Accounting Expert - Audit Specialist

Obsidian; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cincinnatus LLC is hiring a senior accounting and audit domain expert to work with a leading AI lab's research and program management teams, improving how frontier AI models reason about real accounting and audit work. This is a full-time W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI lab as part of their extended workforce.

You will be provisioned with client-issued accounts and equipment, and will work inside the client's own tools alongside

Qualifications

• Active professional credential (CPA/CA/CIA/CFE/CMA) and degree in accounting or related field.
• At least 4 years of substantive accounting or audit experience at a recognized institution.
• Genuine specialization in at least one area (e.g., US GAAP/IFRS, SOX, tax, fraud examination).
• Senior-level progression with ownership of engagements or reporting cycles.
• Ability to work 40 hours per week for an initial 6-month engagement.

Responsibilities

• Data QA and reviews: Vet the quality of accounting and audit knowledge work tasks and model outputs.
• Write instruction specs and golden datasets for accounting and audit problems.
• Design benchmarks and domain depth with the research team.
• Calibration: maintain standards across client researchers and specialists.

Skills

AI fluency

Written communication

On-site collaboration

Education

Professional credential (CPA/CA/CIA/CFE/CMA)

Bachelor's/Master's in accounting

Job description

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge GenAI team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced AI models.

1. Overview

We are hiring a senior accounting and audit domain expert to work directly with a leading AI lab's research and program management teams, improving how frontier AI models reason about real accounting and audit work.

Your accounting expertise is the substance of this role. You will review the quality of accounting knowledge work tasks, write the instruction specs and golden solutions that define what "correct" looks like, and build the benchmarks that show whether the model is genuinely improving. We are looking for a practicing specialist rather than a generalist.

This is a full-time W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI lab as part of their extended workforce. You will be provisioned with client-issued accounts and equipment, and will work inside the client's own tools alongside their research teams.

Location: This is a hybrid role based in the Bay Area, California. You must live in the Bay Area and work on-site with the client's team multiple days each week, when required. This is not a remote role. If you do not currently live in the Bay Area, you must be willing to relocate there at your own cost before the engagement starts. Relocation assistance is not provided.

2. Key Responsibilities

• Data QA and reviews: Vet the quality of accounting and audit knowledge work tasks and model outputs, spotting missing behaviors, thin reasoning, misapplied standards, unsupported accounting treatments, and answers that read well but would not survive review by a reviewing partner.

• Instruction specs and golden datasets: Write high-quality instruction specs, produce golden solutions to accounting and audit problems, and define new tasks that reflect how the work is actually done in practice.

• Benchmarks and domain depth: Design challenging accounting and audit tasks and evaluation sets, and help build domain-specific skills and tools together with the research team.

• Calibration: Work with client researchers and specialists in adjacent fields to keep standards consistent, translating tacit accounting judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.

3. Core Qualifications

• Credentials: An active professional credential, for example CPA, CA, CIA, CFE, or CMA, alongside a bachelor's or master's degree in accounting or a closely related field.

• Experience: 4+ years of substantive accounting or audit experience at a recognized institution, for example a public accounting firm, a corporate controllership or finance function, an internal audit department, or a regulator. Bookkeeping-only roles do not count.

• Domain depth: Genuine specialization in at least one area, for example external audit and assurance, technical accounting and financial reporting under US GAAP or IFRS, internal audit and SOX controls, tax, forensic accounting and fraud examination, or revenue recognition.

• Seniority: Clear progression to a senior level, for example Audit Manager, Senior Manager, Accounting Manager, Controller, Director of Accounting, or Partner, with real ownership of engagements or reporting cycles.

• AI fluency: Hands-on working use of large language models in your professional work, and the judgment to tell a well-reasoned answer from a plausible-sounding wrong one.

• Availability: Able to commit reliably to 40 hours per week for an initial engagement of 6 months.

• Location: Living in the Bay Area, California, and able to work on-site with the client's team multiple days each week, when required. Candidates not currently based in the Bay Area must be willing to relocate there at their own cost. Relocation assistance is not provided.

• Excellent written communication, and the ability to give precise, well-structured written feedback.

About Cincinnatus LLC

Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.

Roles hired through Cincinnatus are not project-based or freelance engagements. They are structured, role-based positions that typically involve part-time or full-time commitments, close collaboration with a client's internal teams, and integration into standard enterprise workflows.

Cincinnatus is a legal entity separate from Mercor. While opportunities may be discovered through Mercor's platform, employment, onboarding, payroll, and benefits for these roles are administered by Cincinnatus LLC.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cincinnati is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Cincinnatus is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans throughout the job application process.