Strategic Finance Lead

Sail; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Sail is seeking a Strategic Finance Lead to build and own the operating P&L, linking GPU cluster economics to product pricing and financial results. This is our first dedicated finance hire in a high-growth environment.

You’ll partner with teams on board materials, budgeting, forecasting, and diligence, and own burn/runway tracking as the company scales. This role requires strong modeling depth and strategic judgment.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years in finance with real modeling depth.
• Fluency in building operating P&L and pro forma models.
• Experience in ambiguous, early-stage environments.
• Bonus: revenue recognition for usage-based models in GPU infra.

Responsibilities

• Build and own Sail’s operating P&L, connecting unit economics to pricing and performance.
• Partner across teams on board materials, financial modeling, and diligence support.
• Stand up Sail’s FP&A process: budgeting and forecasting for an early-stage company.
• Develop headcount and opex planning, owning burn rate and runway tracking.

Skills

Financial modeling

FP&A

Strategic finance

P&L ownership

Job description

Sail is the foundation of useful, agentic AI. We are here to take a big swing at the most ambitious engineering challenge of our careers. Everyone working at Sail will become an expert; nothing less will do in our immensely competitive market.

We’re hiring a Strategic Finance Lead as our first dedicated finance hire. This is a builder’s role — you’re not stepping into existing systems, you’re creating them.

What you’ll do

• Build and own Sail’s operating P&L — the single source of truth connecting GPU cluster unit economics (cost per GPU-hour, utilization, depreciation/useful life, power costs) and how it flows down to product pricing, unit economics, and actual financial performance
• Partner crossfunctionally on board materials: financial modeling, data room preparation, and diligence support
• Stand up Sail’s first real FP&A process: budgeting and forecasting, sized appropriately for an early‑stage company rather than over‑built for one
• Develop the headcount and opex planning model as the team grows, and own burn rate and runway tracking

What we’re looking for

• 5‑8+ years in finance roles with real modeling depth — investment banking, growth equity/private equity, corporate development, or strategic finance/FP&A at a high‑growth company. Infrastructure or capital‑intensive business experience (data centers, energy, equipment leasing, or similar) is a strong plus
• Genuine fluency in building financial models from scratch — not just maintaining someone else’s template. You should be comfortable building an operating P&L and pro forma model without a lot of hand‑holding
• Comfort with ambiguity and a preference for building the right‑sized process rather than the most sophisticated one. We’re early — judgment about what to build now vs. later matters as much as technical skill
• Bonus: prior exposure to revenue recognition for usage‑based/consumption billing, or experience inside a GPU cloud, data center, or other infrastructure‑as‑a‑service business