Finance and Operations Lead

About Tacit We are an early-stage, deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction. We are backed by General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Greylock Partners, with a founding team from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, our team is tackling cutting-edge engineering challenges to bring revolutionary products to life. About the role As we double our headcount over the next year, the finance and operations infrastructure that's held together so far — spend controls, contracts, cap table, budget tracking — needs a real owner. This role is that owner: the person who makes sure money moves correctly, contracts don't create exposure, our cap table is clean, and leadership can see where we actually stand against plan. It's also the role we'll lean on as new operational questions come up that don't have an obvious home yet — sizing whether we should launch a new function, figuring out how to stand something up we haven't done before, or diligence on a new initiative. You'll report directly to our CEO. What you'll do Spend & Card Management. Own Ramp end to end — card issuance, spend policy, approval workflows, expense review, and bill pay. You set the guardrails and make sure they're followed without creating unnecessary friction. Controller-Type Work. Partner with our outside accountants on the books, but you're the internal owner of financial accuracy — reconciliations, close support, and making sure what's in the system reflects reality. Cap Table Management. Own Pulley — every option grant, exercise, termination, and financing event gets reflected correctly and promptly. Board and investor requests for cap table data go through you. FP&A. Own the monthly forecast and finance plan, run variance analysis against actuals, and — this hasn't existed yet and is one of the most important things you'll build — stand up real department-level budgets and the reporting that tracks spend against them. Vendor Contracts & Negotiation. Own vendor contract review and negotiation across the business, and act as the first point of contact into outside counsel on commercial/contract matters — you don't need to be a lawyer, but you need to know what's standard, what's not, and when something needs a real legal read. Insurance. Own the broker relationship and renewal cycle for our D&O, EPLI, general liability, and other coverage, bringing anything needing board approval to the right people. Board & Investor Support. You're not building the board deck but you own the underlying financial model and numbers that go into it, and you'll be in the room to answer the hard questions about it. Strategic & Cross-Functional Projects. Finance work won't fill 100% of your time, and that's intentional. You're the quantitative backbone for the ambiguous stuff that doesn't have a natural owner yet — modeling out a new team's staffing plan, sizing whether we should launch a new function, or conducting diligence on a new vendor or initiative. If it needs a spreadsheet and good judgment before anyone else touches it, it probably lands with you first. Requirements 4–8 years in finance, ideally with time as a controller or senior FP&A person inside a venture-backed startup — bonus points if you've been through a Series A or later round and know what investor-grade financial hygiene actually looks like. Comfortable being the entire finance function day to day — this is a hands-on doer role today, not a manager role. You're the one entering the details, not delegating them. Real experience with tools like Ramp (or a comparable spend platform), Pulley or Carta (cap table), and QuickBooks or similar — you shouldn't need much ramp-up time on any of these. Comfortable reading and negotiating commercial contracts without a lawyer in the room for every one — you know your limits and when to escalate. Wants variety — some weeks are pure finance (closing the books, reviewing a contract), others mean modeling out something the company's never done before. You're energized by that mix, not just tolerant of it. Precise and low-drama under real financial and compliance stakes — errors in spend controls or cap table data are costly and hard to unwind. Comfortable in a hardware-plus-software environment with real physical-world costs (components, manufacturing, lab equipment) — a meaningfully different cost structure than a pure software startup. High ownership, low ego about scope — plenty of unglamorous, detailed work alongside the higher-leverage stuff. Strong candidates may have Deep expertise in one or more of the following areas: realtime sensor acquisition and synchronization Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity systems embedded audio and ANC systems Experience with Qualcomm Snapdragon S-series platforms. Familiarity with STM32-based embedded systems. Experience with embedded audio interfaces such as I2S, PDM, TDM, or related protocols. Experience with wireless coexistence optimization across Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and proprietary RF systems. Experience building ANC, beamforming, or low-latency audio systems. Experience with embedded Linux systems. Experience developing manufacturing firmware, calibration systems, or automated test infrastructure. Experience with CI systems, automated testing, and firmware deployment pipelines. Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing systems. Experience with Python for tooling, automation, or instrumentation control. Familiarity with secure boot, firmware signing, and device security. Strong understanding of low-power embedded architecture and system-level power optimization. Experience using lab instrumentation including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, RF tools, and protocol analyzers. Compensation Range $150,000 - $200,000/year Benefits Competitive equity package Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance Company size: 3-50 people Unlimited PTO Visa sponsorship 4% 401k matching