Accounting Manager

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for an experienced Accounting Manager to join our team.

Position Description:

Oklo is building a world-class accounting and finance organization to support the commercialization of nuclear energy in the U.S. The Accounting Manager will play a key role in running the books and close processes for the Company and ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulations. This role will be responsible for ownership and execution of GAAP accounting and bookkeeping to support Oklo’s public company reporting requirements. You will be responsible for review and approval of key schedules and workstreams, such as accounts payable, accruals, prepaid expenses, payroll, leases (842), equity (718), reconciliations of cash and credit card accounts, and fixed asset depreciation etc. In addition, you will work with our third-party accounting advisory resources on complex/high-judgement areas to drive appropriate accounting treatment across new and evolving transactions. You will also oversee the weekly check run and cash management process.

Other responsibilities include review of spend and expense transactions for appropriate accounting classification, maintaining appropriate documentation of review procedures to evidence internal control execution, as well as drafting accounting policy documents. You will serve as a primary point of contact for the external audit team on a quarterly basis to support audit documentation requests. Your ability to manage the close process effectively and assist the team on delivery of key accounting close and SEC reporting milestones will be a critical success factor. These tasks will require a high level of interaction cross functionally, as well as across third party advisory and legal groups and external and internal audit teams.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Own the month-end close process by leveraging the FloQast close automation tool, ensuring close targets are timely met and appropriate supporting documentation is maintained.
• Review and approval of journal entries within NetSuite ERP and oversee the consolidation of Oklo subsidiary Atomic Alchemy into the corporate entity, including review of any intercompany transactions.
• Maintain the close calendar and hold regular close meetings with the team for effective project management of the close
• Provide accounting support for new and upcoming accounting issues, such as capitalization and R&D expense recognition and revenue recognition.
• Develop and maintain accounting policies and procedures to ensure compliance with US GAAP, including creating procedures to validate the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of data utilized within the accounting organization.
• Train staff on accounting close best-practices and work to further build out the accounting function.
• Work to drive automation in the close process to both speed up and streamline the close process
• Liaise with external auditors during audits and provide necessary documentation and explanations regarding their testing of focus areas.
• Work closely with various departments, including finance and accounting, operations, procurement, and engineering to ensure comprehensive accounting for business activities.
• Collaborate to ensure compliance with US GAAP reporting and Department of Energy statutory audits as needed by serving as a key stakeholder for the accounting function.

Competencies:

We are looking for someone that is:

• Analytical—the individual synthesizes complex or diverse information
• Process and public company oriented
• Pro-Active – as Oklo’s business evolves we will want to be thinking about the accounting policy and financial reporting implications well ahead of time
• Problem solving—the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner and gathers and analyzes information skillfully
• Oral communication—the individual speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations, demonstrates group presentation skills, and conducts productive meetings
• Organization—the individual monitors a wide range of accounting activities and ensures the execution of routine processes
• Quality management—the individual looks for ways to improve and promote quality and demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness
• Judgment—the individual displays willingness to make decisions, exhibits sound and accurate judgment and makes timely decisions
• Planning/organizing—the individual prioritizes and plans work activities, uses time efficiently and develops realistic action plans

Critical for Oklo:

• Passionate about clean energy
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• Willing to think differently and do things in new ways
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, high iterative startup environment
• Excited to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about the problems they are solving while not leaning only on what has been done before
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions to technical problems
• An excellent write in a modern active voice, so make your cover letter compelling and write it well! 
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, information systems, or related field
• Active CPA
• Five to seven years of accounting experience at a public company
• Proven project management experience
• Strong systems focus and familiarity with NetSuite

Bonus Qualifications:

• Big 4 audit experience is highly preferred
• Master’s degree in accountancy preferred
• Experience at a fast growth startup, IPO or de-SPAC experience
• Preferred remote location: U.S. Mountain or Central time zones. Preferred physical location in the bay area, California

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance, but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $125,000-$155,000

Salary may fall outside of the range provided and will be dependent on applicant experience.

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401k, health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.

About Oklo Inc.: Oklo is a California-based company developing clean energy plants to provide emission-free, reliable, and affordable energy using advanced fission. Oklo is a fast-growing startup with a history of reliable funding and milestones for more than 5 years. Oklo’s first product is a microgrid scale powerhouse. The powerhouse can produce clean energy for decades without needing to refuel, and also has the capability to turn nuclear waste into clean energy.

Oklo received a Site Use Permit from the U.S Department of Energy, demonstrated fabrication of its fuel, was awarded fuel from the Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first accepted advanced fission license application to the regulator.

Oklo has been featured in Popular Mechanics, Wired, Architectural Digest, Hyperallergic, POWER Magazine, has been the subject of a Harvard Business School case, and was featured in the documentary The New Fire, among many other features.