Job Title: Finance Controller
Location: Bangalore, India (Work from Office – Indiranagar)
Department: Finance
Reports To: CEO
Experience: 4–8 years of experience in Corporate Finance, FP&A, Investor Relations, Strategic Finance, or Fundraising roles.
About Us:
21K School is India’s first online school, delivering world-class, personalised education to learners across 70+ countries. We serve thousands of learners globally through a fully online schooling model designed around flexibility, quality teaching, and modern pedagogy.
At 21K School, we are committed to making quality education accessible, learner-centric, and future-ready through the integration of academics, technology, and innovation. As we continue to scale internationally, driving operational excellence, financial governance, strategic expansion, and sustainable growth remains a key organizational priority.
We are looking for a strategic, investor-facing Finance Controller who can strengthen our financial leadership, governance, capital readiness, and long-term financial planning while supporting the organization’s next phase of global expansion.
Role Overview:
The Finance Controller will serve as the financial nerve centre of the organization, leading strategic finance, FP&A, treasury, governance, investor relations, and financial planning while overseeing accounting, audit, and compliance operations through the finance team.
This is a high-impact leadership role requiring a strong balance of strategic foresight, analytical depth, operational discipline, and business partnering capability. The role will work closely with the Founder & CEO, leadership team, investors, auditors, and external stakeholders to build a scalable, investor-ready, and globally aligned finance ecosystem.
The ideal candidate should possess strong financial acumen, fundraising exposure, governance expertise, and the ability to drive scalable financial systems and strategic business decision-making in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Finance & Fundraising
- Lead equity and debt fundraising initiatives including investor identification, financial modelling, due diligence, and transaction execution.
- Build and maintain investor relationships through periodic updates, board reporting, and financial performance communication.
- Develop long-term financial models, valuation analysis, and scenario planning frameworks to support organizational growth and capital allocation.
- Drive initiatives focused on capital efficiency, profitability improvement, and shareholder value creation.
2. Financial Planning, Analysis & Business Partnering
- Own and drive the Annual Operating Plan (AOP), budgeting, rolling forecasts, and management reporting frameworks.
- Build and strengthen a robust FP&A function delivering strategic insights to leadership and business teams.
- Partner with growth, marketing, product, and operations teams on unit economics, pricing, profitability, and ROI analysis.
- Establish data-driven frameworks for cost optimization, financial planning, and business performance tracking.
3. Treasury, Cash Flow & Risk Management
- Manage cash flow forecasting, working capital efficiency, liquidity planning, and capital allocation.
- Lead banking and treasury operations ensuring effective fund deployment and financial stability.
- Oversee forex exposure management and implement appropriate financial risk controls for international transactions.
- Ensure compliance with FEMA, RBI regulations, and cross-border remittance requirements.
- Drive financial, operational, and compliance risk assessment frameworks.
4. Accounts, Audit & Compliance Oversight
- Oversee finance and accounts operations ensuring accounting accuracy and timely financial closures.
- Ensure compliance with GST, TDS, Income Tax, Companies Act, FEMA, and other statutory requirements.
- Lead internal and statutory audits while strengthening internal financial controls and governance processes.
- Maintain transparent, investor-grade financial statements aligned with IND-AS and relevant IFRS principles.
5. International Finance & Global Reporting
- Support international accounting operations, entity consolidation, and cross-border financial reporting activities.
- Coordinate foreign subsidiary governance including banking, forex, and local compliance requirements.
- Collaborate with external advisors for transfer pricing, reconciliations, and global reporting requirements.
6. Leadership & Financial Transformation
- Build, mentor, and lead a high-performance finance team across FP&A, treasury, accounting, and compliance functions.
- Drive financial automation initiatives, scalable reporting systems, and process improvements.
- Partner with leadership on strategic initiatives including expansion, new business models, M&A opportunities, and global market growth.
- Serve as a strategic financial advisor to the Founder & CEO on risks, opportunities, and long-term organizational planning.
Selection Criteria
1. Qualification
- Chartered Accountant (CA) is mandatory.
- MBA in Finance from a reputed institution will be an added advantage.
- Certifications in Financial Modelling, Valuation, Treasury, IFRS, or Strategic Finance preferred.
2. Experience
- 4–8 years of experience in Corporate Finance, FP&A, Investor Relations, Strategic Finance, or Fundraising roles.
- Prior experience in startup, high-growth, EdTech, SaaS, or technology-driven organizations preferred.
- Proven experience in managing multi-entity reporting, financial governance, and strategic finance operations.
- Exposure to fundraising, investor management, and board-level financial reporting preferred.
- Experience handling international finance operations and FEMA compliance will be an advantage.
3. Must Have
- Strong expertise in financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and business modelling.
- Hands-on experience in investor reporting, fundraising support, and financial due diligence.
- Strong understanding of IND-AS, financial governance, compliance, and audit management.
- Advanced proficiency in financial modelling, Excel, Power BI, ERP systems, and financial reporting tools.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic decision-making capabilities.
- Ability to independently drive financial initiatives with high ownership and accountability.
- Strong stakeholder management and business partnering capabilities.
- Ability to work effectively in fast-paced and evolving business environments.
4. Good to Have
- Exposure to IFRS/IAS principles and global reporting frameworks.
- Experience with treasury operations, forex management, and international remittance processes.
- Familiarity with transfer pricing and international financial structures.
- Experience driving automation, process transformation, and finance digitization initiatives.
- Exposure to M&A, strategic expansion, or global business operations.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Successful fundraising and investor engagement outcomes
- Forecast accuracy and financial planning effectiveness
- EBITDA improvement and profitability enhancement
- Cash flow efficiency and working capital optimization
- Timely and accurate financial reporting
- Audit readiness and statutory compliance adherence
- Reduction in financial and operational risk exposure
- Finance automation and reporting efficiency improvements
- Stakeholder and leadership satisfaction on financial insights and governance
