Job Description

THIS IS A HYBRID ROLE OUT OF OUR CAMBRIDGE, MA OFFICE

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.

At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.
Our tenacious, passionate employees challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

Step into a pivotal role reporting to the CFO as the Vice President, Corporate Controller not just crunching numbers but influencing critical decisions. You’ll work with senior leaders to steer the organization's future as we launch our second commercial product. You'll ensure pristine financial reporting, accurate audits, and compliance with regulatory requirements, including SOX, all while providing the strategic accounting backbone for the Company. You will oversee all aspects of Akebia’s financial reporting and accounting processes. The role will lead the team in implementing and identifying process improvements and optimizing our business processes across the Company to ensure scalability and efficiency.

If you've thrived in dynamic accounting roles for publicly traded companies, understand how to cultivate high-performing teams, and love the challenge of building robust accounting processes, this is the role for you. You'll be a key player whose insights will shape business strategies. Your expertise will be crucial for delivering transparent and reliable financial data, particularly for those stakeholders with limited accounting backgrounds. You should also relish the pace and adaptability required in a smaller, agile setting.

This position requires a hands-on, resourceful and collaborative finance professional with high visibility in a leadership role. This role requires an in-depth knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and public company financial reporting and internal controls requirements. This position will lead the coordination with external and internal auditors and partner with business stakeholders, an ability to collaborate with auditors and business partners like contract manufacturers and collaboration partners. Working with leadership, this role requires monitoring, interpretation, and compliance with evolving accounting guidance relevant to our business and corporate goals.

The Vice President, Corporate Controller will:

• Have hands-on involvement in all company accounting-related matters:
  • Supervise AR, AP, payroll and fixed assets as well as equity awards.
  • Monthly close processes and procedures, general accounting, internal management reporting and technical accounting matters.
  • Oversee revenue, including gross-to-net and cost accounting.
• Prepare the consolidated financial statements; ensure proper external reporting and filing in compliance with regulations.
• Partner with management team by researching, evaluating, and documenting accounting implications of complex transactions and collaborations; manage technical accounting assessments.
• Serve as the liaison to external auditors and manage the annual financial audit.
• Recommend and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, internal controls and enable timely business decisions.
• Partner and collaborate with business stakeholders to recommend system improvements or integrations to enable improved financial reporting or analyses.
• Ensure processes and people are in place to deliver timely and accurate monthly financial statements.
• Support the establishment and monitoring of strong internal controls across the organization.
• Coordinate with the insurance broker and carriers to properly mitigate risk.
• Build financial infrastructure and policies that will support the company’s growth and drive continuous improvements in financial systems and processes.
• Serve as a business partner and build relationships cross-functionally to foster collaboration both inside and outside of accounting.
• Direct and lead accounting teams in the development, implementation and oversight of company-wide accounting policies and controls consistent with SEC, US GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• Work closely with the CFO on presenting materials to the Audit Committee.
• Manage relationship and reporting matters with the audit firm and interface effectively with external and internal audit resources to resolve complex accounting and auditing issues.
• Work closely with the FP&A team to support external reporting requirements.
• Participate and collaborate with company programs, projects, and objectives which require extensive communication, change management and interactions with other finance leaders (e.g., FP&A, investor relations) and the CFO, as well as other functional leaders.
• Responsible for departmental operating budgets and preparation of board-level and management reports.
• Support analysis of key business development initiatives and partnerships from an accounting perspective.
• Be a key team member in identifying and managing areas of enterprise risk.
• Engage with audit committee and executive management through compelling presentations.
• Other projects based on business needs.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelors’ or Masters’ degree in Accounting with current CPA accreditation required
• 12+ years of work experience in public accounting and commercial biotech experience
• 10+ years’ experience in managing and developing teams
• Biotech/pharmaceutical industry experience with gross to net and inventory management required

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to train, mentor and lead a high-caliber accounting team
• Experience leading and driving process improvements
• Masterful grasp of the preparation of SEC financial statements
• Experience with general ledger functions and the month-end/year end close process in a setting requiring consolidations, multiple subsidiaries, including international entities
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and build cross-functional relationships to drive business results
• Solves problems even where data is insufficient by directing team / others to get data and insights
• Communicates with influence to reach out, engage and motivate teams
• Experience with tier-one ERP system
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work and communicate effectively at all levels within and external to the organization
• Acute analytical, problem-solving, and conflict resolution abilities
• Unwavering attention to detail coupled with strong organizational skills and ability to meet required deadlines
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral, for various audience levels
• Outstanding leadership and people management skills
• Previous audit experience is a plus
• Proficient in Excel and Smart Sheets

Are you an Akebian?

An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian’s aren’t afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian’s believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose – to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website:

COVID 19 Vaccination: All Akebia new hires will be required to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or, if not, that they are legally entitled to an accommodation due to a medical condition or a sincerely held religious belief. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and Akebia will consider, among other things whether a proposed accommodation would create an undue hardship. Please note that it is unlikely that accommodations can be granted for customer-facing positions.

Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, height, weight, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.

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