Finance Manager, R&D Finance & FinOps

AI AT ZAPIER

At Zapier https://zapier.com/about, we build and use automation every day to make work more efficient, creative, and human. So if you're using AI tools while applying here - that's great! We just ask that you use them responsibly and transparently.

Check out our guidance on How to Collaborate with AI During Zapier's Hiring Process https://zapier.com/l/jobs/ai-at-zapier, including how to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or others during our hiring process - and when not to.

Job Posted: 6/25/26

Location: Americas

ABOUT THE TEAM:

Strategic Finance at Zapier is responsible for addressing some of our most business-critical challenges. Our team combines deep analysis with a strong understanding of our business priorities to help shape decision-making, evaluate new investments, and drive efficient capital allocation. We strive to be a trusted thought partner that enables sustainable growth and drives strategic outcomes across the company.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We're looking for a dedicated Finance Manager (aka Finance Business Partner / FinOps leader) to support our R&D organization and join Zapier's Strategic Finance team. This person will partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Infrastructure leaders to drive financial accountability, improve investment visibility, and enable better decision-making across our R&D portfolio.

The ideal candidate has done this before, you've served as a finance partner to R&D or product teams and know how to translate technical roadmaps into financial frameworks. While R&D partnership is the core of this role, you'll also contribute to broader corporate finance efforts including board materials, competitive intelligence, and strategic planning.

Location: This role is fully remote, and we're excited about candidates interested in working within the North America time zones (Pacific Time - Eastern Time)

- Our Commitment to Applicants https://zapier.com/jobs/our-commitment-to-applicants/

- Culture and Values at Zapier https://zapier.com/jobs/culture-and-values-at-zapier/

- Zapier Guide to Remote Work https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/

- Zapier Code of Conduct https://zapier.com/jobs/zapier-code-of-conduct/

- Diversity and Inclusivity at Zapier https://zapier.com/jobs/working-on-diversity-and-inclusivity/

ABOUT YOU:

- This isn't your first rodeo. You have 4-6+ years of accounting/finance-specific experience, with 2+ years of working with R&D orgs. A background in Big 4 Accounting, Investment Banking, or Management Consulting with meaningful ownership of operating expense areas - ideally R&D or technical cost structures, is a plus.

- You understand financial modeling well. You have experience building bottoms up and high level financial models.

- You understand how modern R&D organizations operate. You can translate engineering, product, and infrastructure inputs into clear financial implications and trade-offs.

- You're energized by owning a process from A-Z. You take initiative, thrive in ambiguity, and enjoy seeing things through from scoping and modeling to execution and follow-through.

- You're resourceful. You love a challenge and always question the status quo. You are highly adaptive and enjoy getting creative to solve new problems.

- You love data. You are innately curious, analyze everything, look for trends, and always forever truth-seeking. Experience writing SQL is a plus.

- You care about the nitty gritty. You are detail-oriented, highly organized, understand priorities, and thrive in a fast paced environment.

- You love to collaborate and coordinate. You're comfortable driving cross-functional alignment and take pride in delivering high-quality work with minimal oversight.

- You actively experiment with AI. You think critically about where automation and AI can meaningfully improve financial analysis, forecasting, and decision support.

- You use AI in your work today - not occasionally, but as part of how you operate at a high level. You can point to workflows you've built, how your approach has evolved through iteration, and the impact on quality, efficiency, and experience - while intentionally applying AI for the right outcomes, setting a high bar for outputs, and taking ownership of what ships.

THINGS YOU'LL DO:

- Own R&D financial planning and analysis. Lead forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis for R&D spend, including headcount, cloud infrastructure (AWS), tooling, and AI-related costs.

- Model and manage cloud & infrastructure economics. Build and maintain models that explain cloud costs, key usage drivers, unit economics, and scaling behavior; partner with technical teams to improve cost visibility and efficiency.

- Analyze and support AI investments. Evaluate and track AI-related spend (internal and vendor-based), assess ROI and trade-offs, and support decision-making as AI usage scales across the product and internal operations.

- Drive strategic insights for R&D