Associate Director - Finance

Location: Noida (Work from Office - 5 days in week)

CA (Chartered Accountant) Qualified

Own financial strategy and operations for 20M+ users across 15+ regional languages with scope to go global soon. Build systems that enable disciplined growth and turn financial data into strategic advantage — not just close books.

What You Will Own (Non-Negotiable)

This role owns the financial health and strategic clarity of the business, not just accounting.

You are the final authority on:

● How company allocates resources (content budgets, marketing spend, expansion decisions)

● How company plans for the future (fundraising, runway, scenario modeling)

● What the real numbers are — and what they mean for decision-making

● How company leverages AI to automate, predict, and optimize financial operations

● How company communicates with investors — with clarity, confidence, and credibility

● The systemic rigor that turns financial data into strategic advantage

Your mandate spans FP&A; + Accounting + Compliance + Treasury + Strategic Finance + Investor Relations + AI Adoption.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning & Analysis (Strategic Finance Engine)

- Build company's Financial Command Center — the single source of truth on business performance, unit economics, and growth levers.
- Own monthly/quarterly financial reviews with sharp insights on:
- Revenue trends by region, language, and content category
- Subscriber cohorts, churn, LTV, and payback periods
- Content ROI and acquisition efficiency
- Cash burn and runway projections

- Present a monthly Finance Insights Deck to leadership with clear, articulate recommendations on resource allocation and strategic pivots.
- Influence Content, Marketing, Product, and Growth roadmaps with financial clarity and strategic foresight.
- Build predictive financial models using AI/ML tools for forecasting, anomaly detection, and scenario planning.

2. Content Economics & Unit Economics Mastery (OTT-Specific Intelligence)

- Build and continuously refine the unit economics model:
- Subscriber acquisition cost (CAC) by channel, region, and language
- Lifetime value (LTV) by cohort, content genre, and user behavior
- Content cost per hour watched and per subscriber
- Revenue per user (ARPU) trends and payment method analysis
- Churn drivers and retention economics
- Master content economics:
- Content amortization schedules for library valuation
- Licensing vs. original content ROI trade-offs
- Content asset valuation and depreciation
- Regional content performance (Haryanvi vs. Gujarati economics)
- Structure content deals from a finance lens:
- Minimum guarantees, revenue shares, licensing windows
- Creator contract economics and payout structures
- Content investment cycles and working capital management
- Identify margin leaks and partner with Growth, Product, Content, and CX teams to improve efficiency.
- Use financial data to uncover hidden consumer pain points — subscription drop-offs, regional pricing mismatches, payment gateway issues.

- 3.



Fundraising & Investor Relations (Capital Strategy & Articulation)

This is a senior-level, strategic mandate requiring exceptional articulation skills.

Own all fundraising activities:

● Build compelling pitch decks and financial models

● Lead investor conversations with clarity, confidence, and strategic depth

● Coordinate due diligence processes with legal, product, and operations teams

● Manage data room preparation and investor queries

Growth fundraising expertise required:

● Series B/C dynamics: growth metrics scrutiny, path to profitability, valuation defense

● Secondary transactions and cap table optimization

● Investor syndicate management

Own investor communication:

● Monthly investor updates with sharp insights and honest assessment

● Quarterly board decks that tell the business story through numbers

● Annual audited financials and investor reporting

● Board relationship management and governance

4. Accounting, Compliance & Regulatory Rigor (Operational Foundation)

Own ALL finance verticals with zero gaps:

Accounting Operations:

● P&L;, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statements

● Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) management

● Month-end and year-end close processes

● Fixed asset management and depreciation schedules

● Revenue recognition under Ind AS 115 (subscription complexity, bundles, ads, B2B licensing)

Compliance & Statutory:

● GST (registration, filing, reconciliation, audits across multiple states)

● TDS (deduction, payment, returns — especially for content creators and licensing)

● Income Tax (advance tax, returns, assessments)

● ROC filings (annual returns, financials, director KYC)

● Audit coordination (statutory, tax, internal)

● FEMA compliance (for foreign investments and international content deals)

● Digital Media regulations (Intermediary Guidelines compliance)

�� Audit Committee readiness and governance

Treasury & Banking:

● Cash flow management and liquidity planning

● Bank account management and signatories

● Forex management for international content licensing

● Vendor payment systems and approval hierarchies

● Crisis/runway management under stress scenarios

5. Payment Infrastructure & Tier 2/3 Economics

● Payment gateway economics and transaction costs

● Carrier billing partnerships and economics

● UPI, wallets, and regional payment behavior

● Payment failure patterns and recovery

● Regional pricing strategy and elasticity

6. AI Adoption & Finance Automation (Future-Ready Finance)

This is a core requirement, not a nice-to-have.

Lead AI adoption across the finance function:

● Implement AI-powered tools for expense categorization, invoice processing, and reconciliation





● Build predictive analytics for cash flow, churn, and revenue forecasting

● Automate financial reporting and dashboard generation

● Use AI for fraud detection, vendor analysis, and spend optimization

Evaluate and deploy finance tech stack (ERPs, FP&A; tools, automation platforms).

Train the finance team to work alongside AI systems — not resist them.

Stay ahead of AI trends in finance and continuously improve automation maturity.

7. Strategic Thinking & Cross-Functional Leadership

You are not just the Finance head — you are a strategic thought partner to the CEO and leadership team.

Translate complex financial concepts into transparent, compelling narratives for board, investors, and teams.

Influence company culture around financial discipline, data-driven decisions, and long-term thinking.

Your strategic thinking must elevate every major business decision.

8. Team Building & Finance Culture (Leadership Excellence)

Create a culture of curiosity, rigor, and continuous improvement within finance.

Train non-finance teams to understand key financial metrics and think like owners.

Foster an AI-first mindset where automation is embraced, not feared.

You create the systems and culture that make the finance engine run predictably, intelligently, and withquality.

Requirements

Experience: 10–15+ years in Finance, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (Head of Finance, CFO, VP Finance, or equivalent).

Proven ownership of

● Financial planning & analysis (FP&A;)

● Accounting operations (AR, AP, GL, fixed assets)

● Compliance & statutory (GST, TDS, Income Tax, ROC, FEMA)

● Treasury & cash management

● Fundraising & investor relations

● Strategic finance & unit economics

Must-have experience:

● Growth Fundraising (Series B/C+) — Series C scrutiny is different — path to profitability,

valuation defense, investor syndicate management

● AI Adoption — Implemented automation tools or used AI/ML for forecasting/analytics

● Content Deal Structuring — Experience structuring content licensing deals, MGs, revenue shares from finance POV

● Compliance Mastery — Zero compliance delays or penalties in previous roles

● Consumer Business — OTT, fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, food delivery, or mobility with deep understanding of unit economics

● Payment Infrastructure — Understanding of Tier 2/3 payment behavior, gateway economics, carrier billing

● Revenue Recognition (Ind AS 115) — Subscription revenue complexity — bundles, ads, B2B licensing

● Strategic Thinking — Changed business strategy or resource allocation through financial insights

● M&A; / Strategic Partnerships — Evaluated acquisition targets or structured strategic deals

(preferred)

● International Finance — Multi-currency, transfer pricing, international entity setup (preferred, given global expansion plans)

● Crisis Management — Runway extension under stress, turnaround scenarios

● Audit Committee Experience — Board-level governance and audit processes

📌 Associate Director - Finance (Noida)
🏢 Zealant Consulting Group
📍 Noida