Finance Manager - Corporate  Accounting

We're building the future of AI for analysts and scientists, based on a fundamentally new approach to reasoning and knowledge representation. Our team of 40 exceptional researchers and engineers - distributed across 16 countries - are tackling some of the hardest problems in AI. We're in our R&D phase, founder-backed, and scaling rapidly toward commercialization.

We're hiring a Finance Manager - Corporate & Accounting to elevate our financial operations as we transition from R&D to commercialization. You'll own all accounting, compliance, and corporate governance for our Swiss entity, ensuring we have audit-ready books, timely regulatory filings, and the financial foundation to support our ambitious growth. This is a hands-on role where you'll work closely with external providers (bookkeeper, tax advisors, auditors, legal counsel) while building scalable processes. You'll be a key partner to our founders and work alongside two other finance team members (FP&A Manager and Workforce Finance Manager).

Location: Remote (working hours are 09:00-18:00 CET)

Reports to: CEO / Co-Founder

Team: Finance (3 people total)

🔑 What You'll Own

Accounting & Financial Reporting

• Execute month-end processes, including posting accounting adjustments - ensuring high precision and accuracy

• Prepare monthly management accounts and financial statements (Schweizerisches Obligationenrecht)

• Oversee day-to-day bookkeeping through our external provider and automation stack (Xero, Dext, Revolut)

• Maintain chart of accounts and ensure accurate cost allocation across departments/countries

• Oversee bank reconciliations and manage cash positions

• Ensure proper accounting treatment for multi-country payroll (Deel integration)

Tax & Regulatory Compliance

• Coordinate Swiss corporate tax filings (annual and quarterly) with external tax advisors

• Manage VAT compliance and declarations

• Monitor taxable presence (PE risk) in all jurisdictions, including Sales Tax/VAT and CT obligations

• Oversee Foreign Employer setup compliance (Germany, UK)

• Stay current on tax and regulatory changes

Audit & Controls

• Lead the annual limited financial audit and prepare for a transition to full financial audits (Swiss OR/ GAAP)

• Build and maintain audit-ready processes and documentation

• Ensure strict adherence to applicable accounting standards (Swiss OR/GAAP)

• Design, implement and monitor robust internal controls

• Lead the development of the company risk register, including identifying and mitigating cross-functional risks

• Support future SOC2 certification (own finance-related controls)

Corporate Finance & Governance

• Shareholder management: Maintain share register, prepare and execute AGM, manage shareholder documentation

• Annual capital increase process: Coordinate funding rounds (legal docs, filings, share issuance)

• Corporate compliance: Ensure Swiss corporate law compliance, work with legal counsel on governance matters

• Manage the current corporate structure and own the evaluation and execution of setting up new subsidiaries as the business scales

• Board support: Prepare materials for board meetings, ensure proper documentation and filings

Vendor Management & Payments

• Maintain and optimize the AP and approval workflow, and payment execution

• Manage vendor relationships and contracts (working with legal on contract reviews)

• Ensure timely payments and maintain vendor files

Payroll Operations

• Audit and reconcile Deel payroll submissions across 16 countries monthly

• Catch errors before they reach employees

• Track allowances and reimbursements (sick leave, benefits, expenses) across jurisdictions

• Ensure payroll accounting entries are accurate

• Provide payroll data to Finance Manager for forecasting

🪜Background & Experience

Essential

• 2-4 years in high-performance environments such as Big 4 audit/tax + industry experience, OR top-tier management consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) with a finance focus

• Why a high-performance environment matters to us: You've been trained in operational excellence, you work with precision under pressure, and you know what "audit-ready" / “client-ready” really means

• Strong foundation in accounting and Swiss OR, GAAP/IFRS

• Experience with full-cycle accounting (close, reporting, compliance)

• Proven track record of zero-defect work in high-stakes environments

Highly Valued

• Experience at a high-growth tech company or startup

• Exposure to multi-country operations and compliance

• Knowledge of startup-specific tax considerations

• Familiarity with Foreign Employer setups (Germany, UK)

• Prior involvement in audit or SOC2 certification

Technical Skills

Must Have

• Advanced Excel/Google Sheets (financial modeling, complex formulas)

• Experience with modern accounting software (Xero or similar)

• Comfortable with automation tools (Dext, Revolut Business, bill.com, etc.)

• Understanding of multi-currency accounting and FX exposure

• Fluent in German (spoken and written)

Nice to Have

• Experience with Deel or similar global payroll platforms

• Knowledge of equity/ESOP administration

Operating Style

You thrive when:

✅ The bar for quality is extremely high

✅ Getting things "almost right" isn't good enough

✅ You're working with smart, demanding people

✅ There's no room for errors (audits, tax, payroll)

✅ Processes need to be built from scratch

✅ You're juggling multiple deadlines (month-end, tax, audit, AGM)

You struggle when:

❌ "Good enough" is acceptable

❌ People tolerate sloppy work

❌ There's no intellectual rigor

❌ Processes are already built and you're just maintaining

🤝 What You'll Work With

People

• Finance Manager (FP&A & Strategy) - Your partner, owns forward-looking finance, cash, strategy, compensation benchmarking

• Founders (Co-CEOs) - Direct access for critical decisions

• External providers - Accountant & bookkeeper, tax advisors, auditors, legal counsel

• Deel support - For global payroll operations

Tools & Stack

• Xero - Accounting software (well-configured, automated feeds)

• Dext - Invoice processing

• Revolut Business - Banking and payments

• Deel - Global payroll across 16 countries (employees, EORs, contractors)

• Google Sheets/Excel - Analysis and reporting

• Cap table software - TBD (Carta, Pulley, or similar)

External Support

• Swiss accountant & bookkeeper (daily transactions)

• Swiss tax advisor (corporate tax, VAT)

• Annual audit firm

• Corporate legal counsel

• Country-specific advisors as needed

🌱 Why PlantingSpace?

Highlights

• The Mission: We're not building another SaaS tool or ad-tech platform. We're working on fundamental problems in AI that could reshape how machines learn and reason. If that excites you, you'll fit right in.

• The Team: Work with researchers and engineers who are highly passionate about their work and the problems we are solving. Our intellectual bar is exceptionally high - and that extends to finance operations too.

• The Stage: Pre-revenue R&D means you're building financial operations from scratch. No legacy mess to clean up. You'll establish the foundation that scales to Series A, Series B, and beyond.

Unique organisation: startup spirit with solid foundations

Startup Spirit

• Collaborate with the best: Join a hand-picked team of intellectually curious people who are deeply passionate about their work.

• Make a real difference: Here, you aren't just a cog in a big machine; at eye-level with everyone else, your contributions directly impact the product and the team.

• Move fast and be bold: We experiment, and dare to make big changes as needed. The best idea and execution is what matters, not hierarchy and red tape.

• Engineered for Exponential Scale: We are a deep-tech venture with a significant technological moat, aimed at solving fundamental, large-scale problems.

Solid Foundations

• Securely funded: Fully funded by the founders, meaning we operate without run-rate anxiety. Our ability to set our strategy is not driven by VC demands, but purely by the team’s understanding of what moves us fastest closer to our goal.

• Focus on Product, not fundraising: Financial stability allows us to focus on long-term product potential, sustainable execution, and the strength of our team.

• Quality over chaos: Startups are often scrappy, but we have the stability to do things properly; we have a high level of rigor and take the time to build things in a solid and reliable way from the start.

Team Retreats

• We’re globally distributed but closely connected. Every three months, we bring the whole team together in nice locations across Europe.

• We spend one week together: planning, solving problems at the white board, having fun and bonding.