AVP - Head of Finance & Accounts (Controllership)

Clairvolex · India

COMPANY DESCRIPTION:

Clairvolex is an AI-native intellectual property company built on a simple conviction: in IP, machines accelerate and experts decide. We partner with the in-house IP teams of large US and European corporations to develop and manage their portfolios, and serve as an extended arm to global law firms in drafting and prosecution.

What that conviction means in practice is that professional judgement stays where it belongs. Our AI does the retrieval, the extraction, the first pass and the heavy lifting. It does not make the call. Patent attorneys, patent agents, and senior paralegals remain accountable for what goes out the door, and their expertise shapes the products directly: our IP professionals sit with the product and engineering teams and define how the tools must behave. You will spend less time on the mechanical work and more on the work you trained for, and the tools you use will be tools you helped build. .

ROLE DESCRIPTION

We are looking for a hands-on finance leader to lead the Finance & Accounts (Controllership) function end to end—covering financial controllership, statutory and regulatory reporting, taxation, treasury, internal controls, audit, and compliance function—and to be a trusted business partner to the Leadership Team in executing the company's financial goals.

This is the senior-most Finance & Accounts leadership role within the organisation. A timely and accurate financial close is assumed; the real value lies in strengthening governance, ensuring financial integrity, building scalable finance processes and controls, and enabling better commercial decisions. The finance infrastructure is already sound, so the focus is on refining processes, improving financial controls, driving automation, and building a finance function that scales with the business.

The position reports to the CFO's Office and carries end-to-end accountability for the Finance & Accounts function. While the FP&A function reports into this role, the primary responsibility is financial controllership, governance, compliance, risk management and financial integrity, with oversight of planning and reporting activities rather than ownership of a business finance or commercial FP&A agenda.

We are looking for someone who has worked in a mid-sized B2B business operating in and selling to the US market. Experience with US customer contracts, cross-border finance operations, and partnering with global stakeholders across time zones is essential.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The ideal candidate is a finance leader who enjoys owning the complete Finance & Accounts / Controllership function rather than specialising in one area of finance.

You are likely to be a strong fit if you have:

• Built your career in a mid-sized, founder-led, PE/VC-backed or high-growth B2B company , preferably serving US or global enterprise customers.
• Personally owned the entire Finance & Accounts / Controllership function —month-end close, statutory reporting, taxation, treasury, banking, internal controls, audit, compliance, MIS and financial reporting.
• Led Finance as the primary owner of the function , or as the clear second-in-command in a lean finance organisation, with accountability for end-to-end financial operations rather than individual finance verticals.
• Worked in lean organisations where you remained hands-on while building scalable finance processes, governance, internal controls and financial discipline.
• Partnered directly with CEOs, founders, auditors, banks and external advisors on commercial and financial matters.
• Supported fundraising, due diligence, Board reporting and scaling finance operations in a growing business.
• View FP&A as a governance and decision-support function operating within a strong controllership framework, rather than the primary focus of the role.

This role is designed for finance leaders who have built and operated end-to-end Finance & Accounts / Controllership functions in growing B2B businesses. It is unlikely to be the right fit for professionals whose experience has primarily been within FP&A, Business Finance, Commercial Finance, or individual finance verticals in large matrix organisations.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Controllership

• Own an accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and annual financial close across all entities.
• Oversee preparation of financial statements in accordance with applicable accounting standards, supported by meaningful variance analysis, reconciliations and management reporting.
• Own revenue recognition across both IP Services and Clairvolex's subscription-based B2B product business.
• Own enterprise cash flow planning, treasury, working capital optimisation and banking relationships.
• Establish and continuously strengthen financial controls, accounting policies and governance frameworks to support a scalable organisation.
• Ensure strong balance sheet governance, reconciliations and financial integrity across the organisation.

Taxation, Compliance & Risk

• Oversee direct and indirect taxation including GST, TDS, Corporate Tax and Transfer Pricing across the India-US business structure.
• Lead statutory, internal and external audits from planning through successful closure.
• Manage statutory compliances, RBI/FEMA reporting and other cross-border regulatory requirements.
• Partner closely with the Company Secretary to ensure compliance with all corporate governance and statutory obligations.
• Strengthen enterprise-wide financial controls and risk management practices.

Financial Reporting, FP&A Oversight & Investor Support

• Provide governance and oversight to the FP&A function, ensuring budgets, forecasts and management reporting are accurate, robust and aligned with business objectives.
• Review and challenge assumptions underlying budgets, forecasts, pricing models, profitability analysis and unit economics.
• Prepare Board, Leadership and investor financial packs with meaningful analysis and business insights.
• Support fundraising, investor reporting, financial due diligence, cap table management, ESOP accounting and equity-related financial reporting.

Finance Systems & Digital Transformation

• Strengthen finance systems, governance frameworks and internal control environment to support business growth.
• Drive reporting automation, BI dashboards, process standardisation, data governance and finance technology initiatives.
• Improve efficiency through automation while maintaining strong financial controls and audit readiness.

Leadership

• Build, lead, mentor and retain a high-performing Finance & Accounts team.
• Develop organisational capability and succession within the finance function.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, continuous improvement and operational excellence.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Chartered Accountant (CA) is mandatory. Candidates who qualified in the first or second attempt will be preferred. CPA and/or MBA is an added advantage.
• 10–15 years of progressive Finance & Accounts experience, including at least 5 years leading an end-to-end Finance & Accounts / Controllership function.
• Demonstrated experience in a mid-sized B2B organisation with operations in and sales to the US market.
• Experience in founder-led, PE/VC-backed or high-growth businesses will be a significant advantage.
• Strong experience in statutory reporting, taxation, treasury, banking, internal controls, audit, compliance and financial reporting.
• Experience supporting Board reporting, fundraising, investor interactions and financial due diligence.
• Exposure to subscription/SaaS revenue models and cross-border operations is desirable.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Strong financial controllership and governance mindset with the commercial judgement to support strategic business decisions.
• Deep understanding of Indian accounting standards, taxation, transfer pricing, internal controls and cross-border financial operations.
• Proven ability to build scalable finance processes in lean, high-growth organisations.
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to convert financial information into actionable business insight.
• High standards of integrity, governance, accuracy and attention to detail.
• Hands-on, resourceful and comfortable balancing strategic leadership with operational execution.

Location : Bangalore, India

Reporting to : Leadership Team

Work mode : Hybrid, 3 days in office. In-person presence required during Review Week and Leadership meetings.