Restaurants and the businesses that serve them account for hundreds of billions of dollars in annual purchasing, yet most of it happens offline. From the humblest NYC slice and a cup of joe to museum-quality lattes (and yes, avocado toast), each order represents a long paper trail and a series of truck deliveries.
With a rapidly growing market presence, Cheetah is already streamlining the daily workflow of distributors selling to thousands of restaurants and small business owners. Using Cheetah’s Technology Stack these distributors are increasing their revenue, improving sales efficiency, and providing a more delightful customer experience. Cheetah eliminates the burden of highly manual order management processes from these SMB’s - bringing the Silicon Valley user experience to an industry that hasn’t evolved in decades. In the process, we are digitally connecting every player in the supply chain, from restaurant to supplier, in order to reduce food waste, drive efficiencies, and improve livelihoods.
At Cheetah, a relentless executive team has set out to change this reality, armed with deep industry and entrepreneurial experience, personal conviction, and $100M+ in funding from Eclipse, Sator Grove, MannaTree, Floodgate, and the early backers of Facebook, Lyft and Airbnb. Join us as we build and scale leading our expertise in food distribution and technology across the industry and enable distributors, manufacturers and restaurant owners with elegant solutions powering the ecosystem towards a greener and more efficient future.
About the role
Cheetah is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Corporate Controller to join our dynamic finance team. Reporting to the CFO, the Controller will be a key leader in our finance team, responsible for overseeing all accounting operations, ensuring accurate financial reporting, compliance with regulatory standards, and seamless consolidation processes. This role requires a strong background in SaaS, e-commerce, and payments, with a focus on providing accurate and timely financial insights to support decision-making. The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-paced, startup environment and be comfortable wearing multiple hats as we grow.
What you'll do
- Manage and perform day-to-day accounting operations, including all general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and equity-based compensation functions.
- Lead the month-end close process, including preparation of financial statements, ensuring accuracy and compliance with GAAP.
- Establish and improve accounting processes and framework for internal controls, design for scalability and growth, including the development of key deliverables (financial analyses, reconciliations, management reporting).
- Manage cash flow, ensuring adequate liquidity for operations and growth initiatives.
- Manage the preparation, review and filing of all tax returns by working closely with external tax consultants.
- Position the company to complete its first external financial audit.
- Support the CFO with fundraising activities, including financial modeling, due diligence, and investor reporting as needed.
- Prepare reporting and analysis for senior management, the Board of Directors and the investment community.
- Coordinate with FP&A on the annual budgeting process and provide support for ongoing analysis of financial performance.
- Evaluate accounting software and develop a roadmap of key systems and integrations required to drive automation and efficiency across the entire company as we scale.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance, MBA preferred.
- Minimum of 15 years relevant work experience with at least 6 years at a Big 4 accounting firm.
- Proven experience in a Controller role within a tech or high growth industry, demonstrating a deep understanding of accounting processes, technical accounting and financial management.
- Prior startup experience, preferably at the seed or early-stage.
- Mastery of GAAP and extensive experience with accounting policies and procedures, with specific background in SaaS, eCommerce and payments business models.
- Proficiency with financial software and ERP systems; specific experience with NetSuite required.
- Experience managing international subsidiaries and outsourced accounting operations.
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills; ability to effectively communicate status, issues, risks, and opportunities to all levels of the organization.
- Excellent multi-tasking skills and flexibility to switch from one project to the next.
- Equally comfortable operating at 10,000 feet and one foot. You do not hesitate to get in the weeds and work at the lowest level of detail, but you are just as comfortable thinking long-term and inspiring a team. No job is too small.
- Unafraid of ambiguity. Rapid change and learning excite you, and you know how to find direction and craft a plan of action even when none is given.
- Highest standards of accuracy and precision; highly organized.
Characteristics of Success at Cheetah
- Problem solver. Self-motivated person who is adept at structuring ways to breakdown complex business and financial problems into digestible components and who can work well under pressure and tight deadlines. A data-driven decision-maker.
- Comfortable with uncertainty. Ability to operate successfully and drive forward in a rapidly evolving environment.
- Bias to action. Someone who is not averse to rolling up his/her sleeves and becoming involved in the details of the business when needed. Accustomed to working in an open, results-oriented culture.
- Strong collaboration and influencing qualities. Ability to quickly gain the respect of various stakeholders including executive management, colleagues, customers, team members, and external stakeholders.
- Strong self-awareness. The ability to understand how one’s actions affect the world around them.
- Complete integrity and high ethical standards demonstrated by the individual’s approach to business, adherence to corporate and regulatory governance and impeccable reputation for honesty.