Vice President of Finance

Position Title: VP of Finance

Department: Finance

Reports To: Chief Financial Officer

Location: Princeton, New Jersey – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs)

Job Overview

Kardigan is seeking a Vice President of Finance to lead the company’s finance function and serve as a senior strategic partner to R&D, clinical, and operational leadership. This role is designed for a highly analytical, business-oriented finance leader with a trajectory toward broader enterprise leadership, including the potential to grow into a CFO role over time.

Reporting to the CFO, the VP of Finance will own financial planning and analysis, portfolio and capital analytics, and operational finance, while partnering closely with Accounting to ensure disciplined, scalable, and compliant financial operations. The successful candidate will bring deep biotech experience, strong quantitative rigor, and hands-on experience supporting capital-raising processes, with the ability to translate complex data into clear strategic insight in a fast-growing, late-stage biopharmaceutical company.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Finance, FP&A, and Analytics Leadership

• Lead all FP&A activities, including annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, long-range planning, and scenario modeling
• Develop sophisticated financial models to support program economics, clinical development planning, enrollment assumptions, and portfolio trade-offs
• Establish a best-in-class, analytics-driven finance function that informs prioritization, capital allocation, and strategic decision-making
• Drive disciplined, data-backed discussions around tradeoffs, risk, and return across programs and functions

Executive Decision Support & Internal Reporting

• Design and own executive-level reporting, dashboards, and performance metrics that enable faster, higher-quality decisions
• Translate complex financial, clinical, and operational data into clear, actionable insights for executive leadership and program teams
• Track performance versus plan and proactively identify opportunities to improve efficiency, outcomes, and capital effectiveness

Portfolio Management, Capital Deployment & Financing Support

• Build and manage an integrated, portfolio-level financial view across development programs, platforms, and initiatives
• Partner closely with R&D and program leadership to assess investment options, prioritization, and sequencing decisions
• Serve as a strategic finance partner on capital deployment decisions, ensuring alignment with company objectives and long-term value creation
• Play a key role in capital-raising efforts, including private financings and other strategic funding initiatives, through financial modeling, scenario analysis, diligence support, and investor materials
• Support interactions with investors, bankers, and advisors by providing rigorous analytics and clear framing of financial and portfolio strategy  

Cross-Functional Leadership & External Readiness

• Act as a trusted finance partner to R&D, clinical, operations, legal, and people teams
• Collaborate closely with Accounting, Legal, and external advisors to support financing processes, governance requirements, and transaction readiness
• Support strategic initiatives, growth planning, and external-facing preparedness through rigorous analysis and clear communication

Financial Operations, Systems & Governance

• Partner with Accounting to ensure strong close processes, internal controls, and financial governance
• Ensure financial systems, reporting tools, and ERP platforms (e.g., NetSuite) scale with the business and support advanced analytics
• Contribute to building finance infrastructure appropriate for a late-stage, pre-commercial or commercializing biotech organization

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field
• 10–15+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, strategic finance, and operational finance, including senior leadership roles
• Significant experience in biotech or biopharma required; pharma, commercial, or launch-stage experience is a strong plus
• Hands-on experience supporting capital raises (e.g., private financings, crossover rounds, or other strategic funding events), including modeling, diligence, and investor materials
• Demonstrated ability to partner deeply with R&D and operational teams in a development-driven environment
• Strong financial modeling and analytical skills, with a track record of influencing strategic decisions through data
• Solid understanding of financial controls and enterprise financial operations
• Experience working with and improving ERP and financial systems (e.g., NetSuite)
• Executive-level communication skills, with the ability to balance detail, strategy, and speed in a complex, fast-moving environment
• Judgment, curiosity, and leadership presence consistent with an executive on a long-term CFO development path