---
title: 'Accounting Manager at UP.Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/accounting-manager-up-labs-los-angeles-2dh9x3s9v2mt'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Accounting Manager at UP.Labs

- **Company:** UP.Labs
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/up-labs/am9icG9zdDoH0WFiDHIfCtnglQwNXscZ

## Job description

## About the Role

UP.Labs is a venture studio that builds AI-native B2B software companies in partnership with leading industrial and mobility organizations. As our portfolio grows, we are hiring an Accounting Manager to own core accounting across both UP.Labs and a growing portfolio of studio-built companies.

This is a hands-on role. We need someone with strong accounting fundamentals and enough experience to independently identify issues, challenge assumptions, and work effectively with outside auditors and tax advisors, but who is equally comfortable doing the day-to-day work required to close the books.

The environment is complex and still being built. You should be comfortable operating across multiple entities, working through imperfect processes, and creating structure without waiting for someone else to build it first.

## What You'll Do

Portfolio Company Accounting

- Own monthly bookkeeping and close across a growing portfolio of studio-built companies.
- Deliver accurate monthly financials on a timeline that gives portfolio leadership useful visibility into the business.
- Manage accounting onboarding and setup as new companies launch from the studio.
- Partner with fractional offshore accounting support to distribute work and manage increasing portfolio volume.
- Maintain consistent accounting practices across companies while adapting to the needs and maturity of each business.
- Serve as a day-to-day accounting partner to portfolio company leadership.

UP.Labs Accounting

- Support the UP.Labs monthly close, including expense categorization, reconciliations, and other recurring accounting work.
- Support tax compliance and own the tax filing calendar, working directly with external tax advisors on federal and state tax matters.
- Support our financial audit readiness and interface with external auditors as UP.Labs moves through its first audit.
- Identify accounting issues, recommend the appropriate treatment, and flag areas where additional technical expertise is needed.

Systems & Process

- Work across QuickBooks, which serves as the accounting system of record for UP.Labs and our portfolio companies.
- Manage workflows across Bill.com and Expensify for UP.Labs and Ramp across the portfolio companies.
- Leverage cutting-edge AI tools to drive efficiency across accounting and financial workflows.
- Improve close processes, reporting cadence, and accounting workflows as the organization scales.
- Bring structure and judgment to an environment where processes will not always be fully documented or systematized.

## What We're Looking For

- CPA required.
- Approximately 5+ years of relevant accounting experience, with a strong foundation in public accounting/audit followed by operating experience.
- Ideally 2+ years of audit experience at a Big Four or comparable accounting firm.
- Meaningful accounting experience inside an early-stage, high-growth, or similarly fast-moving operating environment.
- Strong understanding of monthly close, financial reporting, and core accounting principles.
- Experience working with external auditors and tax advisors.
- Comfortable owning work independently and speaking up when something does not look right.
- Able to move between higher-level accounting judgment and detailed execution without seeing either as beneath the role.
- Comfortable operating across multiple entities and managing competing month-end priorities.
- High tolerance for ambiguity, changing processes, and one-off problems that require judgment rather than a playbook.

This position comes with competive base salary DOE and has equity in our Lab's portfolio companies.

## About UP.Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: UP.Labs is a venture builder that partners with leading enterprises like Porsche, Alaska Airlines, and J.B. Hunt to co-create vertical AI startups that solve complex operational challenges in physical industries.
- **Entity Type**: Private (venture builder/venture lab)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Monica, California, USA (Hangar 7, 3100 Donald Douglas Loop N, Santa Monica, CA 90405)
- **Founded**: Not publicly disclosed, but has been active since at least 2024
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed as a single founder; the entity operates as a venture lab under the UP.Partners umbrella

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Venture building / Corporate venture foundry, focused on transportation, mobility, logistics, aviation, manufacturing, and energy
- Target customers: Large enterprises in physical industries (e.g., Porsche, Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash National)
- Mission: To transform physical industry by building vertical AI startups that unlock massive operational gains and deliver real enterprise value — described as "the shortest road to a faster, cleaner, safer, and more accessible future"

## Products & Services
UP.Labs does not sell a single product; instead, it launches and incubates startups. Recent and notable portfolio ventures include:

- **AutoUnify**: A developer platform aiming to solve the automotive industry data divide (launched with Porsche, described as "the Plaid of automotive retail") [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/up-labs-porsches-newest-startup-wants-to-be-the-plaid-of-automotive-retail/)
- **Odysee**: An AI-enabled startup focused on schedule optimization for airlines (launched with Alaska Airlines) [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
- **Stealth AI Manufacturing Planning Startup**: Currently being built with Wabash National to modernize transportation manufacturing with AI-powered tools [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202504221000/wabash-and-up-labs-to-modernize-transportation-manufacturing-with-ai-powered-tools)
- **Stealth AI Freight Operations Startup**: Being built with J.B. Hunt to create logistics startups [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
- **Stealth AI Industrial Commerce Startup**: Currently in development

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private entity)
- **Key Metric**: 72 employees as of mid-2025, with 27% year-over-year headcount growth [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Porsche, Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash National (corporate partners); operates with UP.Ventures as the capital arm
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 27% YoY headcount growth (+20 people)
  - 2.5% monthly LinkedIn follower growth, 31.8% yearly
  - Active job postings up 200% monthly and 350% quarterly
  - 8 industry-specific venture labs operating across Los Angeles and Silicon Valley
  - Workforce distributed across 9 countries (US, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Spain, Philippines, UK, Chile)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique venture model**: UP.Labs doesn't just invest — it co-creates startups with enterprise partners who are also the first customers, ensuring immediate market fit and a built-in acquisition path
- **Enterprise access**: Partners like Porsche, Alaska Airlines, and J.B. Hunt provide real-world operational problems, data, and distribution channels
- **Vertical AI focus**: Purpose-built AI solutions for physical industries (logistics, manufacturing, aviation, energy) — a space with high barriers to entry and massive operational impact
- **Talent density**: Attracts proven entrepreneurs, product leaders, and technologists; alumni go to top firms like McKinsey, BCG, Amazon, and Stanford GSB
- **Proven exit model**: Corporate partners acquire matured startups, creating a clear liquidity path

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the venture lab model**: Expanding from 8 labs across two hubs (LA and Silicon Valley) into more industries and geographies
- **Deepen enterprise partnerships**: Working with the world's leading organizations to compound innovation
- **Build vertical AI startups**: Focus on agentic AI, computer vision, and data intelligence for physical operations
- **Global talent expansion**: Active hiring across LATAM (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay) for senior engineering roles, with a focus on building remote-first teams
- **Recent hires**: Appointed elite founders to lead the next wave of enterprise AI startups (announced August 2025) [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202508211000/meet-the-builders-up-labs-appoints-elite-founders-to-lead-its-next-wave-of-enterprise-ai-startups)

## Why Work Here
- **Impact at scale**: Engineers work on AI-native startups solving real problems in logistics, aviation, manufacturing, and energy — not just chatbots or CRUD apps
- **Remote-first culture**: Many roles are fully remote, especially for LATAM-based engineers (no relocation required)
- **Global, distributed team**: Workforce spans 9 countries; strong presence in LATAM (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay) with dedicated LATAM remote roles
- **Senior-level focus**: Roles are described as "not support roles" but the technical layer behind AI-native companies; 100% retention reported for the initial remote LATAM team [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
- **Compensation**: USD-denominated salaries for LATAM roles, plus paid time off, hardware setup, and career development paths
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on "the best engineering problems in the US right now are inside physical industries" — appeals to builders who want hard technical challenges
- **Hybrid options**: Some roles in Santa Monica (HQ) offer hybrid flexibility; roles like Portfolio Platform Lead and Head of Engineering are hybrid in LA
- **Growth trajectory**: 27% YoY headcount growth, active hiring across engineering, data science, AI/ML, and business roles

## Sources
1. [uplabs.com](https://uplabs.com/subscribe)
2. [jobs.gem.com/up-labs](https://jobs.gem.com/up-labs)
3. [linkedin.com/company/up-labs](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
4. [careers.up.partners](https://careers.up.partners/jobs/up-labs?jobTypes=Engineer)
5. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/up-labs-porsches-newest-startup-wants-to-be-the-plaid-of-automotive-retail/)
6. [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
7. [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202508211000/meet-the-builders-up-labs-appoints-elite-founders-to-lead-its-next-wave-of-enterprise-ai-startups)
8. [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202504221000/wabash-and-up-labs-to-modernize-transportation-manufacturing-with-ai-powered-tools)

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