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Senior Manager, Strategic Finance

Merlin Labs

Job Location:

Boston, MA - USA

Yearly Salary: USD 180000 - 240000

Posted: 28 July 2026 (30+ days ago)

Application Deadline: 3 December 2026

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

About Merlin:

Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlins global flight test facilities including Kerikeri New Zealand; Quonset Point Rhode Island; and soon Bedford Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform helping customers solve some of aviations most pressing challenges from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the worlds leading investors prior to its public listing Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

About You:

You bring 10 years of progressive finance experience in FP&A Strategic Finance or revenue operations with deep hands-on knowledge of quote-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes. Youve built workflows before not just operated within them and you have an understanding of ASC 606 revenue recognition in milestone or contract-based environments.

You move comfortably across systems CRM (Salesforce) ERP (QuickBooks Costpoint or similar) and youre the person who spots a manual handoff or inefficient process and cant help but fix it. Youre process-oriented and detail-driven but are able to balance bringing structure to fast-moving environments without slowing them down.

What should excite you about this role: Merlins commercial and operational activity is scaling and youll be the architect of the financial infrastructure connecting customer commitments to recognized revenue and vendor relationships to recorded expenses. Near-term you are the architect building these processes. Long-term this converts into full P&L ownership of a product line which provides a clear path from operator to business owner.

Responsibilities:

Build revenue forecasting models that connect pipeline to recognized revenue with appropriate consideration for contract type milestone and performance obligation structure
Establish controls and system workflows that reduce manual handoffs and create an auditable trail from opportunity to cash receipt
Design and implement (in collaboration with our Procurement team) a scalable procure-to-pay process: requisition purchase order vendor onboarding invoice processing and payment
Partner with Legal Accounting and business owners to implement and ensure adherence to a tiered approval framework commensurate with spend risk
Build the operating expense forecasting and accrual processes that give FP&A reliable visibility into committed and incurred spend
Support the implementation of financial planning tools and systems in partnership with Finance and IT
Create the monthly/quarterly operating cadence: actuals reviews variance analysis and re-forecast processes for assigned functions within the organization
Support the build and delivery of the annual operating plan and budget
Drive continuous improvement: identify bottlenecks eliminate manual work and automate where possible
Assume full P&L ownership for an assigned product line including revenue gross margin and operating expense (long-term)

Qualifications:

10 years of progressive finance experience in FP&A Strategic Finance revenue operations or finance business partner roles
Deep understanding of quote-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes
Hands-on builder: has designed and implemented processes and models from scratch
Familiarity with ASC 606 revenue recognition particularly in a milestone- or contract-based environment
BA/BS in Accounting Finance or related field required

Nice to Haves:

Background at a defense aerospace SaaS or hardware-intensive technology company
MBA or CPA

$180000 - $240000 a year

The compensation range provided is a good-faith estimate based on a wide range of factors inclusive of base salary only. The actual offer will be determined by a variety of factors including the candidates qualifications skills experience education and training. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Merlins total compensation package. Additionally Merlin offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees.

This position is based on-site at Merlin HQ in Boston MA.

Once youre here youll enjoy a variety of on-site perks designed to make your workday enjoyable and convenient. These include catered lunches featuring a rotating menu of delicious options an assortment of snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day and a selection of beverages including coffee tea and other drinks to keep you refreshed.

Our goal is to create an environment where you can thrive both professionally and personally

Merlin Labs offers an innovative entrepreneurial and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health dental life unlimited vacation and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race religion color national origin genetic information sex (including pregnancy) gender gender identity and expression sexual orientation age marital status military service or obligation or disability status or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.

At this time we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

In compliance with federal law all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application interviewing completing any pre-employment testing or otherwise participating in the employee selection process please direct your inquiries to: emailprotected

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.

Required Experience:

Senior Manager

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