Director, SOX Compliance (R5388)

The role

Build, lead and improve the company's Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance program for a public-company environment. Work with Finance, Internal Audit, IT and business leaders on internal controls, and report program status to senior leadership and the Audit Committee.

What you will do

• Own and lead the end-to-end SOX 404 compliance program, including business process, entity-level and IT general controls.
• Develop and maintain the annual SOX strategy, risk assessment, scoping, testing plan and compliance calendar.
• Partner with control owners to document, assess and improve key controls.
• Coordinate management's annual SOX assessment and support external audit requirements.
• Evaluate control deficiencies, lead root cause analysis and drive remediation.
• Drive automation and continuous monitoring to improve control effectiveness.
• Work with Finance Transformation, ERP and business system teams to design controls into new processes and systems.
• Present SOX program status, risks and remediation progress to senior leadership and Audit Committee stakeholders.
• Establish SOX policies, methodologies, documentation standards and training programs.
• Help define the future structure of the SOX function, including recruiting, mentoring and developing team members.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.
• CPA, CIA or equivalent professional certification.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in SOX compliance, internal audit, external audit, accounting or internal controls.
• Experience leading SOX programs for publicly traded companies or public-company readiness.
• Strong knowledge of SOX 404, the COSO Internal Control Framework and the SEC reporting environment.
• Experience with business process controls, entity-level controls and IT general controls.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Experience managing external auditors and coordinating complex compliance activities across functions.
• Excellent project management, analytical and organizational skills.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, including presenting to executive leadership.
• Proven ability to find process improvements while maintaining a strong control environment.

Nice to have

• Experience in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, hardware or other complex operational environments.
• Experience supporting ERP implementations or major systems transformations (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Workday, etc.).
• Experience with GRC platforms such as AuditBoard, Workiva, Archer, ServiceNow GRC or similar.
• Experience leading SOX readiness for IPOs or scaling public-company compliance programs.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity controls, automated controls and emerging compliance technologies.
• Lean, Six Sigma or process improvement experience.
• Experience building or scaling compliance organizations.
• Interest in mentoring and developing talent and growing into a formal people leadership role.

Benefits

• Bonus.
• Equity for full-time regular employees.
• Benefits for full-time regular employees.
• Temporary benefits package for temporary employees, applicable after 60 days of employment.

Before you apply

• All offers are contingent on a cleared background check and possible reference check.
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies.