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Serve Robotics is building autonomous sidewalk robots for urban delivery, operating fleets across Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago. The Manager, Strategic Finance role is the finance leader responsible for shaping the company's investment priorities and growth strategy.
Reporting directly to the CEO and COO, you will lead strategic financial analysis on the company's biggest decisions: strategic prioritization across initiatives, target and market sizing, capital budgeting (NPV, IRR, payback analysis), and investment cases for new markets, partnerships, and M&A. You will develop deep operational knowledge of both the Diligent Robotics business (fleet deployment, utilization, unit economics, customer dynamics, cost structure) and the Serve Robotics business to ground every recommendation in how the combined business actually runs.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading strategic prioritization by framing trade-offs across initiatives, quantifying resource requirements and expected returns, and recommending where the company should invest, scale, or stop
- Owning capital budgeting and investment analysis, building NPV, IRR, payback, and scenario models for capital deployment, major programs, pricing changes, and market entry
- Sizing targets and market opportunities (TAM/SAM, unit economics, adoption curves) to underpin company goals and long-range planning
- Building and maintaining sum-of-the-parts analyses to value business lines, products, and markets for portfolio and pricing decisions
- Leading financial modeling for M&A, strategic partnerships, and commercial agreements, including valuation, synergies, integration scenarios, and post-deal tracking
- Owning the long-range strategic plan, translating company strategy into multi-year financial models with explicit growth, margin, and capital assumptions
- Defining and maintaining the KPI and unit-economics framework used by leadership to run the business
- Preparing executive-ready presentations, valuations, and financial narratives for leadership, board reviews, and investor discussions
- Running ad hoc strategic analyses on pricing, go-to-market investments, competitive positioning, and corporate development
- Serving as the primary Strategic Finance and FP&A partner to the CEO and COO, acting as trusted advisor on operating performance and resource allocation
- Developing deep, first-hand understanding of operational drivers by spending time with operations, deployment, and customer teams
- Operating with strong executive presence, communicating complex financial concepts clearly and influencing decisions through data-driven insight
- Building toward team leadership: hiring, developing, and managing finance staff as the function scales
- Owning the company-wide operating budget, rolling forecast, and long-range plan
- Running monthly and quarterly forecast cycles with variance analysis and commentary
- Serving as systems owner for Pigment (the company's planning environment), building financial models and maintaining it as the single source of truth
- Improving data accuracy, speed, and scalability through automation and process redesign
The role may begin as an individual contributor with line of sight to building and leading a team within the first 12 months. Travel required 2-4 times per year (4-5 business days per trip). The company has a strong preference for someone based in Austin, TX.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 6-8+ years of progressive experience in strategic finance, corporate finance, investment banking, corporate development, or FP&A with significant strategic scope, preferably in tech, robotics, or high-growth environments
- Demonstrated ownership of strategic finance work including capital budgeting (NPV/IRR), target/market sizing, sum-of-the-parts or valuation analysis, and M&A or partnership modeling, with examples of recommendations that changed decisions
- Experience building and defending multi-year financial models and investment cases in front of executives, boards, or investors
- Proven ability to partner directly with C-level executives (CEO/COO) and influence senior leadership through analysis and executive presence
- Demonstrated curiosity and track record of learning an operating business from the ground up, getting close to operations and customers rather than just the general ledger
- Proven ownership of a company-wide budget, forecast, and long-range planning cycle
- Expert-level proficiency in Google Sheets and Excel, including complex modeling and automation techniques
- Hands-on experience with Pigment or comparable enterprise planning platform (Pigment strongly preferred)
- Solid understanding of accounting principles and financial statements; experience with ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite)
- Strong business acumen and excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and evolving priorities in a fast-scaling organization
PREFERRED:
- Investment banking, management consulting, venture capital/private equity, or corporate development experience
- Experience in robotics, hardware, healthcare technology, or other capital-intensive operating businesses
- Prior people-management experience or demonstrated readiness to build and lead a small team
- MBA, CFA, or CPA
