Senior Finance Manager

We are hiring a Senior Finance Manager to run Helical's finances and build out the finance function ahead of our Series A. You'll be our first full-time finance hire. You'll own finance across our UK and Luxembourg entities: accounting, budgets and planning, as well as the processes and financial / operational tooling around them. The role is tailored to someone with an accounting background and startup / scale-up experience who wants to grow with the company as the finance team expands. What you'll do Own accounting and month-end close across both entities (UK and Luxembourg), including intercompany flows, consolidation, and transfer pricing, in partnership with our external advisors; Own compliance in both countries: statutory accounts, VAT, corporate tax, payroll filings, and annual audits; Build and run the annual budget and a rolling forecast. Track actuals against plan and flag variances early; Manage cash and keep the runway forecast up to date; Prepare monthly management reporting and board and investor packs; Support the Series A process: financial model, data room, due diligence, and investor reporting after the round; Run finance operations (FinOps) with an automation and AI first mindset: payables, receivables, invoicing, expenses, card spend, and approvals, automated where possible; Build and refine finance processes and controls that scale with the company: expense policy, approval flows, purchasing, and finance tools; Cover HR and admin operations: payroll, benefits, contracts and employee records, and entity and corporate admin, in coordination with the Ops team. Requirements We are looking for a hands-on finance professional with an accounting background and scale-up experience, who can handle the day-to-day work and build the finance function as the company grows. You bring: A total of 4-6 years of experience, including: 2-3 years of experience in audit, accounting or corporate finance, with a strong accounting foundation (accounting qualification such as ACA, ACCA, CPA or expert-comptable a plus); 2-3 years of experience in a start-up, scale-up or otherwise dynamic environment during a period of growth is a strong plus; Experience with the FinOps stack (accounting software, accounts payable / expense tool, cash management tool, subscription tool etc.), ideally in the SME category; Experience building budgets, forecasts, and financial models, and turning them into clear reporting for leadership and investors; Hands-on experience with a multi-entity setup, ideally across the UK and Luxembourg (or the UK and an EU country) is a strong plus; Exposure to a fundraising process (due diligence, data room, investor reporting) is a strong plus; Based in Luxembourg or London, or willing to relocate; Fluent English; French or German is a plus. We are expecting someone who: Takes ownership of their work; Is accurate, and pragmatic about priorities; Prefers simple, automated processes, and is fluent with AI tools; Is a good communicator: explains the reasoning behind decisions and numbers clearly to non-finance colleagues and investors; Wants to experience a very fast paced AI startup environment and wants to grow with the company. Domain experience Experience in biotech, life sciences, deep tech, or AI is a plus, but not required. Interest in what we build matters more than prior domain knowledge.