Associate Director - Finance

Location: Noida (Work from Office - 5 days in week)

CA (Chartered Accountant) Qualified

Own financial strategy and operations for 20M+ users across 15+ regional languages with scope to go global soon. Build systems that enable disciplined growth and turn financial data into strategic advantage — not just close books.

What You Will Own (Non-Negotiable)

This role owns the financial health and strategic clarity of the business, not just accounting.

You Are The Final Authority On

How company allocates resources (content budgets, marketing spend, expansion decisions)
How company plans for the future (fundraising, runway, scenario modeling)
What the real numbers are — and what they mean for decision-making
How company leverages AI to automate, predict, and optimize financial operations
How company communicates with investors — with clarity, confidence, and credibility
The systemic rigor that turns financial data into strategic advantage

Your mandate spans FP&A + Accounting + Compliance + Treasury + Strategic Finance + Investor Relations + AI Adoption.

Key Responsibilities

Own All Fundraising Activities

Financial Planning & Analysis (Strategic Finance Engine)
Build company's Financial Command Center — the single source of truth on business performance, unit economics, and growth levers.
Own monthly/quarterly financial reviews with sharp insights on:

Revenue trends by region, language, and content category
Subscriber cohorts, churn, LTV, and payback periods
Content ROI and acquisition efficiency
Cash burn and runway projections

Present a monthly Finance Insights Deck to leadership with clear, articulate recommendations on resource allocation and strategic pivots.
Influence Content, Marketing, Product, and Growth roadmaps with financial clarity and strategic foresight.
Build predictive financial models using AI/ML tools for forecasting, anomaly detection, and scenario planning.
Content Economics & Unit Economics Mastery (OTT-Specific Intelligence)
Build and continuously refine the unit economics model:
Subscriber acquisition cost (CAC) by channel, region, and language
Lifetime value (LTV) by cohort, content genre, and user behavior
Content cost per hour watched and per subscriber
Revenue per user (ARPU) trends and payment method analysis
Churn drivers and retention economics
Master content economics:

Content amortization schedules for library valuation
Licensing vs. original content ROI trade-offs
Content asset valuation and depreciation
Regional content performance (Haryanvi vs. Gujarati economics)
Structure content deals from a finance lens:
Minimum guarantees, revenue shares, licensing windows
Creator contract economics and payout structures
Content investment cycles and working capital management
Identify margin leaks and partner with Growth, Product, Content, and CX teams to improve efficiency.
Use financial data to uncover hidden consumer pain points — subscription drop-offs, regional pricing mismatches, payment gateway issues.

3. Fundraising & Investor Relations (Capital Strategy & Articulation) This is a senior-level, strategic mandate requiring exceptional articulation skills.
Build compelling pitch decks and financial models
Lead investor conversations with clarity, confidence, and strategic depth
Coordinate due diligence processes with legal, product, and operations teams
Manage data room preparation and investor queries

Growth Fundraising Expertise Required

Series B/C dynamics: growth metrics scrutiny, path to profitability, valuation defense
Secondary transactions and cap table optimization
Investor syndicate management

Own Investor Communication

Monthly investor updates with sharp insights and honest assessment
Quarterly board decks that tell the business story through numbers
Annual audited financials and investor reporting
Board relationship management and governance
Accounting, Compliance & Regulatory Rigor (Operational Foundation)

Accounting Operations

Own ALL finance verticals with zero gaps:

P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statements
Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) management
Month-end and year-end close processes
Fixed asset management and depreciation schedules
Revenue recognition under Ind AS 115 (subscription complexity, bundles, ads, B2B licensing)

Compliance & Statutory

GST (registration, filing, reconciliation, audits across multiple states)
TDS (deduction, payment, returns — especially for content creators and licensing)
Income Tax (advance tax, returns, assessments)
ROC filings (annual returns, financials, director KYC)
Audit coordination (statutory, tax, internal)
FEMA compliance (for foreign investments and international content deals)
Digital Media regulations (Intermediary Guidelines compliance)
Audit Committee readiness and governance

Treasury & Banking

Cash flow management and liquidity planning
Bank account management and signatories
Forex management for international content licensing
Vendor payment systems and approval hierarchies
Crisis/runway management under stress scenarios
Payment Infrastructure & Tier 2/3 Economics
Payment gateway economics and transaction costs
Carrier billing partnerships and economics
UPI, wallets, and regional payment behavior
Payment failure patterns and recovery
Regional pricing strategy and elasticity
AI Adoption & Finance Automation (Future-Ready Finance) This is a core requirement, not a nice-to-have.

Lead AI Adoption Across The Finance Function

Implement AI-powered tools for expense categorization, invoice processing, and reconciliation
Build predictive analytics for cash flow, churn, and revenue forecasting
Automate financial reporting and dashboard generation
Use AI for fraud detection, vendor analysis, and spend optimization

Evaluate and deploy finance tech stack (ERPs, FP&A tools, automation platforms).

Train the finance team to work alongside AI systems — not resist them.

Stay ahead of AI trends in finance and continuously improve automation maturity.

Strategic Thinking & Cross-Functional Leadership You are not just the Finance head — you are a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team. Translate complex financial concepts into clear, compelling narratives for board, investors, and teams. Influence company culture around financial discipline, data-driven decisions, and long-term thinking. Your strategic thinking must elevate every major business decision.
Team Building & Finance Culture (Leadership Excellence) Create a culture of curiosity, rigor, and continuous improvement within finance. Train non-finance teams to understand key financial metrics and think like owners. Foster an AI-first mindset where automation is embraced, not feared. You create the systems and culture that make the finance engine run predictably, intelligently, and withquality.

Requirements

Experience: 10–15+ years in Finance, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (Head of Finance, CFO, VP Finance, or equivalent).

Proven Ownership Of

Financial planning & analysis (FP&A)
Accounting operations (AR, AP, GL, fixed assets)
Compliance & statutory (GST, TDS, Income Tax, ROC, FEMA)
Treasury & cash management
Fundraising & investor relations
Strategic finance & unit economics

Must-have Experience

Growth Fundraising (Series B/C+) — Series C scrutiny is different — path to profitability,

valuation defense, investor syndicate management

AI Adoption — Implemented automation tools or used AI/ML for forecasting/analytics
Content Deal Structuring — Experience structuring content licensing deals, MGs, revenue

shares from finance POV

Compliance Mastery — Zero compliance delays or penalties in previous roles
Consumer Business — OTT, fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, food delivery, or mobility with deep understanding of unit economics
Payment Infrastructure — Understanding of Tier 2/3 payment behavior, gateway economics, carrier billing
Revenue Recognition (Ind AS 115) — Subscription revenue complexity — bundles, ads, B2B licensing
Strategic Thinking — Changed business strategy or resource allocation through financial

insights

M&A / Strategic Partnerships — Evaluated acquisition targets or structured strategic deals

(preferred)

International Finance — Multi-currency, transfer pricing, international entity setup (preferred, given global expansion plans)
Crisis Management — Runway extension under stress, turnaround scenarios
Audit Committee Experience — Board-level governance and audit processes

Skills: financial planning & analysis (fp&a),accounting operations,compliance & statutory,treasury & cash management,undraising & investor relations,finance head