Associate Director - Finance - SMARTLY

What we’re looking for

The Associate Director, Finance is a senior executive leader at Smartly, driving the financial clarity, strategic foresight, and commercial discipline needed to power the company’s next phase of transformative growth. As a trusted partner to the CEO and executive team, this role is pivotal in enabling confident decisions, smart investments, and enduring value creation through both expert financial stewardship and influential cross-functional collaboration.

You’ll own the full financial strategy and operations for Smartly and the PAYE Intermediary Service — spanning financial planning and performance management, SaaS metrics, capital allocation, sales economics, billing, accounts payable and receivable, and finance systems. Beyond operational excellence, this role will build financial and commercial capability across the business, lifting understanding, accountability, and performance at every level, while also serving as Smartly’s key conduit into Datacom Group Finance to ensure alignment and advocate for Smartly’s strategic priorities.

This is a defining leadership opportunity in a rapidly growing SaaS market. With 24,000+ customers, $19M EBITDA forecast in FY25, and a bold ambition to scale this to $38M by FY29, Smartly is evolving from a payroll provider into a multi-product SaaS platform. Innovation, simplicity, and service excellence are at the core of this journey — and the Associate Director, Finance will be central to shaping Smartly’s future by balancing insight with influence, ambition with accountability, and commercial leadership with operational excellence.

What you’ll need to bring:

Skills

• Strategic Finance Leadership – Demonstrates strategic thinking and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate data into insight and drive decisions that create long-term enterprise value.
• SaaS Fluency & Growth Mindset – Sound understanding of key SaaS metrics (e.g. LTV, CAC, MRR, Churn, Rule of 40), capital efficiency, and value drivers in a subscription business. Actively cultivates curiosity and seeks to embed AI literacy and innovation across the finance function
• Operational Excellence – Demonstrates disciplined execution in financial operations, including ownership of financial processes, billing, accounts payable/receivable, reporting cycles and finance systems
• Management accounting and financial performance management
• Financial modelling, forecasting, budgeting and scenario planning 
• Performance analysis, reporting, and SaaS dashboard development
• Stakeholder engagement and executive reporting (including Board-level communication)

Experience

• 5+ years in senior finance roles with demonstrated responsibility for financial strategy, planning, and commercial advisory in a growth business
• Experience operating in or with SMEs, high-growth environments, or fast-scaling SaaS businesses
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional projects, delivering to tight timelines, and influencing outcomes through data and insight
• Proven track record of leading a finance function, including oversight of financial operations

What does the job involve?

Strategic Financial Leadership & CEO Partnership:

• Act as a thought partner to the CEO and senior leadership team, offering sharp financial insight and scenario-based planning to support strategic decision-making and value creation
• Translate Smartly’s business strategy into a clear financial strategy, aligning operating plans, investment priorities, and performance targets
• Lead the development and execution of financial strategies that underpin Smartly’s growth objectives, including international expansion, AI-driven transformation, and new product monetisation

Performance Management & Commercial Insight

• Own the business-wide performance rhythm, including financial forecasting, budgeting, variance analysis, and performance reviews across both business lines (Smartly Ltd and PAYEI).
• Champion the development and tracking of key SaaS metrics (e.g. MRR, ARR, CAC, LTV, Churn, Rule of 40), and use these to inform internal decisions, investor narratives, and valuation strategy.
• Guide the business through strategy refreshes and operating model reviews, ensuring financial viability, scalability, and alignment with long-term goal

Financial Operations, Systems & Control

• Lead and evolve Smartly’s financial operations, including billing, accounts receivable/payable, payroll accounting, and cashflow management.
• Oversee the financial systems architecture, ensuring scalable, automated processes that reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and enable real-time insight.
• Maintain robust financial processes and internal controls to support operational integrity, growth, and audit readiness

A bit about Smartly

We exist to make it simpler for Kiwi businesses to look after their people. We're known as the simple way to sort your payroll for over 24,000 businesses. Our slick software combined with our awesome support team help businesses pay their people on time, accurately and in line with legislation.

We wholeheartedly believe that if you put your people first, everyone wins. Great employees and great employee relationships are still one of the most valuable things a business can have. Look after them, and success, however you measure it, gets easier. Your people win, your customers win, you win.