Wartime Director of Finance
About SiPhox HealthSiPhox is a series B-stage startup building frictionless blood testing for AI healthcare. We combine silicon photonics, microfluidics, embedded systems, and semiconductor-grade manufacturing to quantify multiple biomarkers in minutes on a coffee-maker-sized device. Our goal is to build the first mass-market photonic blood analyzer and dramatically expand access to precision diagnostics.We are already in the market serving 10s of thousands of customers with a category-leading mail-in blood test, with 3x YoY revenue growth.Our mission is simple but ambitious: make healthcare proactive instead of reactive by enabling people to measure their health frequently, easily, and affordably.The RoleWe're hiring a Director of Finance to run finance the way a great operator runs a factory — close to the metal, suspicious of every recurring line item, and ruthless about cash.This is not a fundraising-deck role. It's not a controller role. It's a wartime operating role for someone who treats burn rate like oxygen, knows every vendor and headcount line by name, and protects each dollar as if it were their own — while still moving fast enough to enable aggressive execution.Hardware companies bleed cash quietly: through inventory creep, engineering sprawl, duplicated tooling, low yields, vendor sprawl, unused software, and over-spec'd infrastructure. Your job is to see those leaks before they become floods, and to build a culture of capital discipline without creating bureaucracy.You report to the CFO and partner daily with engineering, operations, and supply chain. You will spend time on the manufacturing floor, not just in spreadsheets.What You Will OwnCash and capital efficiencyRunway, burn multiple, and cash forecasting as live operating instruments — not quarterly artifactsHard scrutiny on every recurring expense, vendor, contract, and headcount additionAggressive negotiation with suppliers, landlords, contractors, and software vendorsA defensible "no" when spending doesn't earn its keep — delivered without slowing the teamHardware unit economicsCOGS, BOM, contribution margin, and yield economics down to the SKU and panel levelInventory turns, aging, scrap, and reagent usage as managed metrics, not reported onesPricing strategy and margin discipline as the product scalesManufacturing ramp modeling: cost-down curves, learning rates, capacity vs. demandOperational financeEmbedded in engineering, ops, and supply chain — not adjacent to themProcurement gates on capital expenditure and tooling decisionsSKU discipline, vendor concentration limits, and standardization wherever feasibleHiring efficiency: ROI per role, not just headcount plansSystems and infrastructureA modern fintech stack (Ramp, Gusto, and beyond) wired into an ERP/MRP backboneReal-time financial visibility for leadership instead of month-end retrospectivesAutomation over headcount wherever a process can be codifiedReporting and dashboards that actually drive decisionsBurn multiple, gross margin by panel, inventory aging, scrap and yield, reagent usage, vendor spend concentration, runway sensitivity, hiring efficiency, instrument paybackMonthly leadership package and board materials that tell the operating truth, not the marketing storyWhat We're Looking ForMust have7–10 years of progressive finance experience, with meaningful time at venture-backed hardware or manufacturing companies in the ~50–300 person rangeDemonstrated experience managing cash in a constrained environment — you've cut burn without breaking executionDeep cost accounting and hardware unit economics fluency (BOM, COGS, yield, contribution margin, inventory)Strong FP&A and operational finance — you build the model and own the operating cadence around itComfortable challenging spending decisions across engineering and ops, with the credibility to make it stickSystems mindset: ERP/MRP, BOM management, procurement controls, inventory disciplineBachelor's in Finance or Accounting; advanced modeling skills assumedAuthorization to work in the United StatesStrong plusBiotech, life sciences, diagnostics, or medical device experienceHands-on with Ramp, Gusto, NetSuite or similar ERPs, and inventory/MRP systemsBuilt or rebuilt a finance function during a manufacturing ramp or rapid hiring periodHistory of walking the production floor and partnering with operators directlyProbably not the right fit if youSpent your career mainly preparing decks for fundraising roundsCome from big-pharma or big-tech finance only, without startup constraint experienceThink finance is primarily backward-looking compliance and reportingAre too relationship-driven to challenge a senior engineer's purchase orderDon't intuitively understand physical product economicsA Few Questions We'll Ask in the InterviewTell us about a time you materially reduced burn without hurting execution.What's the most wasteful spending pattern you see repeatedly in hardware startups?Walk us through the unit economics of a hardware product you've owned, end to end.Where would you start in your first 30 days here?How We WorkBias for action. We prototype, experiment, and iterate quickly. Extreme ownership. You own financial outcomes from forecast to close — and from PO to pallet. Talent density. We hire exceptional people who elevate the team around them.BenefitsCompetitive salary and significant equity, healthcare, dental, 401k, high-end gym membership, two company shutdown weeks each year on top of PTO, and the opportunity to help build a category-defining diagnostics company.If you read this far, please email mike@siphox.com to be considered.