Senior Director of Finance

About Brilliant NextGen

Brilliant is redefining the smart home with an intuitive, design-forward, all-in-one control system that replaces traditional switches and brings lighting, climate, security, music, and automations into a single elegant interface. Unlike legacy smart-home platforms that require racks of equipment, complex cabling, and ongoing subscriptions, Brilliant is a standalone solution built for modern homes, builders, and professional installers.

As we scale, we are seeking a Head of Finance & Policy to bring rigor, clarity, and accountability to our financial operations and internal policies—while remaining hands-on and pragmatic in a high-growth startup environment.

Role Overview

The Head of Finance & Policy will own Brilliant’s financial operations, planning, forecasting, and internal policy frameworks. This role blends strategic finance leadership with day-to-day operational execution, ensuring that the company operates with financial discipline, clear policies, and strong accountability across teams.

In addition to managing core financial operations, this role will play a key role in financial forecasting and decision support for new product and service launches, helping ensure that Brilliant invests in growth initiatives with clear financial visibility and disciplined execution.

This is a hybrid role based in the Bay Area, with an expectation of at least three days per week in the office to enable close collaboration with the executive team and department leaders.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Strategy, Forecasting & Planning

• Partner with executive leadership to develop and maintain annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and multi-year financial plans
• Build and maintain financial models to support new product and service launches, including cost structure, pricing assumptions, margin analysis, and ROI scenarios
• Provide regular financial insights, variance analysis, and scenario modeling to support strategic decision-making
• Assess departmental spend for accuracy, efficiency, and alignment with approved budgets and company priorities
• Support fundraising, investor reporting, and board-level financial materials as needed

Accounting & Financial Operations

• Select, manage, and serve as the primary point of contact for Brilliant’s contract accounting and tax firms
• Oversee accounts payable and accounts receivable, including vendor payments, customer invoicing, and collections
• Manage payroll and benefits administration
• Manage cash flow, expense controls, and short-term liquidity planning
• Own monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance
• Ensure proper accounting treatment for hardware revenue, subscription revenues, inventory, COGS, and other consumer electronics–specific considerations

Policy Creation & Enforcement

• Design, document, and implement financial and operational policies to improve rigor and consistency across the company
• Administer and enforce company policies related to expenses, purchasing, approvals, reimbursements, and financial controls
• Lead administration for core HR policies
• Hold teams accountable for adhering to established policies and processes, providing guidance and corrective action as needed

Process Improvement & Rigor

• Identify gaps in financial and operational processes and implement scalable improvements
• Build lightweight but effective controls appropriate for a growing startup
• Improve visibility into spend, commitments, and financial performance across departments
• Ensure policies and processes evolve as the company scales

Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in finance and accounting, ideally spanning both strategic finance and operational accounting
• Prior experience in a startup, high-growth, or consumer electronics / hardware-enabled business strongly preferred
• Proven experience managing external accounting and tax partners
• Strong understanding of budgeting, forecasting, cash management, and financial controls
• Experience creating and enforcing company policies in a practical, business-friendly way
• CPA or equivalent certification preferred but not required
• Bay Area–based and able to work a hybrid schedule with at least three days per week in-office

What We’re Looking For

• A hands-on leader who can operate at both 30,000 feet and in the weeds
• Pragmatic, detail-oriented, and firm—but collaborative and solutions-oriented
• Strong communicator who can hold teams accountable without creating friction
• Comfortable setting boundaries and protecting the company financially
  Excited to help shape the financial foundation and growth trajectory of a category-defining company