VP of Finance
About the role
The VP of Finance at AirGarage will be responsible for building and shaping the finance function from the ground up. This role requires a hands-on approach to driving decisions and improving unit economics across multiple real-world locations. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of implementing finance systems, closing the books, and taking a company through its first audits.
What You Will Do
Own the model, not just the math: Maintain and continuously improve a driver-based, forward-looking model that maps to reality. Build scenarios (base/low/high), pressure-test assumptions, and translate "levers" into clear tradeoffs for leadership.
Live in our unit economics: Track and improve margins and P&Ls by location; cohort and segment intelligently (region, seasonality, property type, etc.); surface insights and partner with the Operations team to increase contribution margin and reduce complexity as we scale.
Turn data into decisions: Build lightweight, reliable budget vs. actuals and KPI dashboards (cash, runway, sales productivity, marketing efficiency, portfolio performance) that leaders can use every day, not just once per quarter.
Upgrade our finance stack: Lead our transition from QuickBooks to a scalable ERP, partner with the in-house Accounting team to rationalize the chart of accounts, tighten close processes, and ensure clean books that roll up cleanly to corporate.
Cap table & equity operations: Own Carta hygiene, option grants, refreshes, and board approvals in an accurate, timely, buttoned-up, and market-informed manner.
Investor & board readiness: Keep us "always ready" with consistent metrics definitions, a clean data room, and crisp monthly/quarterly reporting. Ensure the story and the numbers match.
Vendor spend & commercial rigor: Identify large cost buckets, renegotiate where we have leverage, and standardize commercial terms to reduce one-off complexity. Partner with Sales & Operations to hold the line on templates that scale.
Compensation & leveling: Partner with leadership on comp philosophy, leveling frameworks, annual reviews, and headcount planning that align with goals and runway.
Legal/G&A stewardship: Coordinate commercial contract review, insurance matters, and office operations as needed; bring in external counsel efficiently and build toward pragmatic in-house coverage over time.
Capital strategy & banking: Maintain cash forecasts, evaluate debt options, cultivate banking relationships, and plan for audits as we grow.
Create leverage for everyone: Build simple ROI templates and decision frameworks so teams can stack-rank projects, weigh paybacks, and move quickly without sacrificing financial discipline.
What You Need
Built-from-scratch experience: You’ve been the first or very early finance hire at a high-growth company and have personally implemented systems, closed the books, owned the model, and taken a company through its first audits.
Hands-on operator: You’re comfortable toggling between 10,000-ft strategy and ground-level detail. You’ll roll up your sleeves to fix a mapping in the ERP at 10am and present a board-ready scenario at 2pm.
Modeling + judgment: Strong command of driver-based modeling, scenario analysis, and cohort economics paired with the judgment to simplify and focus on what moves the business.
Systems & process builder: Experience moving from QuickBooks to ERP. You know how to design a chart of accounts, shorten close cycles, and make data trustworthy.
Story + numbers: Clear communicator who can translate complexity into crisp narratives for executives, the board, banks, and investors while keeping the story aligned with the data.
Commercial and vendor acumen: Comfortable reviewing terms, standardizing templates, and leading vendor renegotiations that materially improve unit economics.
People partnership: Experience supporting comp design, leveling, and workforce planning with a pragmatic, operator-friendly approach.
Bias for action: You move fast, measure results, and improve the system every cycle. You know when "80/20 and shipping" beats "perfect and late."
Order maker, not order taker: You don't wait to be asked — you notice the gap, build the model, and bring a recommendation. Finance's agenda is something you set, not something handed to you.
Why This Role May Not Be For You
We are sharing this information up front because we don’t expect this job to be appealing to everybody and we do not want to waste your time if you are not on board with all of the following. Being the Head of Finance at a high growth startup means many different things, but there is one thing above all that it certainly means: critical business metrics and their level of legibility to the rest of the leadership team are ultimately your responsibility to own. This will be a hard job. We work long hours at AirGarage, including nights and weekends, because we love what we do. We are growing fast but our Finance & Accounting team is lean, so every day you will have new challenges and too much on your plate, but you’ll be expected to find a way to deliver anyways.
The Upside
Equity: Have a stake in the business that you’re helping to build and grow.
Work remotely: Live and work wherever you like! We believe in folks working where they are happiest and most productive. We currently hire teammates that are located anywhere within North America.
Health insurance: We offer health insurance and currently cover 85% of the cost of medical, dental, and vision plans for the primary employee and 50% of the cost of plans for dependents.
Parental Leave: We offer 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to all parents to bond with a newly born, adopted, or fostered child. The 12 weeks can be taken as a continuous leave or intermittently over the first 18 months of the child's life.
Home office setup: Get a laptop + additional equipment needed to set you up for success.
Time to recharge: We have an unlimited PTO policy with a minimum requirement of 10 days per year.
401k: Make financial planning right for you with a 401k retirement savings program.
Team Off-sites: ~2 times per year our team comes together for a full week in places like Tahoe, Charleston, San Diego, Park City, and Austin.
BookGarage: Our team loves to learn and grow together, so join us for our optional recurring book club.
Room to grow: Our team will be orders of magnitude larger within a few years; as a part of our foundational