Controller

About Ashby

We’re building the next generation of enterprise software and we’re starting with a suite of products that empower talent leaders, recruiters, and hiring managers to be a driving force for revenue & efficiency via a holistic, data-centric talent strategy. We are well funded and backed by great investors, including Y Combinator, Elad Gil and Lachy Groom. We have thousands of amazing customers including Snowflake, OpenAI, Shopify, Ramp, Notion, and Zapier (and many others who we cannot name!). Our growth and retention metrics are best-in-class among our peers: we have tens of millions in ARR, growing >100% year over year, over 4,000 customers, very low churn, and many years of runway. In short, it's the perfect time to join! 🚀

Join Ashby as our first Controller to lead the full accounting lifecycle in a high-growth SaaS environment, with a focus on audit readiness, operational rigor, and building the systems, controls, and team needed to support our next phase of scale.

About the Job

Hi, I’m Shane and I’m the VP of Finance & Operations at Ashby. I’ve been at Ashby for almost two years and am excited to hire our first Controller! Ashby’s growth over the past several years has been rooted in the belief that strong accounting is not just a back-office function, but a core pillar of a healthy and durable business. With a solid foundation already in place today, we are entering a new phase of scale that calls for a Controller to lead the next chapter of our accounting evolution. This role will own the full accounting organization end-to-end, adding increased rigor to our close, controls, audit preparedness, and financial reporting while continuing to strengthen a durable, scalable infrastructure to support long-term growth. The Controller will partner closely with Finance and executive leadership as the company evolves in complexity, visibility, and external expectations.

Your initial responsibilities will include:

• Owning the end-to-end accounting function, building on an established foundation to further strengthen accuracy, speed, and scalability across the organization.
• Leading the monthly, quarterly, and annual close with a focus on consistency, rigor, and continuous improvement.
• Ensuring precise financial reporting in accordance with US GAAP, including oversight of complex areas such as revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, and technical accounting.
• Enhancing audit readiness, serving as the primary owner of external audits and strengthening internal controls and documentation.
• Partnering with cross-functional leaders to ensure the chart of accounts, reporting structure, and accounting policies continue to evolve with the business.
• Overseeing and optimizing execution across cash management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing, taxes, statutory compliance, and eventually payroll.
• Driving thoughtful improvements to accounting systems, workflows, and automation to support scale and reduce manual tasks.
• Partnering with external accounting firms to oversee international subsidiary accounting, review local statutory results, and ensure accurate consolidation into the US parent.

You should apply if:

• You have taken a company public in an accounting leadership role .
• You have led an accounting function through stages of growth beyond where Ashby is today, understand what breaks at scale, and are motivated to build ahead of it.
• You are energized by developing people. You take pride in teaching, mentoring, and leveling up the team around you, and you measure your success not just by output, but by how much stronger the organization becomes under your leadership.
• You are deeply grounded in the fundamentals. You care about clean reporting, disciplined processes, and strong controls not because they are required, but because they are the foundation of everything else.
• You naturally operate with a long-term mindset. Ashby is not yet a public company, but you believe in building with that level of rigor before it is required. You are motivated by creating an accounting function that will endure as the business grows in complexity and visibility.
• You enjoy being close to the work. You are comfortable operating hands-on in the details today while thoughtfully designing the systems, processes, and team structure that will support tomorrow.

Why you shouldn’t apply:

• You prefer being “high level.” This role requires a leader who is comfortable being deeply hands-on while also thinking strategically about how the function scales. If you prefer to delegate everything immediately or stay purely in review mode, this will not be the right fit.
• You haven’t led through meaningful scale before. We are looking for someone who has already navigated the complexity of a later-stage SaaS accounting organization and knows what it takes to prepare for what’s ahead. This is not a role for learning those lessons for the first time.
• You are more comfortable inheriting a fully built machine than helping evolve one. This role is for someone who finds energy in shaping, refining, and strengthening what already exists as the business grows in complexity and expectations.
• You are uncomfortable owning the hard details. From revenue recognition to close mechanics to transaction-level accuracy, this role requires a leader who still enjoys being close to the work and setting the standard through involvement, not distance.
• You’ve only seen accounting from a purely advisory seat. Public accounting experience is highly valued, but this role requires someone who has lived inside a SaaS business and owned the outcomes day to day.

Interview Plan:

• 30 min initial interview with Recruiting
• 60 min Hiring Manager Interview with Shane
• Project Stage
• Final Round, which will include leaders across the business, Finance, Legal and our CEO

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity.
• 10-year exercise window for stock options. You shouldn’t feel pressure to purchase stock options if you leave Ashby —do it when you feel financially comfortable.
• Unlimited PTO, and we will encourage you to take it.
• A minimum of 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, covered by Ashby. For folks outside the US, it may be longer to be in line with regional requirements.
• Generous equipment, software, and office furniture budget. Get what you need to be happy and productive!
• $100/month education budget with more expensive items (like conferences) covered with manager approval.
• If you’re in the US, we offer top-tier health insurance for you and your dependents, with 100% of premiums covered by Ashby, and a 401k match.

Ashby’s success hinges on hiring great people and creating an environment where we can be happy, feel challenged, and do our best work. We’re being deliberate about building that environment from the ground up. I hope that excites you enough to apply.

Ashby provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome people from all backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and abilities.