Strategic Finance Lead, AI Infrastructure & R&D

BUILD A SAFER WORLD. TRM Labs provides AI-powered intelligence solutions that help public and private sector agencies investigate and disrupt crime. TRM's platforms enable investigators to trace illicit activity, build cases, and construct operating pictures of threat networks. Leading agencies and businesses worldwide rely on TRM to make the world safer and more secure. THE ROLE TRM is hiring a senior Strategic Finance Lead to serve as the finance owner for AI infrastructure and R&D. Reporting to the VP of Finance and partnering directly with the CTO, Head of AI, and R&D leadership, you will influence how TRM allocates investment across AI, cloud and compute infrastructure, technical talent, and product development. Your mandate is to shape how a category-defining technology company invests in AI and cloud infrastructure—not simply report on the resulting cost. You will help determine how TRM scales its infrastructure, evaluates provider and technology choices, approaches build-versus-buy decisions, and balances technical capability, product velocity, flexibility, and cost. This role sits at the center of some of TRM's most consequential R&D decisions. You will have the freedom to design the financial architecture for the domain—establishing the frameworks and operating mechanisms that turn complex technical and financial information into recommendations that directly influence the CTO and R&D leadership. THE IMPACT YOU WILL HAVE - Serve as the primary finance partner to the CTO and R&D leadership, shaping how TRM invests across AI, cloud and compute infrastructure, engineering capacity, and product development. - Own the economic framework for AI, cloud, and compute—connecting usage, billing, and operating data to forecasts and investment decisions. - Lead the financial evaluation of major R&D investments from the initial business case through decision, execution, and measurement. - Own R&D planning, forecasting, and performance management across engineering headcount, AI and cloud infrastructure, compute, software, and external partners—surfacing changes early enough for leaders to act. - Partner with the Head of AI, Engineering, Infrastructure, Procurement, and Accounting to improve infrastructure economics, evaluate major commitments, and translate analysis into action. - Turn complex R&D performance into a clear executive and board narrative: what changed, why it changed, and which decisions should follow. - Redesign R&D finance around AI, automation, and scalable systems so that more time goes toward shaping decisions and less toward assembling reporting. STRATEGIC QUESTIONS YOU WILL HELP ANSWER - How should TRM measure and manage the unit economics of its AI and data-intensive products as usage scales? - Where should TRM make longer-term infrastructure commitments, and where should it preserve flexibility? - How should TRM allocate investment across engineering capacity, AI capabilities, product priorities, and infrastructure efficiency? - When should TRM build internally, use third-party technology, or change how workloads are architected? - Which operating metrics provide the earliest indication that an R&D investment is—or is not—creating the expected value? WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 7+ years of experience across strategic finance, FP&A, investment banking, investing, consulting, business operations, or a related analytical role. We care more about the complexity of the work you have owned, the quality of your judgment, and the influence you have had than an exact number of years. - A record of independently owning consequential work from end to end: framing an ambiguous question, structuring the analysis, developing a point of view, and driving a recommendation toward action. - Exceptional financial and analytical skills, including the ability to create driver-based forecasts, investment cases, and scalable decision frameworks from incomplete or complex data. - The communication skills and judgment to become a trusted partner to senior technical leaders, challenge assumptions constructively, and explain financial implications in plain language. - The ability and curiosity to learn technical systems quickly, understand how AI products and modern infrastructure are built and scaled, and translate those operating realities into financial insight. - Applied AI fluency: you can demonstrate how you have used AI to improve the speed or quality of analysis, modeling, research, or recurring workflows—and how you evaluate the reliability of its output. - Relevant domain experience in one or more of the following areas: supporting Engineering, Product, Data Science, AI, or Infrastructure organizations; analyzing cloud, compute, AI infrastructure, or other usage-based technology costs; or evaluating vendor commitments, technical investments, product economics, and build-versus-buy decisions. ABOUT THE STRATEGIC FINANCE TEAM Strategic Finance is a small, high-leverage team that works directly with TRM's leadership on planning, investment decisions, and company-wide strategy. We combine rigorous analysis with practical business partnership: our job is not simply to explain the numbers, but to help leaders make better decisions. You will have substantial ownership from the beginning, direct exposure to senior leaders, and the latitude to shape the decision frameworks and operating mechanisms for the function. This role is designed to scale with its owner. You can create outsized leverage as a senior individual contributor by using AI, automation, and scalable systems to expand what one person can own. As the mandate grows, there may also be an opportunity to shape and build the team supporting it. Increased scope does not depend on people management, but people leadership is a credible path for someone interested in it. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE Within your first six months: - The CTO and R&D leaders view you as their primary finance partner and involve you early in important investment decisions. - Major infrastructure and R&D investments are supported by clear alternatives, economic tradeoffs, and recommendations—and your point of view materially influences the decision. - TRM has a driver-based view of AI, cloud, and compute economics that connects technical activity to financial outcomes. - R&D forecasts surface changes, risks, and opportunities early enough for leaders to act rather than explaining them after the fact. - You have built the foundations of an R&D finance function that can scale with TRM. LIFE AT TRM We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day. TRM moves quickly. We are a high velocity, high ownership team that expects clarity, follow-through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and continuous feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it will ship here in days. Our work sits at the intersection of AI, national security, and fighting crime. The problems are complex, the stakes are real, and the environment evolves quickly. The pace and intensity of the work reflect the importance of the mission. As a result, the way we operate requires a high level of ownership, adaptability, collaboration, and creative problem-solving. At TRM, you should expect: - Priorities and targets to change quickly as we experiment and iterate - Work that often requires operating with a high degree of ambiguity - A high level of personal ownership and accountability - Close collaboration across teams and functions - Frequent, high-touch communication - Creative problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking - A pace that rewards urgency, adaptability, and outcomes This environment is energizing for people who enjoy building, solving hard problems, and making progress in situations that are not always fully defined. It also requires comfort navigating ambiguity, adjusting course as new information emerges, and maintaining focus and positivity in a fast-moving and intense environment. We also recognize that this style of operating is not for everyone. If you are primarily optimizing for predictability or a consistently balanced workload, we encourage you to use the interview process to pressure test whether this environment is truly the right fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here. At the same time, many people find this work deeply rewarding. If you are excited by meaningful problems, motivated by ambitious goals, and energized by working alongside mission-driven colleagues, there is a good chance you will find TRM to be an exceptional place to grow and contribute. Learn more: Interviewing at TRM: How We Hire and What Success Looks Like https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/interviewing-at-trm-how-we-hire-and-what-success-looks-like   AI FLUENCY AT TRM AI fluency is a baseline expectation at TRM. We believe AI meaningfully changes how top performers operate. We expect every team member to use AI to accelerate and reimagine their craft, not just automate surface tasks. At TRM, AI fluency means you are among the top 10 percent of operators in your function in how you apply AI to: - Accelerate repeatable workflows - Structure and solve problems - Improve output quality - Increase speed and leverage You will be evaluated on applied AI fluency during the interview process. LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES We hire and grow against three leadership principles. They’re the standards for how we operate, treat each other, and make decisions. - Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first and move with speed, focus, and adaptability. We treat every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly. - Master Craftsperson: We care deeply about our craft. We balance speed with high standards, own outcomes end‑to‑end, and invest in getting better everyday. - Inspiring Colleague: We add clarity and energy, not noise. We bring humility, candor, and a one‑team mindset — giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger. JOIN OUR MISSION At TRM we care deeply about our craft. We are looking for individuals who want their work to matter, who experiment with speed and rigor, and who take pride in building a safer world for billions of people. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, we encourage you to apply — we hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast. TRM is a Series C company with $220M in total funding, backed by Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, TRM operates as a distributed-first company with hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Singapore. PRIVACY POLICY AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION By submitting your application, you agree to allow TRM Labs to process your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy https://www.trmlabs.com/policies/privacy-policy. We collect the information you provide (such as your resume, work history, and contact details) solely for the purpose of evaluating your candidacy for current and future roles at TRM. Because our hiring cycles for certain positions may span 24 to 36 months, we retain your personal information for up to 36 months from the date of your application. After that period, your data is deleted unless a different retention period is required or permitted by law. If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with applicable data protection laws, you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data at any time before that period ends. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@trmlabs.com. To notify TRM Labs that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6e8jRCl2cQwgIzXLpIGQXtwvMQh__TcokvO2to…