Senior Director of Accounting and Finance

RhyGaze is a biotech company developing transformative gene therapies to restore vision in patients with blindness. Our programs target patients with blinding retinal diseases, and we are committed to bringing life-changing treatments to those in need.

The successful candidate will support the continued growth and maturation of the Company’s finance organization. This individual will play a key leadership role across accounting, financial planning and analysis, reporting, controls, budgeting, forecasting, and operational finance. The ideal candidate will have strong technical accounting experience, hands-on FP&A capabilities, and the ability to operate in a fast-paced, growing biotech environment.

• Lead core accounting activities, including month-end close, accruals, prepaids, account reconciliations, and financial statement preparation.
• Support preparation of consolidated financial statements and management reporting packages.
• Partner with external auditors and support annual audit activities, including audit schedules, documentation, and follow-up items.
• Support the development and enhancement of finance processes, controls, policies, and procedures as the Company scales.
• Lead or support annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, long-range planning, and scenario modeling.
• Partner with functional leaders to manage department budgets, track spend, analyze variances, and identify risks and opportunities.
• Support in preparation of financial reporting and analysis for management, the Audit Committee, Board of Directors, and investors.
• Support cash forecasting, runway analysis, financing scenarios, and capital planning activities.
• Assist with ERP, procurement, expense management, and other finance system/process improvement initiatives.
• Support tax, transfer pricing, intercompany, equity management, and compliance-related workstreams in partnership with internal and external advisors.
• Help build a finance organization capable of supporting future growth, financing activities, and potential public company readiness.
• Support global payroll operations, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing across all jurisdictions.
• Support the Company's global risk management and insurance programs, including policy administration, renewals, claims management, and broker relationships.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field required; CPA strongly preferred.
• 8-10+ years of progressive finance and accounting experience, preferably in biotech, life sciences, or a high-growth company environment.
• Experience across both accounting and FP&A required.
• Strong understanding of U.S. GAAP; public company readiness, audit, or SOX/control experience preferred.
• Experience with Swiss GAAP and/or IFRS is preferred.
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, cash planning, and board-level reporting.
• Ability to operate both strategically and hands-on in a lean finance environment.
• Strong analytical, communication, and project management skills.
• Experience working with external auditors, tax advisors, legal counsel, and cross-functional business partners.
• Comfortable managing ambiguity, building processes, and improving finance infrastructure as the Company scales.

Preferred Experience

• Biotech or pharmaceutical industry experience.
• Pre-IPO, IPO readiness, or public company experience.
• Global finance and accounting leadership experience, including oversight of multinational accounting operations, financial reporting, compliance, and business partnering.
• Experience with ERP implementation or finance systems transformation.
• Experience supporting investor, Audit Committee, or Board reporting.
• Familiarity with equity management, 409A valuations, transfer pricing, and international entity structures.

Key Attributes

• Hands-on, proactive, and detail-oriented.
• Strong business partner with the ability to communicate clearly with finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Comfortable moving between strategic analysis and day-to-day execution.
• High integrity, sound judgment, and strong ownership mindset.
• Able to build scalable processes in a growing organization.

Why Join Us

• Opportunity to help develop breakthrough therapies for patients with serious vision-threatening diseases.
• Work alongside a passionate, highly experienced team at the forefront of ophthalmology innovation.
• Meaningful impact in a growing biotech company.
• Collaborative, entrepreneurial culture where science and innovation drive decision-making.

The position is based in Philadelphia. Candidates are expected to be 3 days per week onsite.

Candidates needs legally able to work in the US (US citizen or US work permit).