Assistant Controller Senior Director, Tala
Financial services in emerging markets
Be an early applicant
Financial services in emerging markets
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To build a modern credit infrastructure where consumer credit is more accessible.
Role
Who you are
- This role is ideal for a candidate with strong technical expertise, high financial acumen, sound judgment, and the ability to execute and lead in a fast-paced, evolving environment
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
- CPA required
- 12+ years of progressive accounting experience, including 5+ years in a leadership role and prior experience in public accounting (Big Four preferred)
- Deep technical knowledge of U.S. GAAP, including:
- Stock-based compensation (SBC)
- Internally developed software capitalization
- CECL and accounting for loan portfolios
- Proven experience managing complex audits and preparing audit-ready financials under investor and lender scrutiny
- Demonstrated ability to develop accounting policies, lead cross-functional initiatives, and support audit uplift for public company standards (PCAOB)
- Proficiency in NetSuite; familiarity with Carta, Pigment, ZIP, and Expensify is preferred
- Experience managing distributed teams across multiple time zones and cultural contexts
What the job involves
- Tala is seeking a highly capable Senior Director, Assistant Controller to lead core accounting operations across our U.S. and international entities
- This is a high-impact, hands-on leadership role overseeing global consolidation, U.S. financial reporting, technical accounting, and audit readiness—while managing a distributed team across the U.S., Mexico, and LatAm
- Reporting to the VP, Global Corporate Controller, the Assistant Controller will act as Tala’s primary point of contact for external audits, technical accounting and certain in-market accounting operational matters, and investor and lender due diligence needs
- Lead the monthly close and financial reporting for Tala’s U.S. parent entity, including preparation of US GAAP compliant financials, investor deliverables, and lender packages
- Oversee global consolidation of all international subsidiaries and ensure the accuracy, completeness, and audit readiness of all reporting outputs
- Maintain close collaboration and partnership with executive and other key business leaders
- Own and/or advise on technical accounting areas, including but not limited to:
- Stock-based compensation (SBC) accounting and administration in collaboration with Legal and HR
- Capitalization and accounting of internally developed software
- Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) methodology
- Development of accounting and reporting policies, and those policies for complex transactions, including RSU programs, crypto/treasury innovations, and new partnership structures
- Serve as the lead liaison for:
- Annual audits of consolidated and local financial statements
- Lender portfolio audits and operational reviews
- External technical advisors and audit firms
- Support the documentation and maintenance of internal control processes in partnership with the Senior Director, Global Accounting
- Directly manage a cross-border team of approx 6 people. Mentor, coach, and grow a high-performing accounting team, fostering a culture of collaboration, ownership, and accountability
- Act as the operational point of contact for the accounting function during U.S. business hours and back up the VP, Global Controller as needed
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Finance Strategy, Treasury, Tax, Legal, Product, and Engineering to assess the financial and accounting impact of product changes, expansion, and systems initiatives
- Partner with the Accounting Optimization Team (AOT) under Tala’s Global Accounting shared-service organization to drive automation, improve documentation, and ensure scalable processes and SOPs across jurisdictions
Our take
Billions of people across the globe are unable to access traditional forms of credit, typically because of a lack of credit history or inconsistencies in their records. When making credit decisions, banks will rely on third party credit scores, whilst online lenders look at an applicant's financial history.
Tala is addressing this shut-out segment with an innovative model to assessing eligibility for a loan. Focusing on behavioral data tracked through its Android app, it creates a custom credit profile by analysing a customer's texts and calls logs, merchant transactions and overall app usage. Its machine learning algorithms then evaluate individual risk and provide instant loans.
More than 2 million people in emerging markets in countries such as India and Kenya have borrowed through Tala. The business has lent over $1 billion to consumers to date and is now scaling up its operations in India. It does face competition from the likes of Branch, but has nonetheless made promising strides thus far.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
19% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Oct 2021
$145m
SERIES E
Aug 2019
$110m
SERIES D
Total funding: $350.7m
Company benefits
- Opportunities to travel to the international offices (Mexico City, Nairobi, Manila and Bangalore)
- Free massages in the office
- Healthy snacks
- Every Tuesday an expert teaches a master class
- Sponsorship opportunities to attend professional conferences
- Ping pong
- Intramural leagues
- Go-karting
- Workout classes
- Work from home opportunities
- Health insurance
Company HQ
Santa Monica, CA
Leadership
Shivani Siroya
(Founder & CEO)Shivani has worked as an Analyst for Credit Suisse, UBS Financial Services, Citigroup, Janani and the United Nations Population Fund. They are also a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.
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