Global Controller

Global controllership, audit and compliance leadership, and team scaling for IPO-readiness

Position Overview

The Global Controller will lead our global accounting organization and serve as a key member of the finance leadership team. Reporting to the CFO, this leader will be responsible for scaling a foundational team into a world-class function capable of supporting a complex, global, and fast-growing business.

This role requires a seasoned accounting leader with a track record of building high-performing teams, tightening core processes, and leading organizations through audit, compliance, and IPO readiness. The ideal candidate will be relentlessly focused on improving cycle times, reducing error rates, and instilling operational rigor across the accounting function.

The incoming leader will take over a core function in transition. While the team has delivered foundational outputs, there are meaningful opportunities for uplift in execution quality, structure, and leadership. This role offers the mandate and runway to drive a step-change in departmental maturity, build a durable organization, and ensure readiness for public company scrutiny.

The controller will oversee all core global accounting functions - including GL, revenue recognition, payroll, compliance, and controls - and will be accountable for ensuring global statutory and regulatory compliance across all current and future jurisdictions. This leader will drive significant headcount and process scale over the next 6-12 months, while raising execution standards and output quality.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Enablement & Executive Partnership

• Serve as a core partner to the CFO and senior leaders across the business, including the GMs and Head of Delivery.
• Synthesize technical accounting and operational complexity into clear, actionable insights for executive decision-making.
• Contribute actively to IPO readiness initiatives, including structure, process, controls, and investor-grade reporting readiness.
• Lead accounting integration and technical diligence for M&A, entity launches, and cross-border expansion.

Team & Organizational Buildout

• Scale the global accounting team from a foundational state into a high-performing organization over the next 6-12 months.
• Hire, mentor, and retain talent across geographies, with a focus on building strong leadership capability and deep bench strength.
• Instill a collaborative, high-ownership culture that engages cross-functional partners while holding the line on quality and accountability.
• Set clear performance standards and operating rhythms consistent with the expectations of a future public company.

Process Ownership & Execution Excellence

• Lead all core accounting processes: GL, close, consolidations, intercompany, A/R, A/P, revenue recognition, payroll, treasury, and tax compliance.
• Aggressively improve close timelines, reduce error rates, and increase the repeatability and auditability of outputs.
• Drive automation and minimize manual processes in partnership with the Head of Business Systems; Netsuite is the core platform.
• Ensure tight operational linkages with Finance, Legal, and other departments to support scalable, forward-looking execution.

Controls, Compliance & Audit Readiness

• Own the global audit process, transitioning from AICPA to PCAOB standards in anticipation of IPO-readiness.
• Strengthen internal controls and process documentation across all accounting functions, including those required for SOX compliance.
• Ensure full statutory and regulatory compliance across all current and future jurisdictions (e.g., US, India, Brazil, UK).
• Proactively monitor and adapt to changing global requirements, engaging external advisors and in-house counsel as needed.

First 90 Days: What Success Looks Like

• Rapidly assess the current state of accounting operations, controls, and systems. Engage with direct reports (existing and incoming) to align on ownership, expectations, and execution standards; evaluate team capabilities and make interim adjustments where needed to ensure accountability.
• Drive immediate improvements to foundational processes, including shortening the close cycle, enhancing reconciliation accuracy, and establishing consistent team operating rhythms.
• Identify the most critical audit and control risks. Deliver early fixes where possible and define a clear path to PCAOB and SOX readiness over the next 12–18 months.
• Establish yourself as a visible, trusted partner to the CFO, GMs, and other executive stakeholders. Provide clear, proactive updates on progress and shape accounting’s role in IPO-readiness efforts.

Qualifications

Required Experience

• 15+ years of progressive accounting leadership experience, including oversight of global teams across multiple geographies and time zones.
• CPA required; deep expertise in US GAAP. Experience with statutory compliance in India is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success scaling accounting teams through rapid growth and organizational complexity, including IPO readiness or public company transition.
• Track record of delivering clean audits (AICPA or PCAOB) and implementing robust internal control environments.
• Direct experience owning global close, revenue recognition, treasury, and tax compliance functions.
• Strong systems acumen; experience with Netsuite required. Comfort working across a modern financial systems stack.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrates a relentless drive to improve close timelines, reduce errors, and raise the quality bar across every accounting process.
• Brings urgency and a bias for action, focusing on progress over perfection while maintaining accountability.
• Communicates clearly and openly with cross-functional and executive stakeholders, adapting message and detail to the audience.
• Acts independently and builds with confidence, even in the face of ambiguity and change.
• Exercises sound judgment and handles sensitive issues and high-stakes decisions with integrity and discretion.
• Thrives in turnaround or build-from-scratch environments. Brings clarity, energy, and urgency to ambiguous or high-pressure situations.
• Operates as a true cross-functional partner, working fluidly across Legal, FP&A, Delivery, and Business Systems to ensure accounting supports business execution.

You’ll thrive in this role if you…

• Lead from the front and expect the same from your team
• Take ownership, push forward progress, and get energy from making things happen
• Are energized by growth and thrive in fast-moving, high-change environments
• You don’t flinch at broken processes, incomplete data, or missing talent - you lead through it.
• Are open to using AI and automation to drive productivity, accuracy, and scale
• Build structure without slowing execution
• See accounting as a strategic enabler, not just a compliance function
• Embrace ambiguity and take initiative to build what doesn’t yet exist