Freelance Procurement & Budget Controller

At Toloka AI we create data that powers leading GenAI models and innovations. We work with frontier labs, big tech, renowned AI startups, enterprises and non-profit research organizations worldwide. We use a combination of Experts + Crowd + Tech Platform to teach AI models to reason and evaluate their efficacy and safety. We have experts in more than 50 different domains—from doctors and lawyers to physicists and engineers—and boast one of the most diverse global crowds, representing over 100 countries and speaking 40+ languages .

We are a well-funded startup with an enviable portfolio of clients including Anthropic , Amazon , Microsoft , Poolside , Recraft , and Shopify .

Recently, we secured strategic investment led by Bezos Expeditions and Nebius Group with participation from Mikhail Parakhin , CTO of Shopify and board advisor to leading GenAI companies, who now serves as our Chairman of the Board. Our remote-first team is globally distributed around the world: USA, UK, the Netherlands, Serbia , and more.

Toloka is looking for a Procurement & Budget Controller to own the end-to-end purchasing process and help keep company spending under control. The Procurement & Budget Controller will manage the full Purchase Order and vendor lifecycle in Net Suite, review expenses and contracts against budget and maintain the procurement policies and workflows that keep the process running smoothly. This role will also support month-end close by preparing accruals and reconciling purchasing-related transactions.

• Manage the end-to-end Purchase Order (PO) lifecycle: PO creation, updates, Item Receipt processing, and reconciliation
• Manage PO approval workflows
• Manage vendor master data:
  Supplier creation, maintenance, and data validation in Net Suite; review and validate vendor banking details and financial master data
• Coordinate supplier invoice processing and payments
• Create and maintain items, GL accounts and other analytics in Net Suite
• Develop and maintain internal process documentation and work instructions in Notion
• Support audit and other finance-related ad-hoc requests
• Work with business stakeholders and cross-functional teams to resolve operational issues and support smooth finance processes

• Control actual and planned spending against budget at the point of expense/contract approval, before sign-off
• Analyze and maintain budget analytics (cost centers, categories, projects, etc.), ensuring spending is correctly classified and budget structures stay accurate and controllable
• Implement and maintain cost controls, spend approval thresholds

• Own and maintain the end-to-end procurement process (requisition approval PO receipt payment), defining clear steps, roles, and controls at each stage
• Develop, update and maintain procurement policies and approval workflows; ensure they are followed and compliance requirements are met
• Monitor process compliance, track deviations, and escal
• Identify process gaps and inefficiencies and contribute to process improvements
• Train and support internal stakeholders on procurement process, tools, and policy requirements

• Review and process Item Receipts at month-end, verifying that goods and services received during the reporting period, and preparing the related PO accruals for unbilled expenses
• Prepare and validate monthly accruals for non-PO and project-related expenses
• Support the monthly financial close, ensuring accurate recognition of expenses, accruals and project costs

• 5+ years of track record in finance roles
• Deep expertise in Budget controlling & Procurement processes
• Solid understanding of AP processes and month-end close (accruals, reconciliations)
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment
• Working with Net Suite is a plus
• Fluent English
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance - or equivalent advanced degree
• Big4 experience, ACMA/ FCMA/FCCA, is preferred