AI Infrastructure Accounting Lead (San Francisco)

About Anthropic

Anthropics mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About the role

Anthropic is seeking an exceptional Head of AI Infrastructure Accounting to join our Corporate Accounting team. In this strategic leadership position, you will build and lead the infrastructure accounting function responsible for managing all aspects of cloud computing, platform infrastructure, and data costs. As we continue our rapid growth, you will ensure operational scalability and financial accuracy of the core functions that enable Anthropic's research and commercial success.

You will oversee end-to-end accounting and financial reporting for our largest cost center, working closely with cross-functional teams including Finance, Capacity Planning, and Engineering. You'll develop and implement scalable processes, controls, and systems to support Anthropic's growing financial complexity while providing critical insights that drive strategic decision-making. This is a unique opportunity to have significant impact on a critical aspect of our business as we scale our AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the team responsible for end-to-end accounting and reporting for AI infrastructure, including compute, cost of revenue, and R&D opex
• Develop and implement a comprehensive framework for infrastructure cost accounting, ensuring proper classification between Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses
• Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting to support strategic decision-making by business leaders
• Partner with technical teams to understand complex infrastructure requirements and translate them into financial terms
• Collaborate cross-functionally to improve upstream data pipelines and enhance reporting capabilities
• Design and scale systems and processes to support Anthropic's growing financial complexity
• Leverage technical accounting expertise to support the review of complex arrangements, including ASC 842 lease accounting for infrastructure
• Build and mentor a high-performing team of accounting professionals focused on infrastructure costs
• Act as the primary liaison with external auditors for compute and infrastructure costs
• Drive process improvements and automation to enhance efficiency and accuracy of financial reporting
• Provide strategic insights to leadership on cost optimization opportunities and financial implications of infrastructure decisions

You may be a good fit if you:

• Have 12+ years of progressive experience in accounting, with operational experience at technology companies
• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance, CPA or equivalent preferred
• Have extensive experience managing cloud computing or infrastructure costs in a high-growth technology environment
• Possess strong technical accounting knowledge, particularly with ASC 842 (lease accounting) as it relates to infrastructure arrangements
• Demonstrate exceptional analytical abilities and experience working with large, complex datasets
• Have a proven track record of building and improving scalable financial processes in fast-growing environments
• Show strong leadership skills with experience building and developing high-performing teams
• Are adept at translating technical concepts into financial implications
• Possess excellent communication skills and ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders
• Have experience partnering with engineering and infrastructure teams to optimize costs and improve financial reporting

Strong candidates may have:

• Experience at hyperscalers (GCP, AWS, Azure) or large compute consumers (Meta, Netflix, Uber)
• SQL proficiency for querying and analyzing large compute cost datasets
• Experience with capacity planning and infrastructure cost modeling
• Background in Big 4 accounting or advisory services combined with industry experience
• Experience with complex data center buildouts or hybrid cloud/on-premise environments
• Knowledge of AI/ML infrastructure and associated cost structures
• Experience designing and implementing automation solutions for financial processes
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and drive results in rapidly changing environments
• Experience building accounting teams from the ground up

The expected salary range for this position is:

Annual Salary:

$230,000$300,000 USD

Logistics

Education requirements: We require at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.

Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices.

Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.

We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team.

How we're different

We believe that the highest-impact AI research will be big science. At Anthropic we work as a single cohesive team on just a few large-scale research efforts. And we value impact advancing our long-term goals of steerable, trustworthy AI rather than work on smaller and more specific puzzles. We view AI research as an empirical science, which has as much in common with physics and biology as with traditional efforts in computer science. We're an extremely collaborative group, and we host frequent research discussions to ensure that we are pursuing the highest-impact work at any given time. As such, we greatly value communication skills.

The easiest way to understand our research directions is to read our recent research. This research continues many of the directions our team worked on prior to Anthropic, including: GPT-3, Circuit-Based Interpretability, Multimodal Neurons, Scaling Laws, AI & Compute, Concrete Problems in AI Safety, and Learning from Human Preferences.

Come work with us!

Anthropic is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, optional equity donation matching, generous vacation and parental leave, flexible working hours, and a lovely office space in which to collaborate with colleagues.

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