Vice President, Controller - Oakland, CA

About the Job: · LaunchDarkly is hiring a Vice President, Controller to serve as the single accountable leader for company-wide accounting integrity, revenue recognition, close discipline, and internal controls as the business scales from ~$200M ARR toward $400M+ and increased ex ...

Job description

About the Job:

LaunchDarkly is hiring a Vice President, Controller to serve as the single accountable leader for company-wide accounting integrity, revenue recognition, close discipline, and internal controls as the business scales from ~$200M ARR toward $400M+ and increased external scrutiny.

This role exists to elevate Accounting from a historically back-office function into a collaborative, business-facing partner—one that delivers rigor and accuracy without becoming a gatekeeper or slowing execution. A key reason for this leadership change is to strengthen cross-functional partnership and collaboration with GTM, Legal, People, and G&A leaders.

Reporting to the CFO, the VP, Controller will independently run a complex accounting organization at a $200M–$400M ARR scale, while building the foundation for future public-company readiness in a pragmatic, staged way (IPO timeline is measured in years, not quarters). This leader will partner closely with FP&A, Legal, GTM, IT, and Data & Analytics to ensure financial reporting is accurate, timely, scalable, and trusted.

The VP, Controller will:

• Operate the accounting function with minimal executive oversight, while maintaining CFO-level rigor and judgment
• Deliver accurate, timely, confidence-inspiring financials every period through strong close discipline
• Establish Accounting as a trusted business partner to functional leaders—not a back-office service desk or gatekeeper
• Own and continuously improve revenue recognition and contract accounting discipline, reducing downstream complexity through upstream clarity
• Build a scalable accounting operating model suitable for a $200M–$400M+ ARR SaaS company, including thoughtful progress toward SOX/public-company readiness without premature over-engineering

Responsibilities:

Company-Wide Accounting Ownership

• Own all core accounting functions including general ledger, month-end and quarter-end close, treasury, tax coordination, equity accounting, and external audit management
• Ensure financial statements are accurate, complete, and produced on a predictable, accelerated close timeline
• Serve as the company's technical accounting authority and escalation point

Revenue Recognition & Deal Complexity

• Own ASC 606 revenue recognition policies, processes, and judgments
• Partner closely with Legal, Sales Ops, and GTM leadership on contract structure, deal terms, and revenue implications
• Ensure contracts are accounted for correctly, consistently, and defensibly
• Reduce downstream accounting complexity through upstream clarity and discipline

Internal Controls & Risk Management

• Design and implement a right-sized internal control framework suitable for a high-growth private SaaS company
• Strengthen controls around revenue, close processes, approvals, and data integrity
• Begin foundational work for future SOX readiness without introducing unnecessary friction

Audit, Tax & External Readiness

• Own the relationship with external auditors and advisors
• Ensure smooth audits with minimal disruption to the business
• Oversee tax compliance in partnership with external firms (income tax, sales/use tax, international considerations)
• Support future 409A process, M&A diligence, financing events, and external reporting requirements

Systems, Data & Operating Leverage

• Partner with FP&A, IT, and Data & Analytics to improve automation, data flow, and accounting systems
• Reduce manual processes and spreadsheet dependency
• Ensure accounting data is clean, auditable, and aligned with company-wide metrics and dashboards

Accounting Operating Model & Team Leadership

• Lead, develop, and upgrade the accounting organization as needed
• Set clear ownership, accountability, and performance expectations
• Build a team capable of operating at a materially larger scale than today
• Foster a culture of precision, accountability, and business partnership

Qualifications:

SaaS & Scale Experience

• 12+ years of progressive accounting leadership experience
• Prior VP Accounting or senior Controller experience at a B2B SaaS company
• Direct experience operating at ~$200M+ ARR (or clear evidence of readiness for that scale)
• Hands-on ownership of revenue recognition in a subscription-based model

Technical & Operational Excellence

• Deep expertise in U.S. GAAP, especially ASC 606
• Strong understanding of internal controls, audits, and accounting systems
• Ability to balance technical correctness with business pragmatism
• Big 4 public accounting background (3–5 years) strongly preferred (nice-to-have)

Executive Presence & Business Partnership

• Operates autonomously with sound judgment and high integrity
• Clear, confident communicator with credibility across executives and the Board
• Willing to challenge assumptions and elevate standards when required
• Strong collaborator who builds trust across functions and improves partnership with G&A leaders (Legal, People, etc.)

Pay:

Target pay ranges based on Geographic Zones* for Level E1:

• Zone 1: San Francisco/Bay Area or NYC Metropolitan Area, Boston, Seattle - $338,000 - $464,000**
• Zone 2: Irvine, LA, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Austin, Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago - $304,000 - $418,000**
• Zone 3: All other US locations - $287,000 - $395,000**
• Inclusive of 20% Bonus.

LaunchDarkly operates from a place of high trust and transparency; we are happy to state the pay range for our open roles to best align with your needs. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.

• Within the United States, our geographic pay zones are defined by counties surrounding major metropolitan areas.

**Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), health, vision, and dental insurance, and mental health benefits in addition to salary.

About LaunchDarkly:

Modern software delivery was supposed to be the foundation for a thriving digital business but reality has proven otherwise. Slow, inefficient development cycles, costly outages, and fragmented customer experiences are preventing developers from building their best software. The LaunchDarkly platform helps developers innovate on new features faster while protecting them with a safety valve to instantly rewind when things go wrong. Developers can target product experiences to any customer segment and maximize the business impact of every feature. And by gradually rolling out new application components, they escape nightmare "big-bang" technology migrations.

The LaunchDarkly platform was built to guide engineers to the next frontier of DevOps by:

• Improving the velocity and stability of software releases, without the fear of end customer outages
• Delivering targeted experiences by easily personalizing features to customer cohorts
• Maximizing the business impact of every feature through the ability to experiment and optimize
• Coordinating the release and optimization of software to provide consistent experiences across mobile platforms and device types
• Improving the effectiveness and productivity of engineering teams, by providing insights into engineering cadence and stability

At LaunchDarkly, we believe in the power of teams. We're building a team that is humble, open, collaborative, respectful and kind. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. LD invites any applicant to review our written Affirmative Action Plan. To do so, contact People Ops at

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