Strategic Finance & Operations

Salient; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Generous 401(k)

Catered lunches

Job summary

Salient builds AI agents for regulated financial services, automating loan servicing, compliance, collections, recovery, insurance claims, and disputes for banks, captives, and specialty lenders.

You will report to the Head of Business and own monthly close, invoicing, accounts payable, and budgeting, while building scalable internal processes as we grow in San Francisco.

Qualifications

• 2–6 years of strategic finance or startup finance experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business or Economics.
• Comfortable owning both strategic projects and recurring finance operations.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Proficient with spreadsheets and financial reporting; meets deadlines.
• High ownership, proactive, organized, and adaptable.

Responsibilities

• Support monthly close, reporting, reconciliations, and financial analysis.
• Manage invoicing, accounts payable, vendor payments, and reimbursements.
• Maintain records in QuickBooks and Ramp.
• Track company spend and budgeting; identify savings opportunities.
• Manage vendor contracts, renewals, and procurement.
• Coordinate business insurance, audits, and compliance items.
• Build and improve finance processes using AI and automation.
• Partner across teams to keep financial workflows moving.

Skills

Strategic finance

Financial reporting

Accounts payable

Budgeting

Analytical

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance

Tools

QuickBooks

Ramp

Job description

About Us

Salient builds AI agents for regulated financial services. Our agents automate loan servicing, compliance, collections, recovery, insurance claims, and disputes for banks, captives, and specialty lenders.

We are:

• Backed by a16z and Y Combinator, with $75M raised in Series A funding

• Cash flow positive and profitable, with mid eight figure ARR achieved in under two years

• Already serving more than 20% of the auto lending industry

• Processing millions of real customer calls and transactions every day

• Fully deployed in production with major financial institutions

• Actively expanding into new financial services segments

• Building together in person in San Francisco

We are deeply integrated with our customers, own the full technology stack, and move quickly to bring modern AI into regulated industries where precision, reliability, and performance matter.

We are hiring someone for Strategic Finance & Operations to help manage Salient’s day-to-day financial operations and build scalable internal processes as we grow.

You will report to the Head of Business across monthly reporting, invoicing, vendor payments, accounting, cost control, business insurance, and internal operations. This is a strong fit for someone who is analytical, detail-oriented, and excited to take ownership in a fast-moving startup.

What you’ll do

• Support monthly close, reporting, reconciliations, and financial analysis

• Manage invoicing, accounts receivable, vendor payments, and reimbursements

• Maintain accurate records in QuickBooks and manage day-to-day activity in Ramp

• Track company spend, identify savings opportunities, and support budgeting

• Manage vendor contracts, renewals, subscriptions, and procurement

• Coordinate business insurance, audits, compliance items, and documentation

• Build and improve finance and operations processes using AI and automation

• Partner across teams to keep financial and operational workflows moving

What we’re looking for

• 2 - 6 years of experience in strategic finance, investment banking, private equity, management consulting, finance operations, or a high-growth startup.

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or a related field

• Comfortable owning both strategic projects and recurring finance operations, including monthly reporting, invoicing, vendor payments, and reconciliations

• Strong analytical skills and excellent attention to detail

• Comfortable with spreadsheets, financial reporting, and managing recurring deadlines

• Proactive, organized, and able to create structure in ambiguous situations

• High ownership, low ego, and willingness to jump into whatever needs to get done

• Excited to work in person in a fast-paced startup environment

• Experience with QuickBooks, Ramp, invoicing, accounts payable, budgeting, procurement, or startup finance is a plus

At Salient, we’re building at the edge of AI - fast, focused, and with real ownership. Sprints and major launches move quickly, and we look for people who are energized by that pace. Our team typically works around 60 hours per week, beginning at 8:00 AM, with four days spent collaborating in person at our San Francisco office.

We also offer a benefits package designed to support our full-time employees:

• medical, dental, and vision coverage

• generous 401(k)

• catered lunches