Associate Director of Accounting

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 (PCV) 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 coverage of 31 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 150 employees and anticipates continued, significant growth. Following the October 2022 follow-on equity offering, which generated approximately $651 million in net proceeds, the Company’s balance sheet is further strengthened to advance its pipeline of novel vaccines, including VAX-24. On October 24, 2022, the Company announced positive topline safety, tolerability and immunogenicity data from the Phase 1/2 proof-of-concept study evaluating VAX-24 in adults aged 18-64. The Company believes these results support a best-in-class potential for VAX-24, which was designed to replace the current standard-of-care in adults and children. VAX-24 is being investigated for the prevention of 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. We believe that our PCVs could receive regulatory approval based on successful completion of clinical studies utilizing well-defined surrogate immune endpoints, consistent with how other PCVs have obtained regulatory approval in the past, rather than requiring clinical field efficacy studies.
 
Summary:
 
Vaxcyte is looking for an experienced and collaborative-minded Associate Director of Accounting to join our team. This individual will be responsible for leading general accounting operations of the Company, specifically supervising the areas of accounts payable, payroll, stock administration and clinical trials accounting activities. We are looking for a generalist accountant who has managed the accounting operations of a biotech company and who can define improvements in policies, processes and procedures to help enable the growth of Vaxcyte. Someone who provides excellent leadership and maintains open, collaborative relationships within their team and key stakeholders in the organization will excel in this role. The ideal candidate utilizes interpersonal and communication skills to lead, influence and encourage others, advocates sound financial/business decision making and leads by example. 
Essential Functions:

• Supervising a team of at least three (3) direct reports, primarily leading accounting operations or shared services that support the business.  These include, but are not limited to, leading the A/P & Accruals teams as well as the Payroll and Stock Administration functions.
• Lead functions under management in identifying, verifying, analysis and implementing process improvement opportunities including impact and risk assessments, status reporting and change management.
• Ensure proper reviews and issue resolution are completed, that our processes are compliant with established SOX controls and that we ascertain the accuracy and completeness of the underlying transactions.
• Collaborate with the extended finance team to ensure adherence to a timely close and reporting process, timely responses to internal/external audit requests and overall execution of team objectives.
• Involvement in special projects, system implementations, upgrades, integrations or process improvements, as needed.
• Develop and manage a high functioning, efficient and responsive accounts payable team through strategic hiring, performance management and process optimization.

Clinical Trials Accrual Function:

• Supervise and provide guidance and leadership to the Sr. Accountant(s) in preparing clinical trial accruals, including management of accrual, review of open purchase orders and invoices, and review of reconciliations and latest estimate processes.
• Collaborate closely with clinical teams and FP&A to understand clinical study scope to effectively forecast clinical spend, validate vendor and site activities for payment and accrual purposes.

Accounts Payable Function:

• Supervise and provide guidance and leadership to the Sr. AP Specialist in effectively executing day-to-day accounts payable support in the following areas: PO and Non-PO invoice processing, expense reporting, holds, payment cycles, records management, GL entries, month-end and year-end close, and account reconciliations.
• Manage / review payment runs to ensure compliance with SOX controls and timely payments. 

Payroll and Stock Administration Function:

• Oversee and assist the Sr. Manager, Payroll & Stock Plan Administration in managing day to day payroll operations, ensuring payroll reports are reviewed thoroughly with appropriate updates and are submitted accurately/timely and paid in accordance with the payroll schedule.
• Establish standard procedures for payroll processing, ensuring strong internal controls and segregation of duties.
• Oversee the Sr. Manager Payroll & Stock Plan Administrator’s administration of our stock incentive plans and Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and management of our stock administration systems.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or equivalent is required.
• 10+ years of experience accounting operations with progressive levels of responsibility is required.
• 5+ years of experience supervising, planning and directing the work of multiple direct reports is required.
• Experience in accounting roles with varying degrees of complexity, including but not limited to accounts payable, payroll and stock administration is preferred.
• Superior computer skills (Microsoft Office including Excel, Word and PowerPoint).
• NetSuite experience a plus.
• Experience with ADP, SAP Concur and other accounting and reporting tools is a plus.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Excellent attention to details.
• Self-motivated and self-directed.
• Public company experience preferred.
• All Vaxcyte employees require vaccination against COVID-19.

Reports to: Sr. Director, Controller
 
Location: San Carlos, CA
 
Compensation:
The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component.