VP, Finance

Canals is scaling quickly. Revenue is growing, headcount is growing, and the financial complexity of the business is increasing with it. We're looking for a Head of Finance who can bring clarity, discipline, and strategic thinking to everything finance-related - while staying deeply hands-on.

This is not a "manage a big team" role. It's a build-and-own role.

You will be the keeper of the financial model, the steward of our books, and a strategic partner to the CEO. You'll help us answer questions like:

You'll operate at both altitudes: strategic finance and blocking-and-tackling execution. We want someone humble enough to get their hands dirty, but strong enough to influence company-level decisions.

This role reports directly to the CEO and will play a key role in board communication and company planning.

- Build, maintain, and evolve a clear forward-looking model that enables scenario planning, hiring projections, profitability analysis, and capital allocation decisions.

- Partner with external firms where appropriate, but maintain accountability for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.

- Translate financial data into insight. Identify trends, risks, and opportunities. Bring clear recommendations - not just numbers.

- Support sales compensation planning, revenue forecasting, invoicing processes, collections, and customer-facing financial workflows.

- Prepare quarterly financials and present results clearly and confidently to leadership and the board.

- Ensure we're using the right tools and workflows for a fast-growing SaaS company. Leverage automation and AI where appropriate to operate lean without sacrificing rigor.

- Monitor burn, profitability, collections, and vendor payments with precision.

- Know when something materially matters - and when it doesn't.

- 8+ years of experience in early-stage startup environments (pre-Series B or into Series B strongly preferred).

- Strong financial modeling skills. You should be able to build and defend a sophisticated operating model without relying on others.

- Experience overseeing accounting, taxes, and books - even if execution is outsourced.

- Comfort operating as a lean finance function (e.g., VP + one additional team member or external support).

- Experience partnering with revenue organizations (sales comp, forecasting, invoicing, collections).

- Ability to present financial results clearly to executive leadership and board-level audiences.

- High ownership mindset. You don't wait to be told what to fix.

- Comfort with ambiguity, scrappiness, and imperfect information.

- Strong judgment - you know which risks require rigor and which don't.

- Experience in SaaS is preferred. Familiarity with SaaS metrics (e.g., retention, gross margin, Rule of 40) is a plus but not mandatory if you're sharp and adaptable.

- Comfort exploring how AI and automation can improve finance and accounting efficiency.