---
title: 'VP of Strategic Finance at Lightning AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/vp-of-strategic-finance-lightning-ai-san-francisco-f6vazg7c76dx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-15'
---

# VP of Strategic Finance at Lightning AI

- **Company:** Lightning AI
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $280k–$310k
- **Posted:** 2026-10-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-15
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/lightningai/jobs/8030964003

## Job description

## Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

The Way We Work

The people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:

- Move with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.
- Take Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.
- Communicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.
- Build Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.
- Raise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.
- Think Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.

## What We're Looking For

We are looking for a VP of Strategic Finance to shape the financial strategy of a company operating at the intersection of AI software and large-scale compute infrastructure. You'll be a key thought partner to the CFO and executive team, building the models, plans, and insights that guide how we allocate capital, price our products, and scale the business.

You will be joining the Finance Team and report to our Chief Financial Officer. This is a hybrid role based in our San Francisco office with in-office requirements of 2 days per week.

## What You’ll Do

- Strategic Planning: Own the annual operating plan and long-range financial model; translate company strategy into clear financial targets and track performance against them
- Capital Allocation: Model and evaluate major investment decisions, including GPU and data center capacity, infrastructure expansion, and build vs. buy vs. lease trade-offs
- Unit Economics & Pricing: Develop a deep understanding of the economics across our software platform and compute business, including utilization, gross margin, and customer profitability; partner with Product and GTM on pricing and packaging
- Executive & Board Partnership: Prepare board materials, investor updates, and executive reporting; deliver clear, data-backed recommendations that inform company-level decisions
- Fundraising & Financing: Support equity fundraising, debt and asset-backed financing, and investor diligence; build the models and narrative that underpin capital raises
- Merger Integration: Lead the financial integration of Lightning AI and Voltage Park, including unifying planning processes, reporting structures, and KPIs across both businesses
- Business Partnership: Act as a strategic partner to Engineering, Infrastructure, Sales, and Marketing leaders, helping them plan headcount, budgets, and investments with financial discipline
- Corporate Development: Evaluate strategic opportunities including partnerships, acquisitions, and large customer or supplier contracts
- Team Leadership: Build, manage, and develop a high-performing FP&A and strategic finance team as the company scales

## What You’ll Need

- 12+ years of experience across strategic finance, FP&A, corporate development, investment banking, or management consulting, with at least 5 years in a senior finance leadership role
- Infrastructure economics expertise: Experience with capital-intensive businesses such as cloud infrastructure, data centers, telecom, or hardware; comfortable modeling capex, depreciation, utilization, and asset-backed financing
- Software and usage-based revenue fluency: Understanding of SaaS and consumption-based business models, including revenue forecasting, cohort analysis, and margin drivers
- Exceptional modeling skills: Able to build sophisticated, flexible financial models from scratch and pressure-test assumptions with rigor
- Capital markets experience: Hands-on involvement in equity fundraising, debt financing, or M&A transactions at a venture-backed or growth-stage company
- Executive presence: Credibility with CEOs, boards, and investors; able to distill complex financial analysis into clear recommendations and influence decisions
- Leadership: Track record of building and developing finance teams in a fast-growing environment
- Business acumen: Ability to connect financial outcomes to operational drivers and partner with technical and commercial leaders in their language
- Bias for action: Comfortable operating in ambiguity, prioritizing what matters most, and moving quickly without sacrificing accuracy

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is: $280,000—$310,000 USD

## Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success:

- Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
- Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.
- Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
- Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.
- Company-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.
- Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
- Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
- Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.
- Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
- Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.
- In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.

Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.

## About Lightning AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Lightning AI provides an end-to-end cloud platform for building, training, and deploying AI models and applications, combining developer-first software with large-scale GPU infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series unknown; merged with Voltage Park in January 2026)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, USA
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Will Falcon (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Cloud AI platform, AI infrastructure, AI developer tools
- **Target customers**: B2B (developers, startups, and large enterprises); also serves individual developers (B2C for open-source community)
- **Mission or purpose**: Empower anyone to build AI.

## Products & Services
- **[PyTorch Lightning]**: Open-source deep learning framework used by over 5 million developers; simplifies training and fine-tuning models.
- **[Lightning AI Cloud Platform]**: SaaS platform for end-to-end AI development – including GPU access, model training, deployment, inference, team management, and observability.
- **[GPU Infrastructure]**: Fleet of 35,000+ owned and operated H100, B200, and GB300 GPUs, available on-demand with burst capacity.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew from $18M to over $500M following the merger with Voltage Park (January 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.
- **Growth Signals**: Completed merger with Voltage Park in January 2026, creating the first “AI cloud”; platform used by 400,000+ developers; 200 employees globally; offices in NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, and London.

## Competitive Advantages
- Only platform that bundles AI software with neocloud-priced GPU infrastructure in a single, unified experience – a category they created.
- Deep open-source roots (PyTorch Lightning) give them strong developer trust and community (5M+ users).
- Massive owned GPU fleet (35,000+ accelerators) with ability to burst across multiple clouds.
- “Software-first and infrastructure-native” approach reduces complexity for AI teams.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue to scale as the “first cloud built for AI,” eliminating the need for customers to stitch together separate tools or negotiate with dozens of GPU vendors.
- Expand GPU marketplace partnerships with major cloud providers and neoclouds.
- Grow enterprise adoption by offering enterprise-grade reliability and security without the overhead of hyperscaler complexity.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Hybrid work model (2 days/week in-office); offices in NYC, SF, Seattle, London with flexible schedules.
- **Notable benefits**: Competitive compensation (RSUs), 401(k) matching, paid parental/family leave, four-week sabbatical after four years, two-week company-wide winter break, wellness benefits, professional development stipend, in-office meals, and home-office stipend for remote employees.
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on craftsmanship, simplicity, speed, and principled execution. Encourages contributions to open source. “Move fast with precision” – focus on completing one goal at a time.
- **Growth opportunity**: Own transformative projects in a fast-growing company (ARR jumped from $18M to $500M+). Global team of 200 with a strong mission.

## Sources
1. [lightning.ai/careers](https://lightning.ai/careers)
2. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/lightningai](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/lightningai)
3. [businesswire.com](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260121371691/en/Lightning-AI-and-Voltage-Park-Complete-Merger-to-Create-the-First-Cloud-Built-for-AI)
4. [linkedin.com/company/pytorch-lightning](https://www.linkedin.com/company/pytorch-lightning)
5. [builtinnyc.com/company/lightning-ai](https://www.builtinnyc.com/company/lightning-ai)

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- [Network Operations Center (NOC) Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/network-operations-center-noc-analyst-lightning-ai-fort-worth-7sv7f6et08p7) — Fort Worth, TX / Lisle, IL / Quincy, WA
- [IT Asset Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/it-asset-specialist-lightning-ai-puyallup-qmy5e799d2se) — Puyallup, WA
- [Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer (EMEA)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-infrastructure-operations-engineer-emea-lightning-ai-london-zmqm6j4p8aea) — London, United Kingdom
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