Strategic Finance Lead - Compute
At a glance
Senior FP&A role at Perplexity. San Francisco · full-time · $190,000–$240,000 base.
financeroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set GPU compute budgets, update monthly forecasts, explain variances, and keep the financial plan current
- Model fleet capacity, cost drivers, and investment scenarios to guide capacity and make-or-buy choices
- Track vendor and cluster capacity, usage, and committed spend as the source of truth for the compute plan
- Build token-serving cost curves and use them to shape internal and external token prices
- Assess in-house inference and training returns, then turn engineering workload needs into financial plans
What you bring
- At least four years in strategic finance, infrastructure investing, private equity, growth equity, consulting, or investment banking
- A background in AI, machine learning, or large-scale computing infrastructure such as data centers or cloud providers
- Hands-on cloud or GPU infrastructure finance experience, including work with major cloud providers or neoclouds
- Strong financial modeling skills and the ability to turn complex data into clear conclusions
Who this fits
You'll suit work that combines finance with infrastructure, close partnership with engineering, and careful analysis of interconnected contract and usage data. The role is based in San Francisco and requires in-person attendance two to three days each week.
From the employer
About the Role
We are seeking a Strategic Finance Lead for our GPU compute fleet. In this role, you will be a key partner to our inference and infrastructure teams, providing financial expertise to optimize our compute investments and drive capacity decisions.
In this role, you'll develop deep expertise in the economics of AI compute, from token-level serving cost to the long-range financial planning of our GPU fleet. You'll build the models that inform Perplexity's capacity and make-versus-buy decisions, own the internal-cost analysis that underpins internal and external token pricing, and translate complex infrastructure dynamics into clear financial narratives for leadership.
This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives at the intersection of finance and infrastructure, and who is energized by building frameworks from scratch in a fast-moving environment.
This position is based in San Francisco and requires in-person attendance 2-3 days per week.
Key Responsibilities
Finance lead for GPU compute spend, including budgeting, monthly forecasting, variance analysis, and financial plan maintenance
Build and maintain detailed bottoms-up financial models for the GPU fleet, including capacity forecasts, cost driver analyses, and investment scenario modeling
Develop deep expertise in GPU vendor contracts, pricing structures, and cost drivers, and surface optimization opportunities across the fleet
Serve as subject matter expert for Perplexity's compute capacity plan, owning source of truth on utilization, committed-versus-consumed spend, and capacity by vendor and cluster
Build internal token-cost curves distinguishing marginal from fully loaded serving cost, and translate them into internal and external token pricing
Analyze the ROI of in-house inference and training, including opportunity cost across chip types, cluster configurations, and workloads, distilled into a framework for capacity deployment
Partner closely with inference and infrastructure engineering to understand how serving and training workloads scale, and translate those technical dynamics into financial frameworks
You May Be a Good Fit If You Have
Exceptional analytical skills with an ability to synthesize data into compelling insights and develop complex financial operating models
Extraordinary problem-solving and critical thinking abilities to develop new frameworks for assessing utilization and capital efficiency in a rapidly evolving industry
Attention to detail and patience for getting to the source of truth on complex and interconnected contract and usage data
Comfort being the finance person in the room with engineering leads and vendor counterparts, and adept at communicating complex financial information to non-finance audiences
A proven track record of partnering with technical teams to drive financial optimization initiatives, building enough trust to become indispensable to their roadmap and resourcing decisions
A bias toward action, strong work ethic, and experience driving operational outcomes under tight timelines
Background in AI, ML, or high-performance, large-scale computing infrastructure, including data centers and cloud service providers
Preferred Qualifications
4+ years of experience in strategic finance, infrastructure investment, private equity, growth equity, consulting, or investment banking, preferably with infrastructure or datacenter experience
Experience in cloud or GPU infrastructure financial management, including direct work with major cloud service providers or neoclouds
Direct experience with committed-use economics — reserved capacity, savings plans, committed-use discounts — and GPU procurement
Deep expertise in GPU vendor economics, contract structures, and pricing models
Experience with chip architecture economics and optimization strategies
Proficiency with financial modeling tools