Payroll and Equity Accountant

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for an experienced Payroll and Equity Accountant to join our team.

Position Description:

Oklo is building a world-class accounting and finance organization to support the commercialization of nuclear energy in the U.S. The Payroll and Equity Accountant will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Oklo’s payroll tax reporting and equity administration functions. This role will oversee the data transfer across Oklo’s payroll and equity tools to ensure that accurate wage data is maintained consistently across systems, and that appropriate tax treatment is applied. This role will be responsible for ownership and execution of month-end accounting and bookkeeping of payroll and equity cycles, including the monthly payroll reconciliations, stock-based compensation 718 accounting. This role will also be responsible for communications and reporting related to annual payroll and equity tax reporting (e.g., W-2, 3921, 1099, 1099-INT forms),. to ensure Oklo employees and contractors obtain the correct data for each tax year. In addition, this role will work with our third-party tax and accounting advisory resources on complex/high-judgement areas to drive appropriate treatment across unique employment situations.

In addition to owning the current payroll and equity accounting processes, this role will be charged with driving automation and efficiency across both areas as the company scales. You will serve as a primary point of contact for the external audit team on a quarterly basis to support audit documentation requests related to payroll and equity. Your ability to manage these areas effectively and assist the team on delivery of key accounting close and annual reporting milestones will be a critical success factor.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Performance of monthly reconciliation activities for payroll and stock-based compensation.
• Enter payroll journal entries, including monthly accruals, into NetSuite ERP and submit for approval
• Review bi-weekly payroll records to ensure accuracy and completeness of payroll records
• Support payroll tax setup, including withholdings, unemployment, state and local taxes and monitor tax notices from state and federal agencies
• Maintain a robust checklist of payroll-specific onboarding and offboarding activities for employees and execute upon this checklist to ensure timely and accurate administration of payroll accounting
• Serve as Accounting team liaison with Oklo’s Operations team for all employment changes, including new hires and termination, to ensure appropriate management of employees within Oklo’s payroll and equity platforms.
• Own month-end payroll and equity tasks within the FloQast close automation tool, ensuring close targets are timely met and appropriate supporting documentation is maintained.
• Oversee the payroll activities of Oklo subsidiary Atomic Alchemy and perform above duties for both subsidiary and corporate level.
• Design Oklo’s payroll and equity process for scale, preparing for future projects such as transition from PEO platform, addition of hourly workforce, and broadening of remote workforce into additional locations
• Perform regular nexus evaluations for remote employees to ensure appropriate payroll administration across the U.S.
• Develop and maintain payroll and equity accounting policies and procedures to ensure compliance with US GAAP, including creating procedures to validate the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of data utilized
• Execute as well as monitor end to end processes and controls across Oklo’s payroll and equity management systems in close coordination with Internal Audit, Accounting and IT staff
• Liaise with external auditors during audits and provide necessary documentation and explanations regarding their testing of payroll and equity areas
• Provide payroll data reports to support regulatory reporting to the U.S. Department of Energy

Competencies:

We are looking for a Payroll and Equity Accountant that is:

• Proficient in payroll and accounting systems and capable of performing detailed reconciliations across these systems
• Process and public company oriented
• Passionate about clean energy and making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly, to think differently, and do things in new ways
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Analytical—synthesizes complex or diverse information
• Forward-thinking – anticipates changes in Oklo’s business and proactively evaluates the potential impacts on accounting policies and financial reporting as we evolve
• Solutions-Oriented— Identifies and resolves problems through timely, skillful analysis; brings creativity and critical thinking to develop thoughtful, novel solutions beyond conventional approaches.
• Effective communicator— articulates ideas and technical content effectively and persuasively in positive and challenging situations, comfortable with public speaking, and facilitates efficient, results-driven meetings.
• Quality-Focused—consistently demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness while identifying ways to improve and promote quality and efficiency
• Judgment—the individual displays willingness to make decisions, exhibits sound and accurate judgment and makes timely decisions

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, information systems, or related field
• 3-5 of payroll and equity accounting experience at a public company
• Strong understanding of common payroll and equity tax issues
• Ability to reconcile data across multiple systems such as ERP, equity, and payroll tools

Bonus Qualifications:

• Big 4 audit experience a plus
• Master’s degree in accountancy preferred
• Experience with Fidelity NetBenefits (equity administration), Rippling (payroll), and other leading payroll platforms (e.g., Workday, ADP, Paylocity, Paycor)
• Experience at a fast growth startup
• Preferred remote location: U.S. Mountain or Central time zones. Preferred physical location in the Bay Area, California

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance, but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

About Oklo travel requirements:

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites, and other company events or gatherings.

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $85,000-$110,000

Salary may fall outside of the range provided and will be dependent on applicant experience.

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401k, health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.

About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values
Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through  to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.