Chief Financial Officer: Enterprise SaaS Business Unit

The Company

Automattic owns a diverse set of assets, deploys numerous business models, and supports both B2C and B2B customers in a fast-paced, complex market. We are composed of WordPress.com, WooCommerce, an Enterprise content management system called WordPress VIP, Jetpack, Tumblr, and a business incubator full of potential future products. Our business is built on WordPress, which powers 43% of all websites.

Matt Mullenweg, the co-Founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, is driving a growth and expansion strategy that is still in its ‘early days’ with a massive TAM and exceptional upside. With a mission to democratize publishing and commerce, Automattic employees have an extraordinary opportunity to contribute to something meaningful and uniquely special.

Our platform offers scalability from B2C to SMB to Enterprise, providing both horizontal and vertical solutions. Our customer base ranges from individual consumers to Fortune 50 companies, and extends to large public sector organizations. We manage the internet properties for renowned organizations such as Salesforce, Porsche, Meta, Disney, and NASA. With over 4 million online stores running WooCommerce, accounting for 27% of all online stores globally, and more than 1 billion people using our products monthly, Automattic has established itself as a pivotal player in the digital landscape.

We are a team of 1,900, which has grown by 250% in the past three years, spread across 94 countries. Unlike many companies, we are and will always be 100% remote (we call it distributed). This means that you can work from anywhere in the world, in any time zone, leveraging collaboration tools and asynchronous communication.

Automattic is highly acquisitive and focuses intently on mergers and acquisitions. Over the past 17 years, we’ve acquired 35 companies, including WooCommerce, Parse.ly, and most recently, Texts.com, a multi-channel messaging play. These acquisitions now represent some of Automattic’s largest business units and growth drivers.

Our company is backed by some of the world’s most respected investors, spanning mutual funds, venture capital, sovereign wealth, and strategics. These include Salesforce Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, ICONIQ Capital, True Ventures, Wellington Management, BlackRock Asset Management, Alta Park Capital, Schonfeld, New York Times Company, and Tiger Global Management.

Our Board includes Sue Decker, who also serves on the boards of Berkshire Hathaway, Costco, and Vox Media, as well as Ann Dunwoody, the first female four-star general in the US Army. Automattic is profitable, generates positive cash flow, and is aggressively investing in future growth. It's a great place to build a career, learn, and contribute!

The Opportunity

The Enterprise Chief Financial Officer is a critical hire for Automattic. Attracting a proven CFO as well as a business partner is one of the most strategic objectives in the company’s evolution. Enterprise has experienced consistent and impressive growth, and the expectations for future growth and continued market leadership remain very high. To achieve the desired success, the financial strategy, alignment, and operations must deliver at the highest level of performance. The new CFO will be charged with setting the new standard for financial excellence at WordPress VIP as well as provide a strategic perspective at the executive level.

The ability to effectively work with product, technology, and GTM leaders is essential. The CFO will work hand in hand with all other operating leaders to push for broader, deeper strategic thinking, and will need to deliver compelling ideas in a room with some of the industry’s most innovative executives.

Responsibilities

• Ensure that all regulatory reporting requirements are met; provide adequate structure and discipline around internal controls and the closing process.
• Offer a strong point of view as a key member of the senior executive team. Provide strategic vision and tactical execution to enhance revenue growth.
• Develop financial strategies, budgeting processes, and forecasts to support current and future revenue models, with a particular eye toward improving the financial results and fueling growth.
• Create rigorous financial models and execute sound financial analysis.
• Develop good financial systems infrastructure to drive the efficiency and accuracy of all financial planning and reporting processes.
• Evaluate finance talent, build a world-class finance team at all levels, and develop staffing plans to support long- and short-term business demands. Serve as a coach and mentor to high-potential employees, giving them career-broadening opportunities.
• Enhance current management reporting with more analytics and metrics to track business performance.
• Work with business leaders to ensure these reports are aiding them in managing their areas of responsibility.
• Create a performance-driven culture within the finance organization and drive an internal customer service orientation.
• Ensure that all regulatory reporting requirements are met; provide adequate structure and discipline around internal controls and the closing process.

Requirements

• A business strategist and deep thinker with a global orientation.
• Proven track record of accelerating a successful technology company and reaching “escape velocity” growth rates.
• Ability to continue to grow and adapt as the business changes and demands new thinking and levels of performance, and to model entirely new and creative businesses and areas of growth for the company.
• Experience identifying business opportunities, and developing financial models that are consistent with the company’s overall strategy.
• Boardroom and earnings call ready.
• Understanding of best practices around structuring a finance organization and experience with implementing those practices.
• Highly motivated.
• Is of unquestionable personal and professional integrity—exhibits a measured approach, is able to give and take constructive criticism, and demands high performance from both themselves and their colleagues.
• A team builder and strong coach. Able to recruit, retain, and mentor top-quality staff, and motivate and hold team members accountable.

The salary for this role ranges from $300,000 to $500,000 USD. Please note that salary ranges are global, regardless of location, where we pay in local currency.

We consider several factors when extending an offer, including, but not limited to, experience, education, and key skills. Our benefits include health insurance, retirement plans, flexible work options, and opportunities for ongoing learning.

Read more about our compensation philosophy and benefits.