Strategic Finance Lead

About us

Our mission is to reinvent the way people learn, starting with language. We begin by teaching the next billion people English, Spanish, and French.

English is the global language of business, culture, and communication, and over 1.5 billion people around the world are actively trying to learn right now. Others dream of communicating with the half-billion native Spanish speakers across the globe. The problem is that it's nearly impossible to learn to speak a language without constant access to a speaking partner. Grammar and vocab apps don't really help – you need to actually converse with someone.

Speak is on a journey to fix this. We're creating an AI-powered experience that replicates the flow of a conversation, without needing a human on the other end. The goal is to make it radically more accessible to be able to have conversations in a foreign language and eventually help hundreds of millions of people gain fluency who otherwise wouldn't be able to.

We started on this journey over five years ago and we've still got a long ways to go. We're thoughtfully adding new team members only when we think they can truly play a big role in our mission.

Speak launched first in South Korea where we have quickly grown to become the top grossing education app in the country. We have now delivered this winning product to more than 30 countries globally and are continuing to expand to more markets in the coming months. The company is well funded, raising a recent Series B backed by investors like OpenAI, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Lachy Groom, Josh Buckley, and others. We’re a team of 75 based primarily in SF, Seoul, Tokyo, and Ljubljana.

About this role

This role will be the first dedicated Strategic Finance hire on Speak’s Finance team. The role requires someone who is highly analytical and strategic, an excellent communicator, approaches problems in a structured manner, and is comfortable with ambiguity. You’ll have substantial exposure to senior leadership, focus on the highest-priority business issues, and be plugged into every facet of the business.

What you’ll be doing

• As the Strategic Finance lead on Speak’s Finance team, you will own our company model and lead our consolidated strategic and financial planning processes
• Serve as a thought partner to cross-functional stakeholders and ensure they have the necessary resource allocations to invest in key investments/initiatives
• Drive alignment on KPIs and key metrics to track team-specific and company-wide trends, growth initiatives, business performance, and provide visibility into operating performance
• Understand and analyze the levers that drive Speak’s long-term financial trajectory
• Implement a best-in-class planning system that will scale
• Assist with capital planning efforts, corporate finance, and investor relations
• Partner with the Accounting team on month end closes process, forecasting efforts and various strategic projects
• Prepare presentations and key reporting to the Board of Directors and Executive Team

What we’re looking for?

• An ability to distill complex issues into structured frameworks and concrete action plans
• Expert financial modeling skills with extremely strong attention to detail
• Excellent presentation and writing skills and the ability to clearly communicate messages

  that link business issues, financial results, and strategy at the executive level

• Ability to quickly identify and methodically resolve potential road-blocks
• 6+ years of relevant experience in FP&A, strategic finance, investment banking, private equity, or related fields
• 2+ years Strategic Finance or FP&A experience at a high growth startup is required, and experience at a Consumer Subscription business is a major plus
• Strong knowledge of Google Suite, and MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) required. Experience with Netsuite and FP&A systems like Anaplan and Adaptive Insights strongly preferred
• Must live in the Bay Area and work at least 3 days a week out of our downtown SF office

Compensation

• $160K – $230K • Offers Equity

At Speak, our compensation philosophy is based on work experience, interview performance, leveling and other factors evaluated during the hiring process.

Why work at Speak

1. Join a fantastic, tight-knit team at the right time: we're growing very quickly, we've raised our Series B and additional extensions from some of the top investors in the valley, and we've achieved product-market fit in our initial markets. You'd join at a magical time when a single person could significantly change the course of the company.
2. Do your life's work with people you’ll love working with: we care strongly about our craft and want every person at Speak to feel like they're growing every day. We believe in the idea that working with people you both enjoy and have respect for makes everything better. We hire thoughtfully and only work with people we admire deeply.
3. Global in nature: We're live in over 40 countries and launching in a number of new markets soon. We have dedicated offices in San Francisco, Ljubljana, Seoul, and Tokyo, and you’ll have the opportunity to talk to users in each of these regions on a regular basis as well as travel.
4. Impact people's lives in a major way: Learning a language is one of the single most life-changing skills one can learn, and right now 99% of people never achieve their goal because the process is broken. We’re helping millions of people achieve their goals and improve their lives.

Speak does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.