Fractional Head of Finance

About Us

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward an abundant future for all. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to dramatically accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive scientific progress. We are searching for visionary leaders who are compelled by the challenge of driving transformative change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming here.

Astera is in a unique position to contribute to the course of rapid scientific and technological innovation, relative to other foundations, owing to a combination of:

• A $2.5B endowment, which we actually intend to use rather than growing and maintaining in perpetuity.

• A small, agile team: We are staffed much more leanly than other foundations, and aim to keep bureaucracy as minimal as possible. It's more accurate to think of us as a startup than a traditional foundation.

• High risk tolerance: We take an experimental approach to our programming that means we expect projects to fail with some frequency.

• Disinterest in consensus: We want to add value specifically by supporting projects, programs, and people that other organizations can't or won't support.

Position Summary

We are looking for a mission and culturally-aligned finance specialist to develop and implement the financial foundation needed to support Astera’s ambitious impact goals. This person will partner closely with our investment and operations leadership as well as external partners to deliver timely and accurate financial reporting and oversee our balance sheet. They will set up the systems necessary to ensure informed decision-making, accountability, and an understanding of any compliance risks. We expect to partner with someone for ~10-20 hours per week. 

This role is ideal for a finance leader who thrives in dynamic, entrepreneurial environments and is energized by the opportunity to help shape the financial foundation of a high-impact, experimental organization. We are seeking a candidate who is motivated by the challenge of building financial systems that can scale with Astera’s vision for transformative impact. 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Financial Reporting and Compliance: Oversee the preparation of accurate, timely financial statements and ensure successful completion of annual audits by effectively managing relationships with accounting, audit, and tax partners.

• Oversee the balance sheet: Collaborate with internal and external partners to monitor and report on Astera’s investment portfolio, supporting informed decision-making and risk management.

• Build and Optimize Financial Systems: Design, implement, and maintain robust systems for tracking software licenses, program budgets, ongoing financial commitments, vendor management, and payments—ensuring operational efficiency and transparency as the organization grows.

• Manage Vendors and Stakeholders: Serve as the primary point of contact for financial vendors, fostering productive partnerships and holding partners accountable to Astera’s standards of excellence.

• Continuously Improve: Proactively identify opportunities to streamline processes, strengthen internal controls, and enhance financial visibility to support Astera’s mission and evolving needs.

Qualifications

To work with us, you must:

1. Understand that trying to build an extraordinary organization requires tenacity, ownership, and agency from every member of the team. This means: You love the challenge of coming up with surprising solutions to problems we don’t even know we have and see options where others only see constraints.

2. Embody the flexibility needed to thrive in a startup-like environment. This means: You don’t expect to maintain strong boundaries around what “isn’t your job,” and recognize that the role you’re being hired for might evolve significantly over the course of 6-12 months.

3. Understand and be entirely dedicated to leveraging the incredible opportunity we have to meaningfully steer the future of science and technology. This means: You’re always looking beyond solving the object-level problem to figure out if there’s a deeper or more systemic shift we can initiate – looking to cure the disease rather than treat the symptoms.

4. Bel