Director, Corporate Accounting

About Ethos

Ethos is a leading life insurance technology company on a mission to protect families by democratizing access to life insurance and empowering agents at scale. With its robust three-sided technology platform, Ethos is transforming the life insurance experience for consumers, agents, and carriers alike. Ethos offers instant, accessible products and a seamless online process that requires no medical exams and just a few health questions; it eliminates traditional barriers, making it easier than ever for everyone to protect their families. Ethos is redefining how life insurance is bought, sold, and underwritten.

About the role

Ethos is seeking an ambitious, results-driven, and hands-on Director of Corporate Accounting (open to a high-performing Senior Accounting Manager ready to step up) to lead and optimize our corporate accounting operations. This strategic yet execution-focused role is ideal for a proactive financial leader with deep technical expertise who thrives on solving complex accounting challenges, driving operational efficiencies, and ensuring strict compliance with GAAP and SOX 404 regulations.

Hands-on Leadership Mindset: The ideal candidate isn't just a high-level reviewer—you are someone who loves to roll up your sleeves, dive into the trenches with the team, and personally investigate discrepancies when needed. You combine meticulous detail orientation with the strategic vision required to scale an accounting function.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Senior Director Strategic Partner & Trusted Proxy: Serve as the primary right hand and strategic partner to the Senior Director of Corporate Accounting. This role demands a high degree of operational autonomy; you will be expected to step in, run day-to-day corporate functions independently from day one, and act as a true force multiplier for leadership with minimal supervision.
• Autonomous Operational Ownership: Lead and execute day-to-day corporate accounting functions with an exceptional level of self-direction, including the month-end close process, global consolidation, intercompany transactions, and financial reporting, ensuring total accuracy and velocity.
• In-the-Trenches Problem Solving: Actively dive into the transactional data to investigate complex discrepancies, reconcile intricate accounts, and execute root-cause analytical resolution alongside the team.
• Process Automation & AI Integration: Identify, evaluate, and implement opportunities to leverage modern technology, automation, and AI workflows to streamline accounting cycles and scale the finance infrastructure.
• Technical Accounting & Compliance: Serve as the internal subject matter expert on complex accounting treatments; ensure strict adherence to US GAAP, coordinate external audits, and maintain robust SOX 404 internal control environments.
• Internal Controls & Process Improvement: Implement new processes and improve financial controls to ensure the long-term health and stability of our increasingly complex business operations.
• Global Team Leadership & Mentorship: Manage, mentor, and elevate a growing accounting team across multiple timezones, fostering a high-performance culture anchored in accountability, continuous learning, and rigorous attention to detail.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate closely with FP&A, Legal, Operations, and Executive Leadership to deliver precise financial insights that drive strategic data-driven corporate decisions.
• Ad-Hoc Projects & Strategic Guidance: Support critical ad-hoc projects (including system implementations, upgrades, integrations, and process improvements), providing strategic guidance and hands-on expertise across financial operations.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Progressive Career Track: 10+ years of progressive, professional accounting experience with leadership roles within a fast-growing corporate framework; experience including 3+ years at publicly traded or late-stage pre-IPO companies is highly preferred.
• Global Team Management: Prior experience building and leading accounting teams across multiple timezones successfully.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting.
• Technical Mastery: Expert-level functional knowledge of US GAAP, advanced financial statement preparation, multi-entity consolidations, and comprehensive SOX 404 compliance frameworks.
• Systems & AI Savvy: Strong familiarity with enterprise-grade ERP systems, specifically NetSuite. Hands-on experience with, or a demonstrable interest in, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) tools to optimize traditional workflows is a significant plus.
• Meticulous Detail Orientation: Exceptional attention to detail with a proven operational track record of isolating financial anomalies, implementing automated sanity checks, and enforcing ironclad data integrity across systems.
• Execution & Extreme Ownership: Motivated self-starter with a track record of success and a proven ability to juggle multiple projects/tasks while hitting deadlines with minimal supervision. Strong desire to own and drive projects from Day 1.
• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; highly effective cross-functional collaborator.
• Mindset & Drive: An ambitious leader who excels within high-growth ambiguity, welcomes building structured mechanisms from the ground up, and naturally balances strategic direction with tactical execution.

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The US national base salary range for this full-time position is $190,000 -$210,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. 

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include applicable bonus, equity, or benefits. 

You can find further details of our US benefits at https://www.ethoslife.com/careers/

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. At Ethos we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Pursuant to the SF Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrests and conviction records.

To learn more about what information we collect and how it may be used, please refer to our California Candidate Privacy Notice.

Recruitment Notice: Please be aware of recruitment scams. All legitimate communication from our team will only come from email addresses ending in @ethos.com or @getethos.com.
We will never ask for payment, banking details, or sensitive personal information during the hiring process. If you are contacted by someone claiming to represent us from a different email address, please treat it as fraudulent.