Head of Finance

Requirements

Head of Finance - Purpose & Role Description

• Ensuring the company has accurate short- and long-term financial forecasts by leading the planning and budgeting cycles across functions. Metric to measure: Forecast accuracy vs. actuals
• Owning the preparation of accurate, timely, and insightful reports and decks for founders, board meetings, and potential investors. Metric to measure: Timeliness and stakeholder satisfaction
• Maintaining full statutory compliance and readiness for audits, funding rounds, and due diligence processes. Metric to measure: Audit flags or statutory penalties
• Reducing manual dependencies in financial workflows by automating reconciliations, reporting, and approvals. Metric to measure: % reduction in manual effort
• Taking ownership of team output while mentoring current team members to handle responsibilities independently. Metric to measure: % of tasks handled independently
• Collaborating closely with the CEO and founders to model strategic bets and shape business direction using data-backed insights. Metric to measure: Use of financial inputs in leadership decisions
  

Some of your Monthly Outcomes for the first 3 months in this role

• Develop a deep understanding of Kraftshala's business model, financial workflows, and program-wise revenue mechanics
• Conduct a diagnostic of the existing finance team's output, systems (MIS, budgeting, collections), and tools
• Review FY budgets and variance trends; highlight critical gaps in forecasting, reporting, or margin tracking
• Establish weekly check-ins with the CEO and key department heads to align on financial dependencies
• Prioritize top 3 opportunities for systems/process improvement
  

• Fully own budgeting cycles, monthly MIS, and cash flow forecasts
• Begin automation or streamlining of at least one reporting or reconciliation process
• Improve clarity of program/batch-wise profitability reporting
• Implement a lightweight review process with the current team to improve accuracy and reduce last-minute founder dependencies
  

• Build and roll out a strategic finance calendar (budgets, reviews, reporting, audits, partner settlements, etc.) that functions independently
• Lead scenario planning and financial modeling for new launches or pricing revisions
• Deliver board-level reports and investor-ready decks with consistency
• Implement governance and controls that can support future scale (including due diligence readiness)
• Upgrade team capabilities: assign ownership, create SOPs, and reduce escalations to founders
• Drive >25% improvement in student financing adoption, working with admissions and ops.
  

Top Grading:

• Strategic Finance: An A-Player builds forward-looking models and drives business-critical decisions with financial insights, while a B-Player focuses on past performance and plays a reactive role in planning
• System Building & Automation: An A-Player redesigns and automates processes to reduce manual work and scale operations, whereas a B-Player maintains the status quo and relies on manual, repetitive workflows
• Team Leadership: An A-Player coaches team members to independently own deliverables and builds accountability, while a B-Player delegates execution but lacks structure or consistency in team performance
• Business Partnership: An A-Player proactively supports and challenges cross-functional teams with ROI-driven inputs, whereas a B-Player shares data when asked but rarely influences decisions
• Investor & Stakeholder Readiness: An A-Player crafts investor-grade reports and maintains clean compliance across audits and processes, while a B-Player manages basic compliance but lacks polish or forward-planning capabilities.
  

Must Haves:

• Chartered Accountant with 4 - 8 years of post-qualification experience in business finance, FP&A, and controllership. (We're not fussed about the exact years of experience, as that's just a proxy for your skill level.)
• Proven track record of playing a central role in building budgeting, forecasting, and reporting systems at a growth-stage startup, preferably one with online sales cycles
• Experience in independently creating financial models for unit economics, CAC payback, LTV, and other ROI metrics used for business decision-making
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally with product, marketing, and operations teams to drive cost efficiency and performance insight
• Prior exposure to preparing board-level decks, working with investors, and managing statutory and internal audits
• High standards of integrity, with the ability to handle confidential financial information responsibly
• Strong systems orientation, with a clear bias toward automation, scalability, and long-term process improvement.
  

Good-to-haves:

• Experience in managing business finance for an ed-tech organization