VP, Finance

About Canals

Canals is a fully remote, profitable startup transforming the industrial supply chain ($10T industry) with AI. Our platform seamlessly integrates with the systems distributors already use, automating tedious tasks and reducing failure points in moving physical goods across the globe.

We’re an 80-person team (~50 in engineering), located across North and South America.

The Opportunity

Canals is scaling quickly. Revenue is growing, headcount is growing, and the financial complexity of the business is increasing with it. We’re looking for a Head of Finance who can bring clarity, discipline, and strategic thinking to everything finance-related — while staying deeply hands-on.

This is not a “manage a big team” role. It’s a build-and-own role.

You will be the keeper of the financial model, the steward of our books, and a strategic partner to the CEO. You’ll help us answer questions like:

• How fast can we hire while remaining profitable?

• What happens if we invest in X?

• What would an acquisition mean for our runway?

• Where are we structurally inefficient?

• What should we be measuring that we aren’t today?

You’ll operate at both altitudes: strategic finance and blocking-and-tackling execution. We want someone humble enough to get their hands dirty, but strong enough to influence company-level decisions.

This role reports directly to the CEO and will play a key role in board communication and company planning.

What You’ll Do

• Own the company’s financial model end-to-end.

• Build, maintain, and evolve a clear forward-looking model that enables scenario planning, hiring projections, profitability analysis, and capital allocation decisions.

• Oversee accounting, taxes, and books and records.

• Partner with external firms where appropriate, but maintain accountability for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.

• Lead FP&A and strategic planning.

• Translate financial data into insight. Identify trends, risks, and opportunities. Bring clear recommendations — not just numbers.

• Partner closely with go-to-market leadership.

• Support sales compensation planning, revenue forecasting, invoicing processes, collections, and customer-facing financial workflows.

• Own financial reporting and board preparation.

• Prepare quarterly financials and present results clearly and confidently to leadership and the board.

• Improve operational finance systems and processes.

• Ensure we’re using the right tools and workflows for a fast-growing SaaS company. Leverage automation and AI where appropriate to operate lean without sacrificing rigor.

• Manage working capital and cash discipline.

• Monitor burn, profitability, collections, and vendor payments with precision.

• Bring sound judgment in scrappy environments.

• Know when something materially matters — and when it doesn’t.

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years of experience in early-stage startup environments (pre-Series B or into Series B strongly preferred).

• Must have worked closely with a founder CEO.

• Strong financial modeling skills. You should be able to build and defend a sophisticated operating model without relying on others.

• Experience overseeing accounting, taxes, and books — even if execution is outsourced.

• Comfort operating as a lean finance function (e.g., VP + one additional team member or external support).

• Experience partnering with revenue organizations (sales comp, forecasting, invoicing, collections).

• Ability to present financial results clearly to executive leadership and board-level audiences.

• High ownership mindset. You don’t wait to be told what to fix.

• Comfort with ambiguity, scrappiness, and imperfect information.

• Strong judgment — you know which risks require rigor and which don’t.

• Experience in SaaS is preferred. Familiarity with SaaS metrics (e.g., retention, gross margin, Rule of 40) is a plus but not mandatory if you’re sharp and adaptable.

• Experience with M&A is a nice-to-have, not required.

• Comfort exploring how AI and automation can improve finance and accounting efficiency.

Why Join Canals

• Real-world impact: your work improves global supply chains, saving customers time and reducing waste.

• Strong engineering culture: we invest in quality and documentation to keep moving fast sustainably.

• Culture of ownership: moving fast while putting quality first.

• Remote-first, flexible work environment across North and South America.

• Stellar product-market fit with tons of customer love.

• All star team with diverse backgrounds to collaborate with and learn from.

Canals.ai is an equal opportunity employer. In addition to EEO being the law, it is a policy that is fully consistent with our principles. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to status as a protected veteran or a qualified individual with a disability, or other protected status such as race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, pregnancy or age.