Director of Finance

Swarm Aero

Oxnard (CA)

On-site

USD 150,000 - 230,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Equity in a high-growth company

Competitive base salary

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

PTO and paid sick leave

Monthly wellness stipend

Daily catered lunch (office)

Paid parental leave

Direct impact on national security

Collaborative, world-class team

Job summary

Swarm Aero seeks a senior finance professional to lead FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, and investor reporting. You will build and live-reflect the financial model, manage accounting controls, and partner with operations, engineering, and supply chain on strategic decisions.

This role requires experience scaling finance at growth hardware startups and a strong storytelling ability with numbers. The ideal candidate will own board materials, drive KPI dashboards, and collaborate with executive

Qualifications

5+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, or corporate finance at a venture-backed startup
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field
Experience scaling finance operations at a Series B, C, or D company
Demonstrated ability to build complex financial models from scratch
Familiarity with core financial operations: AP process, expense policy, vendor management, and financial controls
Strong communication skills: able to distill financial complexity into clear, actionable narratives

Responsibilities

Lead financial planning and analysis: budgets, forecasts, scenario models, and long-range plans
Prepare board and investor reporting, including monthly management packages and quarterly updates for investors and board members
Support fundraising activities, including financial model preparation, investor diligence support, and board materials
Build and maintain the financial model as a living tool that reflects the business in real time
Own and evolve core financial operations: AP process, credit card and expense policies, vendor payment cadence, and financial controls
Partner with operations, engineering, and supply chain as a trusted financial advisor on key business decisions
Drive variance analysis and business reviews that connect financial results to operational drivers
Establish KPIs and dashboards that give leadership visibility into the metrics that matter
Collaborate closely with the Accounting Lead on the close process to ensure financials are accurate, timely, and decision-ready

Skills

Financial planning

Strategic finance

Corporate finance

Financial modeling

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics

Tools

Excel

SQL

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

The Role

There's a version of a finance career where the playbook is already written, the policies are set, and the job is to run the process. It's comfortable. Well-defined. And for the right person at the right time, exactly what they need.

This isn't that role.

We're looking for someone who has lived inside a scaling startup and arrived with a playbook in hand. You know what good looks like on AP process, company credit card policy, expense controls, and financial reporting because you've built or inherited those systems somewhere between Series B and D. You didn't just execute someone else's framework, you understood it well enough to adapt it when things changed.

On top of that foundation, you have real exposure to manufacturing or a major hardware program. You've thought about inventory finance, cost structures, and what it means to track the money through a physical product. That context matters here. We're building hardware at scale, and the finance function needs to keep up.

What You’ll Do

Lead financial planning and analysis: budgets, forecasts, scenario models, and long-range plans
Prepare board and investor reporting, including monthly management packages and quarterly updates for investors and board members
Support fundraising activities, including financial model preparation, investor diligence support, and board materials
Build and maintain the financial model as a living tool that reflects the business in real time
Own and evolve core financial operations: AP process, credit card and expense policies, vendor payment cadence, and financial controls
Partner with operations, engineering, and supply chain as a trusted financial advisor on key business decisions
Drive variance analysis and business reviews that connect financial results to operational drivers
Establish KPIs and dashboards that give leadership visibility into the metrics that matter
Collaborate closely with the Accounting Lead on the close process to ensure financials are accurate, timely, and decision-ready

What We’re Looking For

Required

5+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, or corporate finance at a venture-backed startup
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field
Experience scaling finance operations at a Series B, C, or D company
Demonstrated ability to build complex financial models from scratch
Familiarity with core financial operations: AP process, expense policy, vendor management, and financial controls
Strong communication skills: able to distill financial complexity into clear, actionable narratives

Strongly Preferred

Exposure to manufacturing, hardware programs, or inventory-intensive businesses
Familiarity with manufacturing cost structures, including inventory, WIP, and COGS
Experience preparing materials for senior leadership, boards, or investors
Aerospace or defense industry background
Experience partnering with or reporting to a CEO or CFO directly

Nice to Have

Prior exposure to fundraising processes or investor relations
MBA or CFA
SQL or data analytics skills
Prior experience building a finance function from scratch

Who You Are

Carries a Playbook: You've seen enough scaling companies to know what good looks like and can adapt it to a new context without starting from zero
Business-Minded: You understand finance as a tool for better decisions, not just a reporting function
A Storyteller with Numbers: You can build a model and explain what it means to someone who doesn't live in spreadsheets
Collaborative: You build trust with operators, not just finance peers
Self-Directed: You identify what needs to be built and build it without being asked

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer