Staff Accountant
FAR.AI
Summary
We are hiring our first in-house accountant to build our internal capacity as we scale the organization. Over the next 12–18 months, this role will be critical in helping FAR.AI grow to roughly triple its current size while expanding to new geographies and entities. Reporting to the Head of Finance, this is a hands-on, full-cycle role suited for an experienced accountant who is comfortable operating independently, managing multiple concurrent bodies of work, and has worked in dynamic work environments, covering many roles across accounting and financial operations.
Job description
Key Responsibilities
- Own the full accounting cycle
- Lead month-end and year-end close processes, preparing and reviewing journal entries, accruals, and account reconciliations
- Maintain accurate general ledger records for a U.S. non-profit with international staff & operations, including an entity in Singapore
- Support grant and fund accounting, including tracking restricted and unrestricted funding, preparing grant financial reports, and ensuring compliance with donor requirements
- Assist in the preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and management reports for leadership and the board
- Coordinate with external accountants, auditors, and tax preparers
- Partner with the Head of Finance and the Finance Manager to develop and document accounting policies, internal controls, and financial processes suited to a scaling organization
- Support financial operations of the organization, as needed
- Respond to ad hoc financial analysis and reporting requests from program teams, leadership, and external stakeholders
Must-Have Qualifications
- 5+ years of hands-on accounting experience, with demonstrated ownership of full-cycle accounting responsibilities
- CPA license or active progress toward CPA
- Excellent at working across spreadsheets and financial systems, including Google Sheets, Quickbooks Online, Ramp, Mercury, and Airtable (among others)
- Track record of working independently with minimal oversight
- Managing competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-moving environment
- High attention to detail and accuracy, with a systematic approach to reconciliation and documentation
- Strong communication skills, including being able to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues
Nice-to-Have Qualifications
- Experience with nonprofit accounting, including fund accounting, grant reporting, and 990 preparation
- Familiarity with multi-entity or multi-currency accounting
- Experience supporting or coordinating external audits
- Passion for working in an impact-driven organization
- Experience developing or improving financial controls
- Experience implementing or improving systems
- Has worked in a startup-like environment
Requirements
- 5+ years of hands-on accounting experience, with demonstrated ownership of full-cycle accounting responsibilities
- CPA license or active progress toward CPA
- Excellent at working across spreadsheets and financial systems, including Google Sheets, Quickbooks Online, Ramp, Mercury, and Airtable (among others)
- Track record of working independently with minimal oversight
- Managing competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-moving environment
- High attention to detail and accuracy, with a systematic approach to reconciliation and documentation
- Strong communication skills, including being able to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues
- Experience with nonprofit accounting, including fund accounting, grant reporting, and 990 preparation
- Familiarity with multi-entity or multi-currency accounting
- Experience supporting or coordinating external audits
- Passion for working in an impact-driven organization
- Experience developing or improving financial controls
- Experience implementing or improving systems
- Has worked in a startup-like environment
Benefits
- Work-related travel expenses
- Equipment expenses
- Catered lunch
- Catered dinner
Company overview
FAR.AI is an independent nonprofit research organization founded in 2022 and based in Berkeley, California, dedicated to ensuring the safe development and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence systems. The organization focuses on frontier alignment research to make AI systems trustworthy, secure, and beneficial to society. FAR.AI operates through three main divisions: FAR.Research explores high-potential technical AI safety research directions including adversarial robustness, interpretability, and preference learning; FAR.Labs supports the San Francisco Bay Area AI safety research community through coworking spaces, events, and programs; and FAR.Futures delivers initiatives that bring together global leaders in AI academia, industry, and policy. The organization has secured over $30 million in funding from major supporters including Coefficient Giving, Schmidt Sciences, and the AI Safety Fund, enabling significant expansion of research capabilities and field-building initiatives. FAR.AI conducts rigorous technical research on AI safety challenges while building the field through workshops, fellowships, and collaborative initiatives, positioning itself as a critical institution addressing one of the most pressing technological challenges of our time.