--- title: 'Business Operations Lead at Seneca' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-operations-lead-seneca-sausalito-qa35xsbgwj5a' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-18' --- # Business Operations Lead at Seneca - **Company:** Seneca - **Location:** Sausalito, CA - **Compensation:** $125k–$200k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-14 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/seneca/c0bf4fdf-bb83-480d-829e-6d08b9581755 ## Job description The Opportunity Seneca is seeking a Business Operations Lead to run strategic finance, accounting, contracts, insurance, compliance, purchasing, payroll and benefits, and the office. Right now those things are spread across an outside accounting firm, a payroll vendor, outside counsel, a fractional Head of Ops and the CEO. As we continue to scale, we are seeking someone who can up-level this organization both in terms of our daily operations and in key moments like M+A, equity and debt financings, key partnerships etc. This role reports to the CEO with tight partnership. There will be opportunity to hire and/or bring in additional outside resources over the next twelve months. ## What You'll Do Finance & Accounting - You run the finance function. Both FP&A and accounting. - Partner with teams to ensure they pick the right strategies for both cost and revenue optimization as Seneca scales. - Own the monthly close with our outside accounting firm. - Get the accounting right for a hardware company moving into production: inventory, BOMs, capitalized R&D, fixed assets, and revenue recognition on multi-year contracts with agencies and utilities. - Handle invoicing and collections, including milestone billing on government and utility contracts. - Figure out the right policies for expense management and suggest our monthly budget – keeping us tracking to it. - Keep the budget and board package current. Contracts, Compliance & Risk - Own contracts. Work with outside counsel on customer agreements, supplier terms, NDAs, and government contracting paperwork. Know what we have signed and what it commits us to. - Own insurance, including aviation and product liability. For a drone company this is real work. - Keep the compliance calendar: corporate filings, state registrations, export controls, and the requirements that come with selling to public agencies. Purchasing & Vendors - Run purchasing so engineers can get what they need fast and we still know where the money went: approvals, corporate cards, expense policy, vendor setup. - Negotiate large vendor and supplier agreements. - Partner with outside lawyers on where to draw the lines on NDAs, partnership agreements, and any other day to day legal questions. People Operations - Oversee payroll, benefits, and the HRIS through our vendors. - Help us continue to drive exceptional recruitment. - Own compensation and equity: bands, offers, grants, refreshes, and the promotion process, with the CEO. - Make sure the basics are covered: I-9s, multi-state registrations, handbook, required trainings. Bring in outside HR counsel when a situation calls for it. - Be someone employees can come to in confidence when something is wrong. Systems & the Office - Own the finance and ops systems (Ramp, Rippling, Carta, QuickBooks) and decide when to replace one. - Run the Sausalito office: lease, facilities, IT and security basics, equipment. There are others in the loop here, but you have the opportunity to formalize facilities. ## What You Bring This is a high visibility / high upside role for a candidate who wants to be an early strategic partner to an experienced CEO in a high impact, high growth startup. You’ll often partner with the CEO, so a history of excellence is valued. - Experience in strategic finance or private equity and/or investment banking - You have run finance and operations at a venture-backed startup, ideally one that builds hardware, through a period of real growth. - You understand accounting well enough to manage an outside firm and catch their mistakes: GAAP, revenue recognition, inventory, capitalized R&D. - You are a generalist and you like operating. You fix things rather than write about them. - You love to design scalable operational processes, including automating manual workflows, identifying future bottlenecks, and evaluating tools, partners, and vendors for long-term scalability - You handle confidential information with care. - You write and speak plainly, and you can explain business concepts to anyone. - You want to work in person in Sausalito. ## What We Offer - Competitive Salary — Reflective of your skills and experience - Equity Compensation — Be an owner in the company's future - Comprehensive Health Coverage — Medical, dental, and vision plans - Health Savings Account (HSA) — Optional pre-tax savings for medical expenses - Unlimited PTO — Flexible time off to recharge, plus paid company holidays ## About Us Seneca is building cutting-edge drone and sensor technology for wildfire suppression, aiming to eliminate wildfire risk across 500 million acres of high-risk U.S. + allied territory. Backed by top-tier investors, including Convective Capital, Caffeinated Capital, First Round Capital, Slow Ventures, Nextview Ventures, Transition Capital, Bullpen Capital, Stepstone Group, Roar Capital, Offline Ventures, and leaders from Palantir, Google, Meta, and many others. Founded by Stu Landesberg (former Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative — IPO in 2022 at $1.7B) and fire industry experts, Seneca is a mission-driven company dedicated to climate resilience and fire prevention. Don’t meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply — you may still be the right fit for our team. ## About Seneca ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Seneca builds autonomous aerial systems that detect and suppress wildfires rapidly, using AI, drones, and robotics to protect communities and ecosystems. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series unknown; raised $60M in venture capital) - **Headquarters**: Sausalito, California, USA - **Founded**: Founded in 2022 (as a corporate entity; founding team has prior experience with billions in capital raised and two IPOs) - **Founders**: Stuart Landesberg (CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Fire Technology / Resilience Technology, Autonomous Systems, Climate Tech / Wildfire Defense - **Target customers**: Fire departments (municipal, county, state), utilities (e.g., power companies), government agencies (federal, state, local), and allied nations. **B2B / Government / Public Sector** - **Mission or purpose statement**: To protect 500 million acres in the U.S. and allied nations by 2035. (“Amor Fati” — love of fate — is a core philosophy, as is the belief that technology is how we create a more resilient civilization.) ## Products & Services - **Autonomous Fire Suppression System**: A complete system of autonomous suppression drones, modular ground cases (for field deployment), and a software platform. Each quadcopter is hand-portable, battery-electric, carries >100 lbs of suppressant (water + Class-A foam concentrate), and pumps at >100 PSI. Drones use AI (computer vision, heat signature recognition) to navigate and knock down fires. The system is offered as a **System-as-a-Service (SaaS) annual subscription**, including hardware, software, maintenance, and support — not a hardware purchase. - **Software / Control Dashboard**: An iOS and web-based interface that allows a single operator to supervise multiple drone swarms simultaneously, coordinate with manned aircraft (via ADS-B transponders), and manage missions from launch to automatic return/refill. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not disclosed (raised $60M in venture capital) - **Key Metric**: **Total Funding: $60M** (the largest venture capital round in fire technology to date) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: - **Lead Investors**: Caffeinated Capital, Convective Capital - **Participating Investors**: First Round Capital, Transition VC, Advance Venture Partners, Nextview Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Stepstone Group, DCVC, Offline Ventures, Roar Capital, Slow Ventures - **Key Partners / Advisory Board**: San Bernardino County Fire (Chief Dan Munsey), Aspen Fire Department (Chief Rick Balentine, 25-year Chief), Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell (former U.S. Fire Administrator), John Mills (Founder/CEO of Watch Duty) - **Growth Signals**: - Secured a **five-year contract** with a public agency (details not fully public; announced in 2025). - Rollout to field during **2026 fire season**. - 34 employees and growing (as of mid-2025). - Strong partnership with major fire agencies across the American West. ## Competitive Advantages - **First-mover in autonomous fire suppression**: The only company building an end-to-end, fully autonomous aerial suppression system from launch to knockdown. - **Speed to initial attack**: Autonomous drones can suppress fires in **under 10 minutes** from dispatch, vs. 30+ minutes for manned aircraft. This is critical for preventing small ignitions from becoming megafires. - **System-of-systems approach**: Drones coordinate among themselves, with manned aircraft, and with a central dashboard. Modular, case-based design for easy field deployment. - **Deep public-sector partnerships**: Developed in collaboration with leading fire agencies, not in a vacuum. This gives them credibility, real-world testing, and a clear go-to-market path. - **Business model**: Annual SaaS subscription provides predictable revenue and ensures customers always have the latest technology. ## Strategic Focus - **Production scaling**: Use the $60M to improve capabilities, harden the overall system, and increase production. - **Field deployment (2026)**: Roll out first systems to save lives during the 2026 fire season. - **Mission expansion**: Grow from initial contracts in the American West to a national/allied-nation footprint, targeting 500 million acres protected by 2035. ## Why Work Here - **High-impact mission**: Opportunity to work on a problem that affects 115 million+ Americans and costs $1T+ per year. The company’s stated goal is to “build technology to protect the things we love.” - **Elite team**: Founding team has built multiple companies, raised billions, and taken two companies public. Backed by world-class investors. - **Fast-paced, high-resource environment**: Designed for exceptional people — “No useless meetings, hierarchy, or office politics.” The team is resourced to move quickly. - **Cross-disciplinary work**: Roles span deep learning (perception), controls, embedded software, iOS development, electrical engineering, UAV test engineering, hardware fabrication, and people operations. - **Office culture**: Based in Sausalito, CA (near San Francisco). **In-office culture** with hybrid flexibility in certain cases. The team is expected to be physically present for hardware/software integration and team collaboration. - **Recent job openings** (as of mid-2025): Senior Deep Learning Engineer, Senior Software Engineer (Controls), Software Engineer (Embedded & iOS), Electrical Engineer, UAV Test Engineer, Hardware Assembly & Fabrication Specialist, Recruitment + People Operations Specialist. ## Sources 1. [Seneca.com Careers](https://seneca.com/careers/) 2. [Seneca Jobs (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/seneca) 3. [PRNewswire - Seneca Launch / Funding](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seneca-launches-with-60-million-to-equip-firefighters-utilities-and-communities-with-advanced-wildfire-defense-technology-302589441.html) 4. [Sacra - Seneca Company Profile](https://sacra.com/c/seneca/) 5. 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