The posting
About Harbinger
Harbinger is an American commercial electric vehicle (EV) company on a mission to transform an industry starving for innovation. Harbinger’s best-in-class team of EV, battery, and drivetrain experts have pooled their deep experience to bring a first-of-its-kind EV platform to support the growing demand for medium-duty EVs and Hybrids. Harbinger: Familiar Form, Revolutionary Foundation.
Position Summary
The Corporate Controller owns the accuracy, integrity, and scalability of Harbinger's financial close, controls, and reporting, and ensures the company's financial records comply with US GAAP and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. This is a builder's role: someone who has seen what a mature accounting function looks like and has the judgment and drive to move Harbinger from where it is today to that end state without losing rigor along the way. The right person is comfortable rolling up their sleeves in a fast-moving, resource-constrained environment, holds a hard line on controls even under deadline pressure, and has previously built (not just maintained) accounting infrastructure at a startup or high-growth company.
Key Responsibilities
Close, Reporting & Controls
- Own the end-to-end month-end and quarter-end close, driving toward an aggressive, well-defined close timeline while building in the checks that protect accuracy as the close gets faster
- Ensure financial statements and supporting records comply with US GAAP and applicable statutory and regulatory filing requirements
- Design, implement, and personally hold the line on financial reporting controls. This role is accountable for controls actually being followed, not just documented
- Maintain and evolve the chart of accounts and P&L structure so it keeps pace with the business (new revenue lines, new cost categories, new entities)
- Exercise sound judgment on materiality and risk, and know when to escalate versus resolve independently
Systems & Scalability
- Assess the current state of accounting systems and processes and build a roadmap to get Harbinger to where a company at its next stage needs to be by anticipating scale rather than reacting to it
- Own or closely partner on ERP strategy (NetSuite) and spend management tooling, driving automation across close and reporting workflows
- Actively identify and implement process, systems, and documentation improvements across the accounting function to increase efficiency, accuracy, and scalability
- Bring firsthand experience implementing systems or tools in a prior role
Tax & Compliance
- Oversee income tax, sales/use tax, and other statutory tax compliance in partnership with outside tax advisors
- Serve as the primary point of contact for external auditors and drive the annual audit process
- Maintain audit- and controls-ready documentation appropriate to the company's stage, with an eye toward what will be needed as Harbinger matures, including internal controls testing and SOX readiness
Cost & Technical Accounting
- Ensure inventory, standard costs, and COGS are accurately reflected as production scales. We are a manufacturing business and cost accounting rigor matters
- Own or oversee capitalization vs. expense determinations, revenue recognition, and technical accounting memos for complex or non-routine transactions
- Advise on the accounting treatment of equity compensation programs and other non-standard transactions
- Act as a key finance partner when the business launches a new product or expands into a new country by getting ahead of the accounting, tax, and reporting implications rather than reacting after the fact
Business Partnership & Leadership
- Partner closely with the FP&A team to support budget-to-actual variance analysis and provide clean, timely actuals
- Lead, coach, and develop a team spanning the entirety of the accounting function
- Set the standard for pace and rigor being able to personally step into the detail when a deadline demands it, not just delegate and monitor
Required Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance required
- CPA required
- 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, including a mix of public accounting (Big 4 or national firm) and industry
- Demonstrated experience owning a month-end close process at scale
- Experience designing and implementing financial reporting controls
- Experience with NetSuite or a comparable ERP
- People management experience
Nice to Have
- Startup or high-growth company experience
- Manufacturing, automotive, or hardware/EV industry background
- Experience with large capital equipment or facility buildout accounting
- Standard costing or inventory-heavy environment experience
- Experience with equity compensation programs
- Exposure to public company reporting requirements or IPO readiness
- ERP implementation experience
- Experience with modern spend management systems (e.g., Ramp, Airbase, Coupa)
- Experience supporting a company scaling into new products or geographies
Key Benefits & Perks:
- Comprehensive Health, Dental & Vision (HDV) – 100% employee covered
- Early-stage Stock Options
- Robust Retirement Savings (401k, HSA, FSA)
- Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) & Parental Leave
- Annual Vacation Bonus
- Wellness & Fertility Benefits
- Cell Phone Stipend
- Complimentary Meals & Stocked Kitchens
California Pay Range
$230,000—$280,000 USD
Equal Opportunity
Harbinger is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Harbinger is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [email protected].
Candidate Data Privacy
Harbinger may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Harbinger may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.
Harbinger may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our HR, legal, and finance teams, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Harbinger affiliates; and (iii) Harbinger’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.
Harbinger may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.
Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services. Any unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles submitted in response to our job posting shall be considered the property of Harbinger and are not subject to payment of referral or placement fees if any such candidate is later hired by Harbinger unless you have a signed written agreement in place with us which covers the applicable job posting.
