such as charities and incorporated societies.

Now, with international licensing opportunities emerging for its technology infrastructure, Emerge is entering a new stage of complexity and scale. For a finance leader, this means much more than managing an SME-focused finance function. It means helping shape the commercial, financial and governance foundations for a multi-product, multi-segment fintech with global potential.

This is a business with momentum, complexity and genuine ambition. With strong commercial traction and product validation beyond New Zealand, Emerge is at an exciting inflection point where finance will play a critical role in enabling scale, strengthening governance and supporting confident decision-making.

About the role

Reporting to the Board and working as a pivotal member of the leadership team, the Head of Finance will lead the finance function end to end. You will bring the financial infrastructure, strategic insight and operational discipline required to help Emerge scale well.

This is a broad, influential and hands-on role within a scaling fintech operating in the payments and banking ecosystem. You will lead financial strategy, improve reporting and forecasting, represent financial performance to the Board, and continue evolving the systems and automations that support an efficient, future-fit finance function.

You will:

Lead financial strategy alongside the leadership team, owning models, budgets, forecasts and analysis that guide strategic and operational decisions.

Present financial performance, SaaS metrics and business health to the Board with clarity and confidence.

Drive capital efficiency through scenario planning, runway management and product and feature optimisation.

Translate financial, operational and customer data into clear, actionable insight for executives and directors.

Lead core finance operations including payroll, treasury, month-end close, audit requirements and compliance deadlines.

Continue evolving the automation, systems and technology that enhance the finance function.

Support future finance team design and advise on key strategic hires as the business grows.

You will bring:

CA, CFA or equivalent professional qualification.

Proven experience in GAAP reporting, financial controls and bank audit processes.

Significant finance experience in fintech, payments, SaaS, banking, financial services, or technology. (Candidates with a mix of start-up/scale-up and larger business or banking experience will be ideal).

Strong commercial finance capability across modelling, forecasting, reporting, unit economics, scenario planning and capital efficiency.

Experience working with senior stakeholders, Boards, auditors, regulators or external partners.

Confidence improving financial systems, reporting processes and automation.

Ability to operate strategically while staying close enough to the detail to build strong foundations.

About you

You are commercially sharp, curious and confident working in ambiguity. You enjoy building, improving and influencing, and you are energised by the chance to shape a modern finance function inside a scaling business. You can handle scale-up ambiguity and pace, while also bringing the discipline, controls and maturity developed in bigger business or banking environments. You bring high EQ, clear communication and the resilience to work with complexity and evolving priorities.

You will suit this opportunity if you are proactive, technology-minded and comfortable moving between Board-level conversations and hands-on operational execution. You know how to turn data into insight, insight into action, and action into measurable business impact.

Applicants must have existing NZ work rights to apply.