Head of Strategic FP&A, Substack
Financial Planning & Analysis
$200-300k
+ Equity
Platform for writers & podcasters
Job no longer available
Platform for writers & podcasters
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$200-300k
+ Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To give thinkers, writers, and creatives the opportunity to pursue their curiosity and make money at the same time.
Role
Who you are
- Elite Quantitative Foundation: 5–10 years of total experience, starting with foundational years at a top-tier investment bank, private equity firm, or top management consulting firm, followed by high-impact Strategic Finance or FP&A experience at a fast-growing tech company. MBA preferred but not necessary
- Proven Leadership Potential / Track Record: Demonstrated ability or clear readiness to recruit, manage, and mentor quantitative talent. You know how to set high operational standards, delegate effectively, and scale a team without adding bureaucratic noise
- AI-Native Mindset: You naturally use cutting-edge AI workflows, automation, and modern tools to multiply leverage for yourself and your team. You actively eliminate manual repetitive work, baseline reporting, and data ingestion tasks so your team can focus on high-level strategic problem-solving
- Budgeting Process Master: You have built and run company-wide annual budgeting cycles. You know how to drive cross-functional alignment, enforce budget discipline, and streamline planning cycles across complex organizations
- Master Modeler & Data Fluent: Exceptional financial modeling capability paired with hands-on data manipulation skills (familiarity with Snowflake, Looker, Python/R, or modern FP&A stack a plus)
- Executive Presence & High Ownership: Able to translate detailed financial outputs into concise, persuasive executive recommendations for the CEO, CFO, and Board members. Low ego, high hustle, with the Gravitas to partner effectively with senior executives
- We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you
What the job involves
- This is a "player-coach" leadership seat. We are looking for an elite financial strategist, master modeler, and AI-native operator who will own Substack's long-term financial engine, lead our company-wide budgeting process, and ultimately hire and lead a world-class FP&A team
- In this role, you will pioneer an AI-native finance organization. By leveraging modern technology, automation, and AI tools, you and your team will bypass traditional spreadsheet busywork to operate as an ultra-high-leverage "tiger team"—one that asks the sharpest strategic questions, uncovers crucial business drivers, and rapidly executes on the answers alongside the CEO, CFO, and executive team
- At Substack, you will hold a front-row seat—and a hands-on steering wheel—in shaping the business model behind the future of independent media
- You’ll work directly alongside our founders and executive team to build a durable, generation-defining company
- Team Building & Leadership: Hire, develop, and lead a high-performing FP&A team as Substack scales. Establish team culture, operating standards, and career paths while remaining deeply hands-on in the highest-stakes strategic initiatives
- AI-Native Finance Architecture: Architect an AI-powered, tech-forward FP&A organization. Empower your team with automation and modern data workflows to accelerate financial modeling, variance reporting, and scenario planning
- Company-Wide Budgeting & Forecasting: Design, architect, and lead Substack’s annual budget cycle and rolling quarterly re-forecasts. Partner directly with executive leadership and department heads (Product, Engineering, Marketing, Ops) to build driver-based operational budgets and headcount plans aligned with core business goals
- Budget vs. Actuals (BvA) & Variance Analysis: Establish spending discipline and monthly BvA cadences across the company. Analyze variance drivers, hold department leaders accountable to budget targets, and surface proactive risk-mitigation options when expenses or revenues deviate from plan
- Corporate Financial Model & Long-Range Strategy: Build, maintain, and continuously upgrade Substack’s multi-year three-statement corporate model. Translate high-level strategic goals into granular financial roadmaps
- Creator & Network Economics: Deep-dive into Substack’s platform economics—including creator monetization, subscription take-rates, reader LTV/CAC, churn dynamics, and payment processing margins—to inform pricing, budget allocation, and product investment decisions
- Board & Investor Storytelling: Own financial reporting for executive leadership, the Board of Directors, and investors. Prepare board decks, investor updates, and scenario models for future capital raises or strategic transactions
Our take
Substack is an online platform for journalists and writers to manage subscription-based newsletters. It has attracted a range of users who wish to connect with their audiences in a different way to social media or ad-based models, and boasts more than 35 million subscribers.
For an industry that has seen a steady decline in its fortunes since the rise of digital, Substack is a breath of fresh air. It allows journalists to avoid the clickbait-heavy models that have dominated the last decade, and provides more freedom than its competitors. Users produce their newsletters on the site for free, charging an optional subscription fee of which Substack takes 10%.
The company continues to seek out ways to diversify its offerings, whilst securing funding rounds to expand its reach. It has also taken an outspoken approach to the AI-generated content that is taking over the internet. It already provides its users access to an AI-detection tool, and is exploring other features such as enabling users to opt out of seeing AI-generated content on their feeds altogether.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
62% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Jul 2025
$100m
SERIES C
Nov 2024
$10m
ANGEL
Total funding: $200.3m
Company benefits
- Remote work support - All employees receive a generous allowance to customize their home offices
- Comprehensive health care - Substack covers 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents, and fully funds HRA plans
- Parental leave - We want employees to be fully present for the new members of their family, so we offer generous parental leave
- Flexible vacation and paid time off - You’re the best person to decide when you need a day—or a week—off to travel or decompress. Our flexible vacation policy puts you in control
- Company holidays and Winter shutdown - In addition to flexible time off, we honor 12 paid holidays annually on average. And we close the office between Christmas Eve and New Year's day to recharge each year
- Phone & internet stipends - Many of our employees work from home or on the go. So we offer full time employees a monthly stipend to cover for phone and internet costs
Company HQ
The East Cut, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Chris Best
(CEO & Co-Founder)After several software internships, they co-founded Kik Interactive in 2009, serving as CTO until 2017. At this stage, they founded Substack, and have served as CEO ever since.
Hamish McKenzie
(Chief Writing Officer & Co-Founder)Previously a journalist for several publications include The Independent and Time Out. Lead Writer for Tesla and Editorial Advisor to Kik Interactive.
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