Finance Director

Location: South Africa (remote, UK hours)

Reports to: Kamil Kluza, Co-founder & COO

Level: Director (M5)

Contract: Permanent, full-time

How to apply: apply online here, or email careers@climate-x.com with questions. Applications close on 1 February 2027.

Role overview

The Finance Director is the most senior finance person at Climate X. Based in South Africa and working UK hours, the role runs the finance engine end to end, from month-end close and cashflow through to the board pack, financial model and annual budget.

It is a hands-on role. Alongside running the numbers, the Finance Director builds AI-driven automation into finance processes, prepares the finance section of the Series B data room and leads the Finance Analyst. A path to CFO may open after Series B, but it is not guaranteed.

About Climate X

Climate X is a climate risk analytics company that turns physical climate risk into figures banks can lend against. We model 11+ hazards to 2100, covering over 2bn in mapped assets, with offices in London (HQ) and New York.

We are a Certified B Corp backed by Google Ventures and others. We raised an $18m (USD) Series A in June 2024 and are preparing for our Series B.

Key responsibilitiesFinance engine

• Delivering the monthly close by working day 5 and producing the management accounts.

• Maintaining the 13-week and 52-week cashflow forecasts.

• Producing the investor tear sheet and the board pack.

• Owning the financial model and the annual budget.

Banking and working capital

• Managing the bank relationship and the company’s liquidity.

• Preparing the compliance certificate and managing the receivables facility.

Cash and collections

• Reporting the daily cash position.

• Running accounts payable and rationalising vendors.

AI and automation

• Extending the agentic ledger and finishing the budget automation.

• Automating the monthly commentary, measuring success in hours of manual work removed each month.

Series B data room

• Preparing the finance section of the data room, including cohort and ARR reconciliation and GRR/NRR analysis.

• Supporting the R&D tax credit claim and cap table work.

People and partnering

• Leading and developing the Finance Analyst.

• Replacing manual payroll with a defined process by Q1.

• Partnering with Sales, Customer Success and R&D.

What success looks likeFirst 30 days

• Delivering the January close independently, with the handover fully absorbed.

First 90 days

• Managing the year-end statutory accounts and audit.

• Automating two to three finance processes.

• Reducing the COO’s involvement in day-to-day finance.

First 6 months

• Completing and reconciling the finance section of the Series B data room.

What we’re looking forEssential

• CA(SA), ACCA or CIMA qualified, with at least 6 years’ post-qualification experience.

• Evidence of automating a finance process using an LLM or agent framework.

• Hands-on leadership of month-end, cashflow and budgeting at a Series A to B tech or data business.

• Exposure to banking, insurance or asset management customers.

• Experience producing board and investor packs for VC-backed companies.

• Based in South Africa, with reliable overlap with UK working hours.

Nice to have

• Series B or data room experience.

• UK GAAP and statutory accounts experience.

• Experience with Xero, HubSpot, Humaans or Deel.

• Experience of usage-based revenue recognition.

Package and benefitsCompensation (South African rand, ZAR)

• Base salary of up to R1.8m a year, fixed in rand.

• Employer retirement contribution of 1.5% of base salary (about R27,000 a year), paid through our Employer of Record.

• A one-off share option grant worth R0.7m (about 410 options at the latest share price), on the same scheme and terms as the UK team, vesting over 4 years with a 1-year cliff.

• As an illustration, the options would be worth about R3.05m at an R11bn exit. All figures are estimates, not guarantees.

Benefits

• 25 days’ annual leave plus public holidays, and a company closure between Christmas and New Year.

• R11,000 annual learning budget.

• Enhanced parental leave, with maternity and adoption pay topped up to 100% for 20 weeks after the statutory period.

• Six-monthly appraisals and an annual pay review.

• Mental health support and an employee assistance programme.

• 10 days’ paid sick leave a year.

• A birthday half-day with a voucher, and a referral bonus.

• Fully remote working, with equipment provided.

Our values

• Win when customers win.

• Tell it like it is.

• Own everything you touch.

• Bet on yourself and move.

• Have each other’s backs.

Hiring process

• Scan (30 minutes): a conversation with the COO, with a same-day decision.

• Technical (60 minutes): a model and cashflow exercise, plus a demonstration of your AI build.

• Final (60 minutes): with the People lead and the COO.

The process takes about two weeks from first call to offer. We ask for two references before making an offer, one of them from a former CEO or COO. The target start date is 5 January 2027.

How to apply

Apply online through our careers page: https://jobs.deel.com/c13fd56a-3062-4177-ab2c-58b8207c9956/job-details/1d2adf38-46b1-4967-bd33-4c2034c27898

Questions about the role or the process? Email careers@climate-x.com with “Finance Director (SA)” in the subject line.

Applications close on 1 February 2027.

Climate X is an equal opportunity employer. We actively source senior women in finance and select on merit against the skills the role requires.