VP/SVP, Finance

People AI; United States; Remote; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Backstory, a leading AI answers platform for sales teams, seeks a VP/SVP of Finance to lead FP&A, accounting, and cash management. Reporting to the CEO, you will guide the finance organization, shape the financial strategy, and support board and investor reporting.

This hands-on role requires deep involvement in forecasting, close processes, and ensuring audit readiness as the company grows and pursues subsequent funding rounds.

Responsibilities

• Financial planning and analysis: Own the annual budget, scenario modeling, and rolling forecasts for revenue, headcount, opex, and cash, tied to how each part of the business plans and operates.
• Deliver monthly and quarterly reporting with plan-to-actuals, and partner with operating leaders to highlight drivers behind results.
• Partner with Sales, Customer, Marketing, and Product on investment trade-offs as we move from a cash-flow-neutral business to growing cash flow.
• Provide leadership and the board with guidance on our financial trajectory in out quarters.

Job description

VP/SVP Finance - Job Description

Job description: VP/SVP of Finance

About Backstory

Backstory (formerly People.ai) is the leading AI answers platform for sales teams. With more than a decade of training AI models on billions of sales interactions, Backstory enables modern sales teams to ask questions and get the right answer in the moment directly within their existing AI workflows. Sales leaders from companies like OpenAI, IBM, Red Hat, Verizon, Palo Alto Networks, Iron Mountain, TransUnion, Randstad and others rely on Backstory to get trusted answers wrapped in real business context helping them orchestrate deals more effectively and drive revenue.

By connecting every signal to the right accounts and opportunities, Backstory shows teams exactly what is happening and what to do next. Customers across industries including enterprise, cybersecurity, data and analytics, and defense use Backstory to drive trillions in pipeline and revenue.

Recognized by Gartner and Forrester, the Inc. 5000, Y Combinator Top Companies, and the Forbes AI 50, Backstory is based in San Francisco and backed by ICONIQ Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Akkadian Ventures and Mubadala Capital.

The role

We're hiring an VP/SVP of Finance to lead Finance end to end for an enterprise B2B software business: FP&A, accounting, and cash. Reporting to the CEO, you'll lead a lean team, shape the company's financial strategy, represent Finance on the exec team, and support board and investor reporting.

It's a hands-on role: you'll get into the model, the close, or the analysis when it matters.

The mandate is focused: help take the business to its next major growth milestone, making the right financial and operational choices along the way, alongside a top-tier group of venture investors.

What success looks like in your first year

The company is delivering on its ARR growth plan, with Finance's planning and investment decisions a visible part of how it gets there.

The CEO, exec team, and investors rely on a predictable forecast across subscription and usage revenue, built on clear ARR and metric definitions.

The Finance team is set up for the next stage of growth, with a fast, reliable monthly close.

The company is audit-ready and well prepared for future financing.

Key responsibilities

• Financial planning and analysis
  Own the annual budget, scenario modeling, and rolling forecasts for revenue, headcount, opex, and cash, tied directly to how each part of the business plans and operates.
  Deliver monthly and quarterly reporting with plan-to-actuals, and partner with each operating leader to highlight and understand the drivers behind their results.
  Partner with Sales, Customer, Marketing, and Product leaders on investment trade-offs as we move from a cash-flow-neutral business to growing cash flow.
  Provide leadership and the board with guidance on our financial trajectory in out quarters.
• Strategy and capital
  Serve as the CEO's and executive team's trusted financial advisor on strategic decisions.
  Prepare board materials and investor reporting with the CEO, and serve as the primary contact for routine investor reporting and information requests.
  Prepare the company for its next funding event.
  Keep the company audit-ready: audited financials, clean metric definitions, and an organized data room.
• Pricing and unit economics
  Partner with Product on pricing and packaging, modeling the revenue, margin, and customer impact of each SKU.
  Build predictable forecasting across our subscription base and its usage-based element.
  Set revenue recognition policy for commits, prepaid credits, overages, and unused commitments, including allocating contract value between subscription and usage components.
  Keep clear definitions for the metrics we report: ARR (recurring vs. variable), committed vs. consumed revenue, net dollar retention, and RPO.
  Model and govern gross margin, including inference, cloud, and model-vendor costs.
• Deal economics
  Assist deal desk for enterprise contracts: non-standard terms, discount governance, and contract review.
  Design sales compensation with Sales and People, including how subscription, commits, and usage are credited, and its accounting treatment.
  Oversee billing and collections for hybrid contracts.
• Accounting and controllership
  Ensure a timely, accurate monthly close and GAAP-compliant financials.
  Own and improve internal controls, policies, and procedures as we scale.
  Oversee AP, AR, payroll, revenue recognition (ASC 606, including variable consideration), and the general ledger.
  Manage external auditors and tax advisors, and ensure compliance with tax filings, sales tax nexus, and other regulatory requirements.
• Cash and treasury
  Own cash flow forecasting, liquidity management, banking relationships, and treasury operations.
  Monitor burn and runway, and flag risks or opportunities early.
  Manage working capital across billing, collections, and vendor terms.

Team an