Sr. Director, Controller

Company Profile:

Vaxcyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCVX) is a vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases. The Company is developing broad-spectrum conjugate and novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent, broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine being developed for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). The Company is re-engineering the way highly complex immunizations are made through modern synthetic techniques, including advanced chemistry and our exclusively licensed XpressCFTM cell-free protein synthesis platform. Unlike conventional cell-based approaches, the Company’s system for producing difficult-to-make proteins and antigens is intended to accelerate its ability to efficiently create and deliver high-fidelity vaccines with enhanced immunological benefits. Vaxcyte’s pipeline also includes VAX-XP, a PCV with an expanded breadth of coverage of greater than 30 strains; VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections; and VAX-PG, a therapeutic vaccine candidate designed to slow or stop the progression of periodontal disease. The Company is driven to eradicate or treat invasive bacterial infections, which have serious and costly health consequences when left unchecked. For more information, visit www.vaxcyte.com.
 
Vaxcyte, headquartered in San Carlos, CA, went public in June 2020 and currently has a team of approximately 100 employees and anticipates continued, significant growth. On January 6, 2022, Vaxcyte announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for VAX-24, its lead vaccine candidate. The Company expects to initiate the VAX-24 Phase 1/2 clinical proof-of-concept study in adults in the first quarter of 2022 and announce Phase 2 topline immunogenicity, safety and tolerability results by the end of the year. VAX-24 was designed to prevent IPD, which can be most serious for infants, young children, older adults and those with immune deficiencies or certain chronic health conditions. Given the global impact of pneumococcal disease remains significant, the public health community continues to advocate for vaccines that can offer broader protection to prevent IPD. Vaxcyte’s PCV franchise, consisting of VAX-24 and VAX-XP, is designed specifically to address this need and has the potential to deliver the broadest protection for this very serious disease.

Summary:

The Corporate Controller will lead and manage the Company’s Accounting team and accounting operations, which includes the monthly close process, monthly and quarterly financial reporting, management of external auditors, analysis of technical accounting issues, payroll and equity administration, accounts payable, tax, enforcement of accounting policies, oversight of SOX compliance and accounting systems. The Controller is also responsible for the integrity and accuracy of quarterly SEC filings, including financial statements and related footnotes and the MD&A, and data in other SEC filings, including stock ownership forms, stock offering documents and proxy statements. The Corporate Controller will work with other team members to develop scalable and efficient accounting processes to support the overall growth of the organization.
 
This role requires critical thinking skills, outstanding organizational and execution skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills and a strong ability to build effective relationships across the company. This individual interacts with all levels of management and third parties across financial and operational projects and initiatives. This position reports into the SVP, Finance and will have 3 direct reports initially and be responsible for an overall team of 7-8 individuals.
Essential Functions:

• Manage the Company’s general accounting function, including oversight of the monthly and quarterly general ledger close.
• Manage other accounting operations activities, including accounts payable, payroll and equity plan administration.
• Review monthly and quarterly financial statements, including analysis of monthly trends, flux analysis and budget vs. actual variance analysis.
• Manage SOX 404 compliance program and SOX consultants; maintain and develop internal control structure.
• Oversee the development of technical accounting memos relating to the Company’s business activities; ensure the Company is compliant with current and emerging GAAP.
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of information provided to the external auditors in relation to the annual audit and quarterly reviews.
• Partner closely with the Legal team to complete quarterly SEC filings, annual proxy statements, offering documents / registration statements and stock ownership forms.
• Work closely with operational teams to ensure cross-functional efficiencies and accuracy of accruals and estimates.
• Ensure the integrity of the Company’s accounting systems, including interfaces from payroll, equity and expense management systems to the general ledger.
• Develop, maintain and ensure ongoing compliance with accounting policies and internal controls; ensure that policies and controls keep pace with the growth and increasing complexity of the business.
• Manage relationship with external auditors.
• Manage accounting and related systems to support current and future needs of organization.
• Proactively look for and implement process improvements including systems enhancements and integrations, policy changes, workflow changes and spreadsheet redesign .
• Provide cross-functional support to the Company as needs arise, including special projects, system improvements or ad-hoc financial analyses.
• Prepare materials for the Board of Directors and Committee meetings; participate in Audit Committee meetings.
• Coach, mentor and develop Accounting team members.

Requirements:

• CPA and bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or Business.
• 10+ years accounting experience, including at least three years in a public company, required.
• 5+ years of Big 4 audit experience required; biotech/life sciences and manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• 3+ years’ experience leading managers and providing mentoring, coaching, and development to create high-performing teams.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of US GAAP accounting principles and emerging technical guidance.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Experience operating within a Sarbanes-Oxley control environment.
• Adept at managing external service providers to meet objectives and budgets.
• Ability to deal with business issues collaboratively with other departments; enjoys working in cross-functional environment.
• Emotional maturity and ability to effectively facilitate change in a dynamic working environment.
• Effectively delegates to and empowers team members, yet is detail-oriented and ‘hands-on’ as and when required.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with people in diverse and different settings, including presentations to upper management.
• Possesses a sense of urgency; identifies challenges and problems and takes the initiative to identify solutions.
• Fast learner, good energy, enthusiastic, goal driven.
• Embodies Vaxcyte’s cultural attributes: caring, courage, excellence and passion. 
• All Vaxcyte employees require vaccination against COVID-19.

Reports to: SVP of Finance
 
Location: San Carlos, CA
 
Compensation:
The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component.