Senior Accountant

Protego Bio; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentive stock options

401k with employer contribution

Medical, dental, vision insurance

HSA/FSA plans

Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Job summary

Protego Biopharma in San Diego seeks a detail-oriented Senior Accountant to support core accounting activities, including accruals, journal entries, and reconciliations. You will partner with Clinical Operations, Legal, and other stakeholders to ensure timely financial reporting under GAAP.

The ideal candidate supplies strong interpersonal and organizational skills and thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced biotech environment. This role reports to the Sr.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related field required, with 3 years of general accounting experience or equivalent.
• Biotech industry experience strongly preferred.
• CPA licensed or actively pursuing, Big 4 audit experience preferred.
• Experience with QuickBooks and MS Excel at an intermediate/advanced level.

Responsibilities

• Execute month, quarter, and year-end close activities with journal entries and reconciliations.
• Own end-to-end clinical trial accrual process design and calculations.
• Develop accrual methodologies to support audit readiness.
• Collaborate with Clinical Operations and contract owners on month-end cutoffs.
• Review contracts for completeness with contract owners.
• Assist with purchase order creation and budget alignment.
• Prepare schedules and docs for quarterly and annual financial reviews and audits.
• Support payroll processes and identify process improvements.

Skills

Attention to detail

Analytical skills

Excel skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related field

CPA Licensed or actively pursuing

Tools

QuickBooks

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Protego Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in San Diego, California, focused on developing first-in-class small-molecule therapeutics that target protein misfolding diseases. By restoring protein stability and function through novel pharmacological chaperones, Protego aims to transform the treatment of rare and systemic diseases with significant unmet medical need.

Protego's lead program is being developed for AL amyloidosis and builds upon the clinically validated pharmacological chaperone approach pioneered by our cofounders, Dr. Jeffery W. Kelly and Dr. Richard Labaudinière, whose work led to the discovery and development of tafamidis for transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR).

About the job

Protego Biopharma is seeking a detail-oriented Senior Accountant to support core accounting activities across the organization, including support of clinical and research programs. This role prepares monthly accruals, journal entries, and balance sheet reconciliations, while partnering cross-functional with teams such as Clinical Operations, Legal, and other internal stakeholders to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting. This position will report to the Sr. Manager, Accounting and is responsible for performing a range of accounting activities in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and organization-wide policies and procedures.

The ideal candidate will be a team-player who is detail-orientated, self-motivated, and possesses strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills.

Essential Functions And Responsibilities

• Execute month, quarter, and year-end close activities, including journal entries, reconciliations, and supporting schedules for equity, payroll, bonus, and benefit accounts.
• Own preparation of the end-to-end clinical trial accrual process, including methodology design, quarterly accrual calculations, true-ups, and variance analysis.
• Develop and document accrual methodologies and assumptions, to support audit readiness.
• Partner with Clinical Operations and contract owners to evaluate services rendered and ensure accurate month-end and quarter-end cutoff.
• Assess completeness of contracts considered within accounting on a quarterly basis via confirmations from contract owners.
• Assist with purchase order creation, tracking, and monitoring to ensure alignment with approved budgets and contractual terms
• Prepare detailed schedules and supporting documentation for quarterly and annual financial reviews and audits.
• Assist with the payroll process.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and automation, particularly related to clinical accruals, investigator tracking, and reporting.
• Complete special projects as required and assigned.
• Maintain the integrity of financial systems.
• Ensure accuracy and compliance with US GAAP and company policies and procedures.

Required Skills And Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related field with 3 years of general accounting experience. Equivalent combination of relevant education and applicable job experience may be considered.
• Biotech industry experience strongly preferred.
• CPA Licensed or actively pursuing
• Preference for Big 4 audit experience.
• Experience with QuickBooks preferred.
• Skilled in the use of Microsoft Office Suite with intermediate to advanced Excel skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to perform functions with high level of accuracy with minimum supervision.
• Thorough analytical skills.

Salary Range: $120,000 - $140,000

In addition to a competitive base salary, we offer stock options and a target bonus. Protego also provides a comprehensive benefits package for our employees and their families, which includes medical, dental, vision, and supplemental long-term disability insurance. Please note that the base salary range is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, internal equity and work location.

Job Type: Full-time

• Incentive stock option plan
• 401k plan with employer contribution
• Dental and vision insurance
• HSA, FSA, and supplemental insurance plans
• Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays

Schedule

• Monday to Friday

Work Authorization

• United States (Required)

Work Location

• San Diego office

Equal Opportunity Employer

Protego Biopharma, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment and discrimination based upon a protected category, as well as an environment free from retaliation for protected activity.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.