Senior Manager, Accounting Team Lead

About Graphite Financial

Graphite Financial (www.graphitefinancial.com) is a growing boutique finance, accounting, tax, and strategy firm built to help startup and high-growth companies scale efficiently and sustainably. We are redefining the "finance department" for early-stage companies and VC-backed startups by delivering high-caliber accounting and finance leadership. We bridge the gap with flexible, fixed-fee support packages that provide fractional leadership and operational support from CFOs, Controllers, FP&A Managers, and Tax leaders.

Role Purpose

Ensure high-quality, consistent client delivery across an assigned team by enabling, coaching, and coordinating Client Leads and staff. The Team Lead is accountable for team effectiveness—not just individual client outcomes. This is a leadership role that requires the ability to develop people, manage execution quality at scale, and maintain Graphite's delivery standards across a full book of client engagements. Team Leads also carry formal people management responsibilities including performance reviews, career coaching, and development planning.

What It Takes to Succeed

This is a fully remote leadership role within a client-facing professional services organization. You lead a team within a diverse and distributed workforce. Your standards, communication, and judgment define what your team delivers.

• Leadership Without Proximity: You set clear expectations, provide consistent coaching, and hold your team accountable through remote communication and structured operating rhythms.
• Client Credibility: You maintain the technical depth and professional presence to engage senior client contacts directly when needed.
• Responsiveness at Scale: You model the responsiveness you expect from your team. You move fast, communicate clearly, and resolve things.
• Coaching Over Fixing: Your job is to make Client Leads better—not to do their work for them.
• Accountability for Team Outcomes: You own what your team delivers and identify problems early.
• Professional Standards Enforcement: You hold Client Leads and Associates to a high bar for communication and deliverable quality.

Core Responsibilities

Team Enablement & Oversight

• Coach Client Leads on solution design, client management, delivery approach, and professional judgment.
• Review client engagement approaches for technical risk, complexity, or inconsistency with firm standards.
• Serve as the first escalation point for delivery challenges, client issues, and team capacity problems.
• Ensure all work produced by the team meets Graphite's quality standards.

People Leadership

• Conduct formal performance reviews and ongoing career development conversations.
• Identify capability gaps and address them through coaching, training, or other resources.
• Build a team environment where Client Leads operate with confidence and accountability.

Capacity & Quality Management

• Balance workload across Client Leads and adjust resourcing to manage client demands and coverage risks.
• Drive execution consistency across clients without creating bureaucratic overhead.
• Ensure no client engagement is dependent on a single person through cross-training and documentation.

Client Execution

• Maintain a purposefully limited personal client book to stay technically current and model standards.

Cross-Team Coordination

• Partner cross-functionally to translate firm-wide standards into practical, client-ready execution.
• Surface recurring delivery issues and improvement opportunities to the Director.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting required; CPA required.
• 7–10 years of accounting experience including at least 2 years in a client lead, manager, or team leadership role; public accounting (Manager level) or outsourced accounting leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Deep working knowledge of GAAP with direct experience navigating startup-specific accounting complexity: SAFEs, convertible instruments, ASC 606, equity compensation, and more.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a team and a client portfolio simultaneously.
• Strong coaching and feedback skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; executive presence.
• Proficiency in QuickBooks Online; experience with NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or similar platforms preferred.
• Experience working in a remote professional services environment is strongly preferred.

Comprehensive Perks and Benefits

• Health & Wellness: Competitive Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage. 100% of the employee's health insurance premium is covered by the company.
• Financial Security: Company-paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability insurance.
• Work/Life Balance: Generous Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), 11 Paid Company Holidays, and comprehensive Paid Parental Leave.
• Remote Work Setup: Fully remote position with company-provided technology equipment and a $250 technology stipend.
• 401k: With a company match.