Head of Finance
About the job
- At least five years of relevant finance experience.
- Experience leading finance at an early-stage, high-growth, technology, industrial, or research-and-development-driven company.
- Strong hands-on experience across accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, and operational finance.
- Experience evaluating or securing loans, equipment financing, leases, or other forms of capital.
- Experience building financial systems and processes from the ground up.
- Ability to move between strategic planning, external negotiations, and detailed execution.
- Own accounting, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, tax, treasury, procurement, and cash management.
- Provide leadership with a clear view of performance, liquidity, runway, and future capital needs.
- Develop the company's capital strategy across equity, loans, credit facilities, equipment financing, and leases.
- Lead financing processes and manage relationships with banks, lenders, and leasing providers.
- Evaluate major equipment purchases and investments based on return, cash flow, risk, and financing options.
- Build scalable financial systems, controls, and processes.
- Support fundraising, investor reporting, board materials, audits, and financial diligence.
- Manage external accounting, tax, audit, and financial partners.
- Experience with capital-intensive businesses, lender relationships, venture financing, or non-dilutive funding.
About the company
Poseidon Aerospace designs and builds unmanned fixed-wing cargo aircraft for defense and regional commercial air cargo. Its planes are combustion-powered and designed to shed crewed freighter mass (no cockpit or life-support) to improve payload-to-empty-weight and reduce operating costs, with variants including the Egret and a seaplane variant called Heron. The company uses a demonstrator (quarter-scale Seagull) and aims to mature to full-scale aircraft that can operate on remote routes with degraded infrastructure, rather than pursuing electric or hydrogen powertrains. Unlike many competitors, Poseidon plans to run its own regional cargo service instead of selling aircraft, focusing on remote, underserved corridors and a pilotless, hub-to-spoke model. The goal is to achieve a first full-scale Egret test flight by the end of 2026 from Alameda, followed by establishing a regional cargo operation to serve those challenging routes.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$72.4M
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
2023
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- September 8, 2026 Series A raised $60 million from TQ Ventures and Hanwha.
- Poseidon expects Egret's first uncrewed flight by year-end 2026, a near-term catalyst.
- Company says prior Seagull testing de-risked the full-scale program before flight testing.
What critics are saying
- FAA certification for pilotless cargo remains unresolved; commercial revenue waits until approval.
- The first full-scale Egret flight in 2026 is still the program's hardest milestone.
- A crash or failed autonomy demo in late 2026 kills customer trust and financing.
What makes Poseidon Aerospace unique
- Egret and Heron use combustion-powered fixed-wing designs, avoiding eVTOL and battery-range constraints.
- Poseidon operates aircraft itself, pairing hardware with logistics network economics, not pure aircraft sales.
- Heron reaches water, and Egret uses paved or unpaved runways, widening mission access.
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Benefits
- 401(k) Company Match
- Health Insurance
- Relocation Assistance
- Company Equity
- Meal Benefits