Sr. Director of SOX and Internal Controls

About Vercel:

Vercel gives developers the tools and cloud infrastructure to build, scale, and secure a faster, more personalized web. As the team behind v0, Next.js, and AI SDK, Vercel helps customers like Ramp, Supreme, PayPal, and Under Armour build for the AI-native web.

Our mission is to enable the world to ship the best products. That starts with creating a place where everyone can do their best work. Whether you're building on our platform, supporting our customers, or shaping our story: You can just ship things.

About the Role:

Vercel is looking for a Sr. Director of SOX and Internal Controls to develop and lead our compliance, controls, and risk management framework in anticipation of one day becoming a public company. This role will have a significant focus on our billing, revenue, and payment systems to ensure that our high-volume, subscription & consumption-based business is subject to robust internal controls, while also leading our overall SOX compliance efforts.

You will spearhead strategic initiatives aimed at identifying process and control risk, streamlining our automated, and manual controls, and guiding business partners on best practices for SOX compliance. This person must be able to thrive in a fast-paced, complex environment, at the cutting edge of technology and the AI product-space.

What You Will Do:

• Lead the company’s SOX 404 compliance program (under COSO framework), including scoping, risk assessment, control design, testing, and remediation.
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive internal control framework, including, but not limited to instream automated controls over billing, collection, and revenue recognition.
• Partner with IT, Engineering, and Product teams to develop and monitor automated controls and system dependencies that are well-designed and documented. Serve as a trusted advisor on IT general controls for these groups.
• Partner cross-functionally to develop and strengthen appropriate entity-level controls, business process (manual & automated) controls, incident reporting frameworks, and reporting structures expected of a public company.
• Evaluate and strengthen controls over system access, change management, and data integrity for all in-scope systems.
• Drive annual and quarterly SOX risk assessments, and the controls certification process.
• Prepare reports and updates for the Audit Committee, external auditors, and executive leadership.
• Serve as the trusted advisor to business leaders on internal controls, risk management, and compliance trade-offs.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of SOX/compliance professionals.
• Liaise with external auditors and coordinate SOX scoping, testing, and remediation of findings.

About You:

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field. CPA, CIA, or CISA certification strongly preferred.
• 15+ years of experience in internal controls, SOX compliance, and audit, with a minimum of 5 years managing a team. Experience working at a public company, with quarterly reporting cadence is required.
• Strong understanding of high-volume, complex SaaS billing systems (e.g., Zuora, Stripe, Recurly, Chargebee, custom billing engines) and ERP/finance systems (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Oracle).
• Good technical knowledge of US GAAP (ASC 606), internal controls, and revenue recognition for subscription and usage-based models.
• Big-4 public accounting & audit firm background strongly preferred.
• Proven track record of implementing scalable automated controls across financial systems.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with employees, internal teams and external partners.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to identify risks, conduct audits, and implement solutions

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Inclusive Healthcare Package.
• Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
• Flexible Time Off.
• We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

The San Francisco, CA base pay range for this role is $250,000 - $300,000. Actual salary will be based on job-related skills, experience, and location. Compensation outside of San Francisco may be adjusted based on employee location, and the total package includes benefits and equity-based compensation. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process.

Vercel is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Vercel encourages everyone to apply for our available positions, even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.