Director of Finance

Tavern Research is a political tech startup building tools and insights to help our customers win elections and make better, evidence-based decisions. The Director of Finance will own the financial model, accounting function, and investor process, playing a critical role in preparing for a Series A launch in early 2027.

Responsibilities:

• Own the Series A process end-to-end: data room, financial modeling, diligence, and term sheet negotiation support
• Build and maintain the investor model, unit economics, and KPI dashboard; defend them in partner meetings
• Run a structured, parallel process across a 25–30 firm target list, supporting 30+ partner-level meetings
• Prepare and deliver investor-ready financial snapshots that anchor warm-intro conversations in summer and fall 2026
• Stand up the data room to institutional standards: financials, cap table, customer cohort data, contracts, governance docs, and hiring plan
• Coordinate with Series A legal counsel on our mission-locked SPV structure and explain it credibly to investors
• Quarterback diligence: triage investor requests, maintain a tracker, ensure consistent answers across firms
• Run weekly fundraise standup with CBO and CEO; maintain live pipeline of firms, stages, and next steps
• Prep founders before every partner meeting and turn around model updates in hours, not days
• Pressure-test term sheets as they come in: economics, board, protective provisions, dilution across competing offers
• Run closing mechanics: wires, stock issuances, updated cap table, 409A refresh, board consents
• Translate the investor model into departmental budgets, hiring sequencing, and burn targets
• Establish board governance and investor reporting cadence (monthly updates, board materials, minutes)
• Upgrade finance ops to match new scrutiny: tighter close, GAAP financials, audit readiness, KPI reporting infrastructure
• Build and maintain the forward financial model: cash flow, runway, scenario analysis, and revenue projections through Series B milestones
• Track and report on revenue performance, burn rate, and cycle vs. off-cycle revenue mix
• Manage complex political invoicing. Customers and funders are often different entities, invoice names shift for political sensitivity, and payment timing follows FEC filing deadlines
• Manage ACH/wire processes for same-day political disbursements
• Document invoicing and compliance workflows clearly enough that a diligence team can follow them without raising flags
• Own or oversee the accounting function (currently outsourced; you'll decide what stays and what changes)
• Manage the finance stack (QuickBooks, Rippling, Mercury, Ramp, Bill.com) so it's diligence-clean by October 2026
• Drive the Q3 2026 accrual-basis close and coordinate a refreshed 409A in time for pre-launch investor updates
• Maintain clean books, reconciled accounts, and a documented revenue recognition policy