Group Controller
Retire the ERP.
Light exists to replace factory-era ERPs with software that feels alive. Our Smart Financial Platform gives modern, global companies superpowers—automated accounting, real-time reporting, and financial flows that move at the speed of the business.
We build with our customers, ship fast, and obsess over craft. In a short time, Light has gone from idea to the operating core for leading companies like Lovable, Legora, and Keyshot. People don’t just use Light—they enjoy it.
We’re an early team defining a new software category. Think engineers who love debits and credits, designers who care about reconciliation states, and operators who treat finance as a product. If you’re excited to modernize how the world runs money—one workflow at a time—you’re in the right place.
Backed by world-class investors and advised by industry titans, we’re building category-defining products with the freedom to ship ambitiously and own outcomes.
Come help us make Light the global default for next-gen finance.
The Role
This is probably one of the most exciting finance roles in Europe right now and we say that knowing how that sounds like. If you are genuinely passionate about AI tooling and the future of accounting while having lived through the pains of closing books in the old world, we might be looking for you - define with us what “best-in-class finance” looks like in a modern stack!
As our first dedicated finance hire, you will own the books across three-jurisdictions (IFRS reporting, statutory accounts, consolidation) while working inside a company that builds the tools that make all of that faster, more accurate, and more intelligent than any traditional finance stack. Your experience as an operator will directly shape the product we sell to finance teams across Europe. You won't just be working with the finance tools of the future, you'll be helping build them.
You will start hands-on. But your goal is to build systems that remove yourself from manual work. This is not a seat in an existing machine. We are looking for someone with both deep financial rigour and a genuine builder instinct.
Responsibilities
Building a scalable finance function from scratch using modern AI tooling
Month-end close & technical accounting: IFRS-compliant reconciliations, accruals, and intercompany transactions across all entities, lead on judgement areas including revenue recognition, provisions, SBC etc.
Group consolidation: intercompany eliminations, FX translation, and consolidated P&L and balance sheet (built-in directly in Light platform)
Statutory reporting & audit: preparation of annual accounts across all entities and primary point of contact for external auditors
Management reporting: monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow pack for board and leadership
Compliance, VAT and payroll: own the master compliance calendar across all entities; prepare and submit VAT returns, communicate with payroll providers
Cash & AP: monitor cash positions and FX exposure across entities; own accounts payable, payment runs, and bank reconciliations
Exposure to FP&A and investor relations if desired
What Success Looks Like in This Role
From books closed → Books closed on day 1 of each month
From executing finance workflows → Removing yourself from finance workflows and serving as feedback loop only
From delivering a report → Delivering insights
From tracking deadlines → The compliance calendar runs itself
What We Are Looking For
You have held sole responsibility (or were no.2) for a complete set of books, not as a contributor within a larger team, but as the accountable owner from trial balance to statutory accounts
You have prepared IFRS-compliant financial statements independently and are confident defending technical accounting judgements to external auditors
Your background is in Big 4 or mid-tier audit practice, a smaller public company or similar - you have been held to an absolute standard of financial reporting and that standard is now your own
You are comfortable operating as the sole technical accounting authority
You have a builder DNA, you do not just execute processes, you design them. You are frustrated by manual work and driven to eliminate it through systems, tooling and automation
You are genuinely excited by AI tooling and the future of accounting, you do not need to code, but you should be energised by the idea of building a finance function that runs on modern infrastructure
What You’ll Get
Genuine ownership from the outset, while this role reports to the Head of Finance you will experience no extensive approval layers and hierarchies. Your work has immediate impact on how the company operates and reports
Direct access to the product team, as the internal operator of Light's own platform, your experience as a user matters. If you have product instincts and the initiative to act on them, there is a real path to co-creating the tools you work with every day
Exposure to AI-native financial tooling that is years ahead of what most finance teams are working with today, your will operate in Europe’s only AI-native financial platform
The good stuff
In addition to being part of a great team and working in a really fun and innovative environment, we offer:
💸 Competitive salary + potential stock options
🏝 25 days of annual leave + public holidays
🥳 Regular socials and company Starsite off-sites
🚀 A huge opportunity for career growth as you will help shape a market-defining product
The famous last words
Working at Light means you are embarking on an exciting journey to reshape the future of multinational financial operations. Our cheat-code is that we have built something like this before and are now doing it again, only better. Our goal is to make global finance effortless and empower companies to make informed decisions.
Join the rocket ship while it is taking off 🚀