---
title: 'Director of Finance and Operations at Anello Photonics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-finance-and-operations-anello-photonics-santa-clara-1b69je3ce1nm'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Director of Finance and Operations at Anello Photonics

- **Company:** Anello Photonics
- **Location:** Santa Clara, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-10-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/anellophotonics/jobs/4721613006

## Job description

Director of Finance and Operations

Reporting to:  COO/CFO

## ABOUT ANELLO

ANELLO is innovative hardware company serving both defense and commercial customers with advanced navigation technology based on silicon photonics technology based by over 50 patents. These highly technical products are manufactured through a combination of internal activities, suppliers, and contract manufacturers. The company also performs work under multiple government contracts. ANELLO is at series B stage, has strong growing revenue and operating as a profitable company.

ANELLO is seeking a experienced and hands-on Sr Manager OR Director of Finance and Operations to lead the company's accounting and finance function and serve as a strategic partner to the leadership team.

This is an individual contributor role with broad responsibility across accounting, financial operations, financial planning, forecasting, and strategic analysis. The successful candidate will work closely with external accounting firm to own the integrity and timeliness of the company's financial information. Through the creation of a wide variety of financial models, the successful candidate will help leadership understand the financial implications of business decisions and identify opportunities to improve profitability, cash utilization, and operational efficiency.

## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Financial Operations and External Vendor Oversight

- Act as the primary corporate point-of-contact to manage an external CPA firm, driving accountability and ensuring highly accurate, timely monthly, quarterly, and year-end close process.
- Supervise and audit the external firm's execution of core transaction processing, including general ledger management, accounts payable/receivable cycles, payroll administration, bank reconciliations, and accruals.
- Partner with external tax advisors to coordinate all federal, state, and local compliance requirements, including sales/use tax tracking, annual corporate filings, R&D tax credits, and specialized corporate valuations (e.g., 409A).
- Continually refine internal data pipelines, financial procedures, and documentation to ensure seamless transfer of financial records between internal teams and the external accounting provider.

Financial Modeling, Forecasting & Strategic Advisory

- Revenue & Sales Forecasting: Develop dynamic, scenario-based forecasting models across the broader business to project sales pipelines, diverse revenue streams, product pricing sensitivities, and long-term growth velocity.
- Build, maintain, and continually optimize financial models analyzing manufacturing costs, bill of materials (BOM), supply chain logistics, inventory turnover, and cost of goods sold (COGS) to maximize margins.
- Translate intricate modeling data, variance analyses, and financial anomalies into executive summaries, presentations, and KPIs that directly assist leadership's decision-making.
- Run detailed sensitivity analyses and capital allocation models to forecast corporate cash runway, evaluate major operational expenditures (CapEx), and support strategic runway planning.

Government Contracting & Compliance

- Monitor and track contract costs, expenditures, and invoicing requirements associated with SBIR and other government contracts.
- Work closely with technical teams to monitor performance against government budgets and support external compliance reviews.

## DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

- Bachelor's or advanced degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Accounting, or related field.
- 5+ years of finance and accounting experience, or experience in an Assistant Controller, Finance Manager, or similar FinOps role.
- Demonstrated experience owning monthly close and financial reporting.
- Experience in financial modeling, forecasting, and analytical skills.
- Advanced spreadsheet skills and ability to build financial models from underlying business assumptions.
- Ability to effectively engage with external accounting firms, tax advisors, and other financial service providers.
- Solid understanding of cash flow, working capital, budgeting, and financial planning.
- Ability to analyze complex business issues and communicate financial implications
- Strong attention to detail without losing sight of broader business objectives.
- Ability to operate independently and effectively in a small, fast-moving organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Experience in a technology, hardware, engineering, manufacturing, or startup environment.
- Experience with contract manufacturers, suppliers, inventory, and product costing.
- Experience developing pricing, profitability, cost-benefit, and capital allocation analyses.
- Experience supporting fundraising, company valuation, due diligence, M&A, or other strategic transactions.
- CPA, MBA, CFA, or other relevant professional qualifications.
- Experience scaling finance processes in a growing company.

Additional:

- Due to US Gov contracts in place, successful candidates will be US Citizens or US Perm Residents.

## About Anello Photonics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: ANELLO Photonics develops the world’s smallest high-precision optical gyroscope (SiPhOG™) and inertial navigation systems that enable autonomy in GPS-denied environments across land, air, sea, and space.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B‑II, Total Raised ~$73.26M as of May 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Clara, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2018 (some sources list 2020)
- **Founders**: Not publicly named; CEO is Dr. Mario Paniccia (former Intel Fellow, Silicon Photonics pioneer)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Defense, Maritime, Aerial (UAV/drone), Ground Vehicles, Robotics, Construction, Agriculture, Mapping & Surveying, Space
- **Target customers**: B2B – defense contractors, autonomous vehicle OEMs, industrial robotics firms, government agencies
- **Mission**: “Democratize access to high‑performance navigation sensors” by making compact, affordable optical gyroscopes available for every possible application

## Products & Services
All products are hardware‑based inertial navigation systems (INS) and inertial measurement units (IMUs) powered by the proprietary SiPhOG™ optical gyroscope:

- **ANELLO X3 IMU**: Ultra‑compact 3‑axis optical gyro IMU for aerial missions (PX4/ArduPilot compatible)
- **ANELLO AERIAL INS**: High‑performance INS for drones and UAVs operating in GPS‑denied environments
- **ANELLO MARITIME INS**: Rugged, high‑accuracy INS for autonomous maritime operations in unpredictable waters
- **ANELLO GROUND INS**: INS for unmanned ground vehicles, trucks, and commercial/defense autonomous platforms
- **ANELLO GROUND IMU**: Optical gyro IMU for robotics and construction autonomy
- **Mapping & Surveying Solutions**: Precise location/orientation data for surveying in GPS‑denied conditions

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding ~$73.26M (includes $25M Series B‑II closed May 2026)
- **Notable Investors**: Lockheed Martin Ventures, New Legacy Ventures, Catapult Ventures, Mana Ventures, IronGate Capital Advisors, MESH, One Madison Group
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Secured $25M in Series B‑II specifically to accelerate production of GPS‑denied navigation solutions (May 2026)
  - 35 issued patents covering interferometry, optical devices, gyroscopes
  - Revenue estimated between $1M–$5M (LinkedIn, 2026)
  - Headcount of 22 employees; 41% yearly LinkedIn follower growth

## Competitive Advantages
- **SiPhOG™ (Silicon Photonic Optical Gyro)**: World’s smallest high‑precision optical gyroscope – combines the accuracy of legacy fiber‑optic gyros with the cost/size advantages of silicon photonics
- **GPS‑denied resilience**: Core differentiator for defense and autonomous systems where satellite signals are jammed or unavailable
- **Strong IP moat**: 35 patents in optical gyroscope design, bias mitigation, and silicon photonics
- **Key strategic partner**: Lockheed Martin Ventures as an investor opens doors to defense contracts

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale production**: Use the new $25M round to ramp manufacturing of SiPhOG‑based systems
- **Expand into space applications**: Leverage high‑precision, radiation‑tolerant navigation for satellites and spacecraft
- **Deepen defense and commercial autonomy verticals**: Maritime, aerial, ground, robotics, and agriculture are all active target markets

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Small, collaborative team (22 people) where founders are actively engaged; described as “creative and collaborative self‑starters” with a passion for pushing boundaries
- **Compensation**: Competitive salary, appreciating equity, fully paid health/dental insurance for employee and family, plus matching 401k
- **Location**: Santa Clara, CA (Silicon Valley) – on‑site presence expected
- **Visa restrictions**: Candidates must be US Persons (US Permanent Residents or US Citizens); no visa sponsorship implied
- **Engineering focus**: High concentration of technical talent (17 of 22 employees in technical roles) – strong hands‑on hacking culture
- **Current openings** (as of mid‑2026): Embedded Device Firmware Engineer, Senior Electrical Engineer, Field Applications Engineer, Senior Photonics Engineer, Senior FPGA Design Engineer, Senior Director Business Development (Government/Defense)

## Sources
1. [anellophotonics.com](https://www.anellophotonics.com/)
2. [anellophotonics.com – Careers](https://www.anellophotonics.com/careers)
3. [anellophotonics.com – Team](https://www.anellophotonics.com/company1)
4. [cbinsights.com – Anello Photonics](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/anello-photonics)
5. [linkedin.com – Anello Photonics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/anellophotonics)

## Other roles at Anello Photonics

- [FPGA Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/fpga-design-engineer-anello-photonics-santa-clara-dmgw1rh1eqda) — Santa Clara, CA
- [Senior Opto-Mechanical Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-opto-mechanical-design-engineer-anello-photonics-santa-clara-6kk6gh897cqt) — Santa Clara, CA
- [Sr Director Business Development - Defense/Government Programs (Autonomy & Navigation Systems)](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-director-business-development-defense-government-programs-autonomy-kt1v6pdzgn0n) — Santa Clara CA Washington District of Columbia, United States
- [Field Application Engineer, Autonomous/Navigation](https://feeny.ai/job/field-application-engineer-autonomous-navigation-anello-photonics-santa-clara-y88e993pq9r8) — Santa Clara, CA
- [Electrical Engineer (HW Systems)](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineer-hw-systems-anello-photonics-santa-clara-w1f5ttg191xq) — Santa Clara, CA