Accounting and Finance Manager

Location: Seattle area, WA (hybrid, on-site preferred)

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer

Type: Full-time

Timing of hire
:
Immediate, candidates should be able to join the company within a month.

Compensation: $,000 base salary, depending on qualifications and experience, plus equity in the form of stock options or RSUs under the company's discretionary equity incentive plan.

Company: Kinea Bio is a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing next-generation gene therapies for neuromuscular diseases. The company is developing preclinical therapeutics programs with R&D funded by NIH and nonprofit patient organizations. We are currently pursuing strategic financing and a potential public-listing process and are looking for our first dedicated, full-time finance hire who can help the company to become audit-ready and public-company-ready while also managing multiple active NIH SBIR grants and internal R&D programs.

With such strategic transformation, the company plans to take its development programs to clinical trials as early as possible and address unmet care for individuals living with serious rare and ultra-rare neuromuscular conditions.

The Accounting and Finance Manager is a full-time, on-site (or hybrid) role based in the Greater Seattle Area. This is a hands-on, build-it-yourself role for someone who wants to own the day-to-day accounting and financial operations of a growth-stage biotech while directly supporting a first-time PCAOB audit process and federal grant compliance. You will work closely with the CFO and manage our part-time staff accountant, while personally driving the technical accounting and audit-readiness work.

This is not a Controller or Director-level strategic role - we are looking for someone who wants to be in the details: reconciliations, schedules, audit PBC (provided-by-client) lists, grant cost allocations, and building the financial infrastructure a PCAOB auditor and federal grant auditor will expect to see. As the company grows (post-financing), we expect to add more senior finance leadership above and around this role, and there is a path to grow into a more senior position for the right person.

• Serve as the day-to-day, hands-on point person for our PCAOB financial statement audits (current and prior fiscal years), working directly with our selected audit firm
• Build and maintain a clean, audit-ready general ledger in Quick Books Online - chart of accounts structure, monthly close process, account reconciliations, and supporting schedules
• Prepare GAAP-basis financial statements and footnote-level supporting detail
• Own project/grant accounting for our active NIH SBIR Phase I/II awards, including cost allocation, time-and-effort/labor distribution records, and compliance with 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance)
• Prepare the company for its federal Single Audit (Yellow Book audit) triggered by SBIR expenditures exceeding $750,000 in a fiscal year
• Design and document basic internal controls (segregation of duties, approval workflows, close checklists) appropriate for a company preparing to become an SEC reporting company
• Oversee and QC the work of our part-time staff accountant (payroll processing in Gusto, AP/AR, day-to-day Quick Books entries)
• Support due diligence requests from the investment bank, investors, and strategic counter parties
• Help build financial models, budget-to-actual reporting, and cash runway tracking
• Take on select ancillary HR and corporate administrative functions until the company adds dedicated staff for these areas - e.g., employee benefits administration, future adoption and administration of a 401(k) plan, corporate insurance policies, and tracking of company assets

• A minimum of 5 years of hands-on accounting/finance experience in an industry setting, preferably in a manufacturing, technology or biotech/life sciences industries
• CPA license is not required but a strong plus
• Direct experience working through a PCAOB or GAAS financial statement audit from the company side (preparing PBC lists, audit schedules, responding to auditor requests) is a strong plus
• Experience with federal grant accounting and compliance (SBIR/STTR, NIH, or other federal awards) and familiarity with 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance / Single Audit (Yellow Book) requirements is a strong plus
• Hands-on proficiency with Quick Books Online and comparable payroll systems
• Experience with enterprise accounting/ERP platforms (e.g., Net Suite, Sage Intacct) is a strong plus - this person…