Head of Strategic Finance & Planning

About Zed

Zed is building the first AI-native, licensed neobank in the Philippines designed to democratize access to premium financial services for young professionals in global markets. The current banking system is broken, often shutting out the world’s youngest and fastest-growing consumer classes—we’re here to fix it.

Our team is uniquely positioned to solve this. We are Stanford engineers and former YC founders who have spent our careers at the intersection of banking and hyper-growth startups like Square, Facebook, and Box. We’ve been here before, having previously built and exited Symple (YC W'17), a fast-growing B2B payments company.

We are backed by world-class investors, including Accel, Valar, Immad Akhund (Mercury), Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator), and Kunal Shah (Cred).

THE ROLE

As Zed grows, we’re making increasingly consequential decisions about where to invest, how to fund growth, and what it will take to build a durable, profitable business. We’re hiring a Head of Strategic Finance & Planning to build the financial models, planning discipline, and business insight behind those decisions.

Reporting directly to our CEO, you’ll own financial planning across our US and Philippine entities and work closely with the founders on resource allocation, fundraising, and long-term strategy. You’ll connect customer growth and credit portfolio performance to our operating plan, cash needs, and funding requirements—and turn that analysis into clear recommendations.

This is a hands-on builder role and an individual-contributor position to start. You’ll build and maintain the models yourself, establish our budgeting and forecasting cadence, and partner with our Philippines finance team to create a reliable view of company performance. In your first six months, you’ll establish our core planning process, build the models supporting our next fundraise, and give the founders a clearer view of where we’re performing, where we’re exposed, and where to invest next.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own financial planning across Zed’s US and Philippine entities, including budgeting, forecasting, cash and runway planning, and long-range planning
• Build and maintain the models that connect customer growth, card usage, credit losses, funding costs, and operating expenses to unit economics, cash needs, and a path to profitability
• Partner directly with the CEO and founders to evaluate where to invest, how quickly to grow, and which trade-offs to make—turning analysis into clear recommendations on hiring, spending, and new business opportunities
• Establish a practical planning and reporting cadence that helps leaders understand performance against plan, identify what’s changing, and decide when to adjust course
• Own the financial models and materials supporting fundraising, board reporting, and investor updates, with clear assumptions and a financial narrative grounded in business performance
• Support capital and balance sheet planning in partnership with Finance, Risk, and Compliance, including scenarios that show how changes in growth, credit performance, and funding affect the business
• Partner with our Philippines finance team, which owns accounting, controllership, and regulatory compliance for that entity, to bring reliable financial data into a consolidated view of company performance
• Work with Data and functional leaders to define consistent business metrics, understand the drivers behind the numbers, and build tools and processes that fit Zed’s stage

WHAT YOU BRING

• Private equity experience, particularly evaluating businesses, pressure-testing assumptions, and developing investment recommendations
• Experience at a bank, lender, or other regulated financial institution, including credit economics, capital planning, or balance sheet management
• Experience supporting a fundraise or working directly with a board and outside investors
• Experience with multi-entity or cross-border finance, particularly across the US and Asia

Nice to have:

• Private equity experience, particularly evaluating businesses, pressure-testing assumptions, and developing investment recommendations
• Experience at a bank, lender, or other regulated financial institution, including credit economics, capital planning, or balance sheet management
• Experience supporting a fundraise, preparing board materials, or working directly with outside investors
• Experience with multi-entity or cross-border finance, particularly across the US and Asia

We hire exceptional people from diverse backgrounds because different perspectives build better products.

If you’re excited about this role but don’t check every box, apply anyway. We value potential, ownership, and alignment with our values more than perfect résumés.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on legally protected characteristics. We provide reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process.

Compensation includes salary, equity, and benefits. Final offers are based on role scope, location, and experience.