Head of Finance

Who We Are:

Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.

We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.

Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.

In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.

The Role & Your Impact:

We need a Head of Finance to stand up and own the finance function at Aurelius. You'll partner directly with the CEO across investor relations, budgeting and accounting, and the financing strategy that gets us from prototype to production. This is a Director-level founding finance role with a clear path to grow as the company scales. You're not a controller waiting for headcount. You're the operator who builds it.

What You'll Own:

• Investor relations including board materials, investor updates, data room hygiene, and active support of fundraising rounds

• Budgeting, forecasting, and FP&A across engineering, manufacturing, and operations

• Accounting, monthly close, AP/AR, financial statements, audit readiness, and tax compliance, partnering with external firms where appropriate

• Manufacturing financing strategy including capex planning, equipment financing, working capital, inventory accounting, and supplier terms as we scale Detroit

• Cash management, runway tracking, and scenario modeling tied to program milestones

• Vendor and procurement finance discipline including contract review and payment terms

• Building the finance team and tooling as the company scales

What We're Looking For:

• 10+ years in finance with experience as a senior finance leader at a hardware, defense, aerospace, or manufacturing company

• Track record running both accounting and FP&A, not one or the other

• Direct experience supporting a venture-backed company through fundraising rounds and board cycles

• Manufacturing finance experience including capex planning, equipment financing, or production cost accounting

• Comfortable in a founding finance seat where you build the function rather than inherit it

Where you probably come from: Director, Head of Finance, or Controller at defense, aerospace, robotics, or hardware startups; finance leadership at a manufacturing-heavy scale-up; or investment banking / corporate finance into an operator role at a venture-backed hardware company.

We want to talk if: You've owned the books and the board deck. You've sat across from a vendor negotiating payment terms and across from an investor walking through a model in the same week. You understand that hardware companies live or die on cash and capex.

Not a fit if: You're a pure controller without FP&A or IR exposure, your background is SaaS-only finance, or you've never worked inside a company that builds physical things.

Nice to Haves:

• Defense industry finance experience including ITAR, FAR, or DoD contract finance

• CPA or MBA

• Experience standing up ERP, accounting systems, or finance tooling from scratch

• Equipment financing, asset-backed lending, or government contract financing background

• Experience with R&D tax credits or defense-specific financing instruments

Education:

BS or MS in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related. CPA and/or MBA a plus.

How You Operate:

• Extreme bias for action. You ship the expenses, the close, the board deck, on time, every time

• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration in a startup environment

• You translate financial reality into clear decisions for non-finance leaders

• Clear communicator across founders, investors, vendors, and the engineering team

• Self directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told

Why Join Aurelius Systems?

• Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.

• Career velocity is real. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact.

• Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.

• Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.

How We Work:

Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary + equity

• United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage

• Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days

• Travel to field test events and range days

• Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks

• E-bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500)

• Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work

Export Control Notice:

This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require "U.S. Person" status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a "U.S. Person": (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).