Director of Finance

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Vena Medical builds the world’s smallest camera for use inside blood vessels, giving physicians a live view from inside the body when every second counts. With FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and devices already helping patients today, we’re turning cutting‑edge imaging technology into real‑world impact in hospitals.

We are a 12‑person medical device startup transitioning from R&D to full commercial scale. We’re beginning to grow sales into hospitals and building the operations needed to support that growth.

We are hiring our first Director of Finance to own the financial engine of the business – everything from hospital contract economics and cash‑flow management / forecasting to payroll, vendor payments, and board reporting – while building the finance function that will support our next stage of growth.

POSITION SUMMARY

As Director of Finance, you will be the senior finance leader at Vena Medical and a key partner to the CEO and COO. You will combine strategic finance (models, KPIs, board reporting) with hands‑on ownership of day‑to‑day financial operations.

• Take over a broad set of finance responsibilities currently owned by the founders.
• Build simple, scalable systems and processes rather than just “keeping the lights on”.
• Act as a true business partner to the CEO and COO, translating strategy into financial plans, trade‑offs, and clear decision support (capital allocation, pricing, hiring, and growth priorities).
• Help non‑finance teammates really understand the numbers and what they mean.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Finance, Planning and KPIs

• Own and continuously update our financial model and projections (revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, headcount, cash runway).
• Track and communicate performance versus plan; proactively highlight risks, opportunities, and trade‑offs.
• Build and maintain KPI dashboards (commercial, operational, cash) that the CEO, COO, and board can easily understand and act on.
• Prepare monthly financial and KPI updates for the board, including P'L, cash, metrics, and narrative commentary.
• Support the CEO in negotiations and commercial decision‑making by providing clear financial analysis and scenarios.
• Translate financial data into clear, simple insights for non‑finance stakeholders; act as an internal “finance coach” for the founders.
• Own accounts payable and vendor management: categorizing expenses, cleaning up unreconciled transactions, and ensuring timely payments.
• Act as primary liaison with our bank, managing accounts, cash movements and debt facilities.

2. Revenue, Hospitals and Commercial Operations

• Support negotiation and review of hospital and customer contracts: pricing, payment terms, and overall financial structure.
• Interface with legal counsel where appropriate on contracts and manage all existing contracts (NDAs, supply agreements, employment agreements and stock option plan).
• Own the revenue cycle: invoicing hospitals, tracking accounts receivable, managing collections, and driving down days sales outstanding (DSO).
• Ensure timely customer payment, with clear processes for follow‑up and escalation.
• Reconcile inbound payments with sales, including appropriate splitting and booking of commissions.
• Over time, learn and take increasing ownership of logistics‑related processes (shipping, customs, documentation) supporting the design of simple, scalable workflows.

3. Accounting, Tax, Compliance and Grants

• In partnership with our external cloud bookkeeping, accounting, and tax providers, own the relationship with external accountants and tax advisors; ensure we receive timely, accurate financial statements.
• Review monthly financial statements, resolve discrepancies, and ensure they reflect the real economics of the business.
• Oversee cashflow planning and liquidity; manage bank accounts, CAD/USD planning and FX conversions, and credit card payments.
• Ensure we meet obligations such as WSIB, EHT, T2 filings and any similar requirements in other jurisdictions, coordinating with external experts as needed.
• Lead the financial aspects of grants (tracking and reporting eligible expenses) and coordinate SR&ED processes with our technical partners.

4. Payroll, People‑Related Finance and Compensation

• Own payroll operations end‑to‑end in collaboration with our providers: salaries, bonuses, commissions, and expense reimbursements.
• Calculate and approve commissions and bonuses; ensure accuracy, transparency, and timely communication to the team.
• Ensure all expense reports are reviewed, approved, and correctly coded.
• Support onboarding of new employees from a finance/operations perspective (employment contracts, compensation setup, systems access).

WHAT YOU BRING

• CPA Designation: A CPA designation is required.
• Experience: Approximately 8–10 years of experience in finance roles such as FP&A, Finance Manager, or similar, ideally in startups or high‑growth environments.
• Business Acumen: Strong foundation in accounting, but comfortable moving beyond “pure accounting” to review financials and spot commercial issues before they become problems.
• Operational Hands‑on: Experience with accounts payable/receivable, payroll, cash‑flow management, and bank relationships – you can demonstrate that you can both do the work yourself and improve the process.
• Modeling: Proven financial modeling skills and experience building and owning operating models and KPI dashboards.
• Contract Skills: Comfort reviewing and negotiating commercial and vendor contracts, especially around pricing, terms, and financial risk.
• Industry: Ideally, exposure to healthcare, hospital contracts, or medical devices (or other regulated industries).
• Communication: Excellent communication skills – you can explain complex financial concepts in clear, simple language to non‑finance teammates.
• Builder’s Mindset: You like creating processes and systems from scratch and iterating on them as the company grows.

WHY THIS ROLE IS EXCITING

• You will be our first finance leader, working directly with the CEO, COO, and board.
• You will shape how we commercialize a Breakthrough‑designated device that represents the world’s smallest camera inside blood vessels, already helping patients today.
• You will design the finance function you would want to inherit and have a clear potential path to VP Finance or CFO as Vena scales.
• You will have a truly broad scope – both strategic and operational – while still being early enough to see your impact everywhere in the business.

Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.