Director of Finance, Strategic Initiatives
Descartes Labs
OUR VISION
At EarthDaily Analytics (EDA), we strive to build a more sustainable planet by creating innovative solutions that combine satellite imagery of the Earth, modern software engineering, machine learning, and cloud computing to solve the toughest challenges in agriculture, energy and mining, insurance and risk mitigation, wildfire and forest intelligence, carbon-capture verification and more.
EDA’s signature Earth Observation mission, the EarthDaily Constellation (EDC), is currently under construction. The EDC will be the most powerful global change detection and change monitoring system ever developed, capable of generating unprecedented predictive analytics and insights. It will combine with the EarthPipeline data processing system to provide unprecedented, scientific-grade data of the world every day, positioning EDA to meet the growing needs of diverse industries.
OUR TEAM
Our global, enterprise-wide team represents a variety of business lines and is made up of sales, marketing and support professionals, data scientists, software engineers, project managers and finance, HR, and IT professionals.
READY TO LAUNCH?
Do you want to join the Finance team of one of the most exciting space companies at the forefront of global change detection/change monitoring? We are looking for a Director of Finance, Strategic Initiatives who will be responsible for core external-facing financial planning, reporting, and compliance functions while also owning and delivering complex, high-stakes finance initiatives that are critical to the company's strategic trajectory. This position acts as the VP Finance's "right hand" for capital market readiness, mergers and acquisitions, investor engagement, and enterprise-level finance-related transformation initiatives. This is a Vancouver-based hybrid position, with some in-office work required. Candidates must have full-time availability during the business hours of 9am-5:30pm Monday through Friday. Occasional overtime may be required.
Responsibilities Include:
IPO Leadership & Public Company Readiness:
- Lead and own the end‑to‑end U.S. IPO readiness and execution program, serving as the central point of accountability across Finance, Legal, Tax, Executive Leadership, auditors, underwriters, and external advisors. This includes managing the IPO roadmap, readiness assessments, workplans, and interdependencies across all functions.
- Maintaining a best-in-class investor data room and responding promptly, and thoroughly to investor and sell-side analyst requests
- Act as the key point of contact for sell-side analysts
- Track and review all peer companies, industry/market analysis
- Work with FP&A to maintain a well-documented and narrated financial model designed to impress and build trust with potential investors and analysts, ensuring alignment between operational financial plans and investor‑facing projections
- Work with Accounting on prospectus drafting, disclosure frameworks, internal controls uplift (SOX readiness), and public‑company reporting infrastructure, including oversight of group revenue recognition compliance, internal controls, and risk management frameworks
- Lead capital structure analysis, equity and debt financing considerations, pre‑IPO private placements, valuation support, and scenario modeling. Align with cash flow planning and fundraising strategy in coordination with Treasury
- Support executive leadership in analyst education, roadshow preparation, and transition from private to public company operations
- Design, build, and operationalize a best‑in‑class Investor Relations (IR) function appropriate for a public company
- Establish the cadence, processes, governance, and infrastructure required to support quarterly earnings cycles, investor communications, and market engagement
- Own quarterly earnings preparation including financial and operational messaging, earnings decks, scripts, Q&A preparation, disclosure controls, and coordination with, Legal and executive leadership, extending the existing monthly and weekly management reporting cadence into public company disclosure frameworks
- Manage preparation for investor days, analyst meetings, and IR conferences
- Develop and maintain the IR calendar, investor targeting strategy, analyst coverage strategy, and feedback loops to executive leadership and the Board
- Ensure consistency, accuracy, and compliance in all external financial communications, including lender covenant reporting and stakeholder communications
- Translate financial results into strategic narratives to facilitate how investors understand EarthDaily’s earnings, revenue‑generation, and value creation, drawing on deep familiarity with LOB financial performance, variance analysis, and operational metrics across all business lines
- Develop and maintain corporate reporting initiatives including an ESG program understanding what drives success, obtaining leadership buy-in, stakeholder engagement, setting goals, implementation, monitoring and making adjustments
- Serve as Finance lead for all mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments
- Own financial modeling, valuation analysis, deal structuring, due diligence leadership, data room, and negotiation support
- Prepare Board and executive materials supporting transaction approval and capital allocation decisions
- Lead post‑close integration planning and execution in partnership with Accounting, FP&A, IT, HR, and operations, ensuring realization of deal value, alignment of reporting structures, systems integration, and control environments
- Support Accounting and FP&A with complex, cross‑functional finance initiatives including ERP transitions, business process re‑engineering,revenue recognition enhancements, reporting automation, budgeting and forecasting improvements, and analytics enablement. Continue to lead financial systems integration and implementation in support of key responsibilities
- Accountable for external-facing long-term financial planning, financing analysis, and corporate model scenario analyses in support of strategic decision-making
- Manage transfer agent processes and equity administration including cap table maintenance, equity grant processing, and shareholder communications
- Prepare and deliver special project presentations and ad-hoc financial analyses for executive leadership and the Board
Other duties as assigned
YOUR PAST MISSIONS
- Bachelor's degree in a business discipline, ideally finance or accounting
- A minimum of one or a combination of CPA, CFA, MBA
- High degree of knowledge and previous experience leading U.S. IPO and M&A processes
- 5+ years of senior level experience executing financings, public company reporting, disclosure and internal controls
- 5+ years of experience developing and/or overseeing the Investor Relations function and processes
- Formal certification/training in project management
- Formal training or experience in business process improvement and transformations an asset
- Investment banking experience an asset
- Strong understanding and experience overseeing high standards of internal controls and corporate governance, as part of the IPO process
- Ability to professionally manage multiple projects to strict timelines with great accuracy
- A strategic systems and business perspective, understanding the direct and indirect consequences of different alternatives
- Ability to identify and manage risks while effectively solving multi-faceted problems through effective negotiation and engagement of others
- Highly intelligent with a natural goal and process orientation
- Strong executive level facilitation, communication and presentation skills
- Ability to effectively help others see and understand different courses of action
- Ability to guide a diverse range of people with different goals toward optimal solutions
Base Salary Range: $160,000 - $200,000 CAD annually
This range is based on Vancouver, BC-derived compensation for this role. The selected candidate's compensation will be determined based on multiple factors, including but not limited to job-related skills, experience, education, and location.
OUR SPACE
We’d love to welcome you to our world of software for space. We have a shared passion for building production critical systems that generate near real-time views of Earth from satellites that power real-world applications like disaster mitigation, environmental monitoring and crop yield improvements. It’s a fun, fast paced, exciting environment where we hold innovation, team work, honesty and trust as our core values.
To make the most innovative products that serve our customers, we recognize the role that each of us plays in Diversity and Inclusion at EarthDaily. We draw from our diverse crew of exceptional team members and encourage and empower our team members to express themselves regardless of identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
This is a hybrid role, in the office full-time during the Initial 2-3 months transitioning to hybrid In the office 2-3 days per week
WHY EARTHDAILY ANALYTICS?
- Competitive compensation, full benefits and flexible time off
- Be part of a meaningful mission as part of one of Canada’s most innovative space companies that are developing sustainable solutions for our planet
- Work from home opportunities (hybrid)
- Great work environment, team and one of the best office locations in Vancouver (right over the water in the Vancouver Convention Centre)
- Company subsidized lunches, lunch & learns and Friday afternoon social hours