Seneca is seeking a Business Operations Lead to run strategic finance, accounting, contracts, insurance, compliance, purchasing, payroll and benefits, and the office. Right now those things are spread across an outside accounting firm, a payroll vendor, outside counsel, a fractional Head of Ops and the CEO. As we continue to scale, we are seeking someone who can up-level this organization both in terms of our daily operations and in key moments like M+A, equity and debt financings, key partnerships etc.
This role reports to the CEO with tight partnership. There will be opportunity to hire and/or bring in additional outside resources over the next twelve months.
What You'll DoFinance & Accounting
You run the finance function. Both FP&A and accounting.
Partner with teams to ensure they pick the right strategies for both cost and revenue optimization as Seneca scales.
Own the monthly close with our outside accounting firm.
Get the accounting right for a hardware company moving into production: inventory, BOMs, capitalized R&D, fixed assets, and revenue recognition on multi-year contracts with agencies and utilities.
Handle invoicing and collections, including milestone billing on government and utility contracts.
Figure out the right policies for expense management and suggest our monthly budget – keeping us tracking to it.
Keep the budget and board package current.
Contracts, Compliance & Risk
Own contracts. Work with outside counsel on customer agreements, supplier terms, NDAs, and government contracting paperwork. Know what we have signed and what it commits us to.
Own insurance, including aviation and product liability. For a drone company this is real work.
Keep the compliance calendar: corporate filings, state registrations, export controls, and the requirements that come with selling to public agencies.
Purchasing & Vendors
Run purchasing so engineers can get what they need fast and we still know where the money went: approvals, corporate cards, expense policy, vendor setup.
Negotiate large vendor and supplier agreements.
Partner with outside lawyers on where to draw the lines on NDAs, partnership agreements, and any other day to day legal questions.
People Operations
Oversee payroll, benefits, and the HRIS through our vendors.
Help us continue to drive exceptional recruitment.
Own compensation and equity: bands, offers, grants, refreshes, and the promotion process, with the CEO.
Make sure the basics are covered: I-9s, multi-state registrations, handbook, required trainings. Bring in outside HR counsel when a situation calls for it.
Be someone employees can come to in confidence when something is wrong.
Systems & the Office
Own the finance and ops systems (Ramp, Rippling, Carta, QuickBooks) and decide when to replace one.
Run the Sausalito office: lease, facilities, IT and security basics, equipment. There are others in the loop here, but you have the opportunity to formalize facilities.
This is a high visibility / high upside role for a candidate who wants to be an early strategic partner to an experienced CEO in a high impact, high growth startup. You’ll often partner with the CEO, so a history of excellence is valued.
Experience in strategic finance or private equity and/or investment banking
You have run finance and operations at a venture-backed startup, ideally one that builds hardware, through a period of real growth.
You understand accounting well enough to manage an outside firm and catch their mistakes: GAAP, revenue recognition, inventory, capitalized R&D.
You are a generalist and you like operating. You fix things rather than write about them.
You love to design scalable operational processes, including automating manual workflows, identifying future bottlenecks, and evaluating tools, partners, and vendors for long-term scalability
You handle confidential information with care.
You write and speak plainly, and you can explain business concepts to anyone.
You want to work in person in Sausalito.
Competitive Salary — Reflective of your skills and experience
Equity Compensation — Be an owner in the company's future
Comprehensive Health Coverage — Medical, dental, and vision plans
Health Savings Account (HSA) — Optional pre-tax savings for medical expenses
Unlimited PTO — Flexible time off to recharge, plus paid company holidays
About Us
Seneca is building cutting-edge drone and sensor technology for wildfire suppression, aiming to eliminate wildfire risk across 500 million acres of high-risk U.S. + allied territory. Backed by top-tier investors, including Convective Capital, Caffeinated Capital, First Round Capital, Slow Ventures, Nextview Ventures, Transition Capital, Bullpen Capital, Stepstone Group, Roar Capital, Offline Ventures, and leaders from Palantir, Google, Meta, and many others. Founded by Stu Landesberg (former Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative — IPO in 2022 at $1.7B) and fire industry experts, Seneca is a mission-driven company dedicated to climate resilience and fire prevention.
Don’t meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply — you may still be the right fit for our team.
Skills Required
- Experience in strategic finance, private equity, and/or investment banking
- Experience running finance and operations at a venture-backed startup
- Experience with hardware companies through a period of significant growth
- Strong understanding of GAAP, revenue recognition, inventory, and capitalized R&D
- Ability to manage an outside accounting firm and identify accounting errors
- Generalist operating mindset with a focus on fixing problems
- Ability to design scalable operational processes and automate manual workflows
- Ability to identify bottlenecks and evaluate tools, partners, and vendors
- Ability to handle confidential information with care
- Clear, plain written and verbal communication skills
- Willingness to work in person in Sausalito
What We Do
Seneca is a resilience technology and infrastructure company. We create autonomous drones and AI-driven software to support firefighters and protect the things we love. Our mission is to eliminate wildfire threat across 500 million acres in the US and allied nations. We do so by building products that support the firefighter in use cases that were previously unsafe, inefficient, or impossible. We prioritize innovations that protect lives, property, and ecosystems. Our focus is on both initial attack operations and beneficial fire support to create a balanced wildland fire cycle over next the coming decades.
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