Head of Finance (Berkeley) - MATS

About MATS

MATS (ML Alignment Theory Scholars) is an AI safety research fellowship and talent development nonprofit operating at ~$31M annual budget and scaling roughly 2x annually. We run cohorts of 120–175+ fellows across Incubation, Bridge, and Anchor research tracks, with offices in Berkeley, London, and Washington DC. We are mid-build-out of a full C-suite (CEO, CFRO, COO, CPO, Scientific Director) as the organization professionalizes its operating infrastructure to match its growth trajectory.

Role Summary

The Head of Finance owns MATS's financial operations end-to-end: the org's books, its money in (grants, donations) and money out (payments, stipends, procurement), the plan that ties spend to strategy (budgeting/FP&A), and the controls that keep all of it defensible (audit, risk, treasury). This is the senior operating finance role under the CFRO — Christian sets financial and risk strategy at the C-suite level and represents Finance to the Board; the Head of Finance runs the function day-to-day and is the primary executor of that strategy.

This role is right for someone who wants to build financial infrastructure for a nonprofit doubling in size annually — not maintain a steady-state function. Expect to design systems (not just operate them), make judgment calls under real ambiguity (multi-currency, multi-entity, cross-border grant flows), and professionalize processes that have outgrown their current scale.

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What You'll Own

Accounting & Controllership

• Day-to-day bookkeeping, month-end/year-end close, chart of accounts, and general ledger integrity across US (and UK, if applicable) entities
• Financial statement preparation (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) for leadership and Board reporting
• Reconciliations, journal entries, and maintaining a clean audit trail

Budgeting & FP&A

• Build and maintain the annual operating budget in partnership with the CEO, CFRO, and function leads
• Rolling forecasts and scenario planning (e.g., funding upside/downside cases, cohort-size sensitivity)
• Variance analysis and monthly/quarterly financial reporting to the leadership team and Board
• Unit economics and cost-per-fellow type modeling to inform program-side resourcing decisions

Grants & Revenue

• Manage the full lifecycle of receiving and accounting for grants and donations: tracking restricted vs. unrestricted funds, donor/grantor reporting requirements, and compliance with funder terms
• Partner with development/fundraising on grant proposal financials and post-award financial reporting

Payments, Payroll & Stipends

• Run payroll and the fellow stipend disbursement process across multiple cohorts, tracks, and (likely) currencies/jurisdictions
• Vendor and contractor payments, expense reimbursements, and accounts payable
• Own the policies and tooling (e.g., Brex/Ramp-style platforms, payroll providers) that make this scale without manual overhead

Procurement

• Set procurement policy and approval workflows appropriate to a fast-scaling org (avoiding both bottlenecks and uncontrolled spend)
• Vendor selection and contract financial terms for major spend categories (compute, office leases, software)

Audit & Compliance

• Lead annual financial audit (or audit readiness) and manage auditor relationships
• Ensure compliance with nonprofit financial regulations across US, UK, and any other operating jurisdictions (e.g., 990 filings, UK Charity Commission requirements if applicable)
• Maintain internal controls appropriate to MATS's size and risk profile, and evolve them as the org grows

Financial Strategy & Risk Management

• Co-develop financial strategy with the CFRO: runway planning, reserve policy, funding diversification, multi-year financial modeling
• Identify and mitigate financial risk (currency exposure, funding concentration, cash flow timing across grant cycles)
• Translate financial strategy into operating policy that program and ops teams can actually work within

Treasury / Investing Funds

• Manage cash and short-term investment of organizational reserves consistent with a nonprofit risk posture (capital preservation and liquidity first)
• Recommend and execute an investment policy for reserves, in partnership with the CFRO and Board as needed

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Who You Are

• 7+ years in finance/accounting roles with progressively increasing scope, including direct ownership of close, budgeting, and compliance — nonprofit, startup, or high-growth environment strongly preferred
• Comfortable being a builder, not just an operator: you've stood up or significantly overhauled financial systems and processes, not just run an existing playbook
• Fluent in nonprofit fund accounting (restricted/unrestricted funds, grant compliance) — or able to ramp quickly if your background is for-profit
• Strong FP&A instincts: you can build a model, explain the assumptions, and use it to actually inform a decision
• High trust, high discretion — this role touches sensitive compensation, donor, and organizational risk information
• Comfortable operating across currencies/jurisdictions (US/UK at minimum) and in a remote-friendly, multi-office org
• CPA or equivalent strongly preferred, not required
• Excited by MATS's mission and able to make financially sound calls in service of a fast-moving, mission-driven org — not just compliance-minded

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About the Compensation

• Compensation range for this role is $160,000 to $220,000 per year for Bay area-based hires, depending on qualifications and experience. The essential skills listed above contain the basic requirements, and align with the lower end of this range.
• MATS provides in-office, catered lunches and dinners to employees on workdays.
• Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences.
• Funding and support for professional development.
• 17 days of annual paid time off for Berkeley-based employees, and 20 days of annual leave (not including bank holidays) for London-based employees.
• Flexibility for hybrid work (but not for fully remote work).
• Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment.
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. 
• Both Roth 401(k) and Traditional 401(k) for US-based employees for Berkeley-based candidates, or Pension Scheme for London-based candidates.

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Visa sponsorship may be possible but is not guaranteed.

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If you are interested in this role, please apply via this form. We will accept applications on a rolling basis after July 14th, but preference will be given to applications submitted earlier.

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