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Staff Accountant

Palo Alto, CA

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution conducting curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

  • Funding: Arc fully funds Core Investigators’ (PIs’) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
  • Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize, and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators. 
  • Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially, and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
  • Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc has scaled to nearly 200 people. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly in the coming years.

About the position

We are looking for a Staff Accountant who will supervise general accounting operations and control our financial transactions. Your responsibilities will also include reconciling account balances and bank statements, maintaining the general ledger, preparing month-end close procedures, and ensuring accuracy and effectiveness in all company's accounting tasks.

Please note that this is a hybrid on-site position (Palo Alto, CA).

About you

  • We expect you to possess both excellent analytical skills and an in-depth knowledge of accounting principles
  • Work independently and complete tasks in a timely fashion
  • Detail oriented

In this position you will

  • Process invoices/payments and credit card transactions
  • Partner with outside vendors to assure timely payment of invoices
  • Review expense reports to ensure they comply with Arc Institute guidelines
  • Participate in department level goal setting activities and month-end and year-end close processes
  • Assist Accounting Manager with tax audits (both internal and external) and tax returns
  • Support business processes and accounting policies and prepare corresponding documentation
  • Ensure that accounting procedures comply with GAAP requirements
  • Work with finance team to optimize financial systems and processes

Requirements

  • 4-7 years experience as an Accountant
  • Extensive experience with accounting procedures
  • Experience with general ledger functions and the month-end/year-end close process
  • Strong knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
  • Experience with Netsuite or similar accounting software packages
  • Strong analytical and quantitative skills with accuracy and attention to detail
  • BS degree in Accounting, Finance or other relevant area

The base salary range for this position is $84,000-$104,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

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