Finance Lead

Foresight Works Ltd; New York (NY); On-site; USD 185,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Foresight seeks a Finance Lead to build the in-house finance function from the ground up, owning budgeting, forecasting, accounting and controls, and the systems that support all of it. You’ll be the first senior finance hire, replacing fractional support with a real in-house function you own, partnering with the founders to give the board clear, reliable financial visibility.

You’ll lead budgeting end-to-end, track key metrics (ARR, NRR, CAC, burn, runway), and drive decisions from trends.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in finance with depth in FP&A for enterprise SaaS.
• Experience as the senior finance hire at an early- or growth-stage company.
• Experience with international businesses and cross-border transactions.
• Strong command of SaaS metrics and unit economics.
• Builder mindset with ability to create processes from scratch in ambiguity.
• Experience selecting and implementing finance systems (ERP, billing, FP&A tools).
• Comfortable engaging senior stakeholders to define requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own budgeting and forecasting end-to-end for annual and quarterly planning.
• Own metrics (ARR, NRR, CAC, burn, runway) and drive decisions from trends.
• Collaborate with Sales, Delivery, Product to evaluate ROI and unit economics.
• Own monthly close, cash management, and runway tracking; manage vendor relationships.
• Establish and enhance financial controls and policies.
• Stand up a scalable finance stack (ERP, billing, FP&A tooling) and implement.
• Define finance operating rhythm and hire/mentor a small team.
• Provide executive and board with clear financial tracking and visibility.

Skills

SaaS metrics

Financial modeling

Cross-border experience

Stakeholder management

Builder mindset

ERP/Accounting software

FP&A tooling

Tools

ERP/Accounting software

Billing systems

FP&A tooling

Job description

About Foresight

Foresight helps leaders running infrastructure capital programmes move from reactive project delivery to proactive control of risk and outcomes.

We’re building AI-driven software that continuously analyses complex schedules and surfaces the signals teams need to make better, faster decisions. Construction is one of the least digitised industries in the world. We’re building tools that don’t meaningfully exist today, solving problems few teams have attempted at this scale.

Our mission: give every team the clarity and confidence to deliver projects on time, every time. Because in high-stakes construction, the real risk isn’t complexity - it’s being too late to act.

We recently raised a $25M Series A led by Macquarie Capital Venture Capital, with participation from Creandum (who led our Seed), isai Build, i2bf Global Ventures, and Somersault Ventures. Revenue has tripled every year since 2023, and we’re scaling from 40 to 80 people over the next 12 months.

The Role

As Finance Lead, you’ll build Foresight’s in-house finance function from the ground up - budgeting, forecasting, accounting and controls, and the systems that support all of it. You’ll be our first senior finance hire, replacing fractional support (a fractional CFO, fractional FP&A, and an outside accounting firm) with a real in-house function you own. You’ll partner directly with our co-founders and Chief of Staff to give the business - and our board - clear, reliable financial visibility for the first time.

What You’ll Do

• Own Foresight’s budget and forecast end-to-end, running the annual and quarterly planning cadence.
• Own the metrics that matter - ARR, net revenue retention, CAC, burn, and runway - and drive real decisions off the trends, not just report them.
• Partner with Sales, Delivery, and Product to evaluate unit economics and the ROI of major spend.
• Own the monthly close, cash management, and runway tracking, managing vendor relationships and bringing work in-house over time.
• Establish and continuously enhance the financial controls and policies a scaling company needs.
• Stand up a scalable finance stack - ERP/accounting, billing, FP&A, expense, and revenue recognition tooling - chosen and implemented by you.
• Define Foresight’s finance operating rhythm from scratch, then hire and mentor a small team as the business scales.
• Give the executive team and the board clear, comprehensive financial tracking and visibility into runway and unit economics.

Goals for the Role

(illustrative, not exhaustive)

• Established budgeting and planning process with a regular review cadence
• Clear, comprehensive financial tracking for the executive team
• A reliable, faster monthly close
• A defined finance tech stack implemented and adopted
• Clear visibility into runway and unit economics

Professional Qualifications

• 8+ years in finance with real depth in FP&A and enterprise SaaS business models.
• Experience as the senior finance hire at an early- or growth-stage company - you’ve built this function before, not just worked within one.
• Experience with international businesses and cross-border transactions, and comfort operating across globally distributed, cross-cultural teams.
• Strong command of SaaS metrics and unit economics, with the ability to translate them for non-finance leaders.
• A builder’s mindset - comfortable creating process, models, and systems from scratch in real ambiguity, and happy to be hands‑on.
• Direct experience selecting and implementing finance systems (accounting/ERP, billing, FP&A tooling).
• Comfortable driving discovery with senior stakeholders without a clear brief.
• FP&A background with consulting pedigree (e.g. Deloitte) is a plus, not a requirement.

Personal Characteristics

• High-energy leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and embraces high ownership.
• Direct and transparent communicator, comfortable giving and receiving feedback to drive rapid improvement.
• Entrepreneurial thinker with an "earned trust" mindset - delivers results autonomously across global time zones.
• Adaptable operator, comfortable with ambiguity, makes decisions in a fact-based manner.
• Intellectually agile - stays ahead of the organization’s needs and is willing to challenge assumptions.

Explicitly Not Looking For

• Someone whose focus is investor relations or a traditional CFO-only remit.
• Candidates whose entire background is large companies with a narrow functional focus.
• Real ownership from day one. This isn’t a layer-3-in-a-big-org role. You see a problem, you own it. Your decisions will play out in weeks, not years, and materialize in steel and concrete.
• Work directly with the founders. Close access to experienced, mission-driven leadership who are leading academic voices on why mega-projects fail, and have real‑world scars to match.
• The momentum is real. Revenue has tripled every year since 2023. We’re becoming the category leader, with the gap widening every quarter. This is already happening, not a future bet.
• Backed to build properly. A $25M Series A gives us the runway to do this right. We’re only just getting started.
• A blank slate to build on. You’re not stepping into a legacy finance function with entrenched process - you’re building Foresight’s finance function, systems, and team from scratch, with direct input from the board on what "good" looks like.
• Total compensation range: $185,000-$250,000+, based on experience and fit against the requirements above, and equity in a fast-growing, well‑funded startup.

Foresight is an equal opportunity employer. We believe diverse teams build better software.