Head of Revenue Accounting - Deal Desk & Technical Accounting

About Anthropic

Anthropic's mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About the role

Anthropic is an AI safety and research company working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. As we scale, our revenue is growing extremely quickly, our commercial agreements are getting more complex, and the related systems and controls need to keep pace. We are looking for a Head of Revenue Accounting, Deal Desk & Technical Accounting to own the accounting judgments behind that growth — the technical positions we take, the deals we approve, the disclosures we produce, the revenue systems that process it all, and the controls that make it dependable.

 

You will act as the company's authority on complex revenue accounting questions. That includes developing our revenue recognition policies, leading enhancements to our revenue system, as well as designing, implementing, and operating our internal controls. You will set the bar for how much of this work Claude can do, so your team spends its time on key judgments rather than mechanics.

 

Much of this role's impact comes through influence rather than authority. You'll shape deals before they're signed by getting to Sales and Legal early with a point of view on structures, and you'll shape our systems roadmap by advocating to engineering and systems partners for automation. This is a role for someone who can enable deal and business velocity while maintaining appropriate controllership.

Key responsibilities

• Own technical accounting. Serve as the company's authority on complex revenue recognition matters — researching, concluding, and documenting positions in clear, well-reasoned memos, and explaining those conclusions to internal stakeholders and external auditors.

• Own the deal desk from accounting. Own our contract approval policy and its execution: define the accounting guardrails for non-standard terms, serve as the accounting approver in deal review, and partner with Sales and Legal to structure agreements that work commercially while maintaining appropriate controllership.

• Influence deal structures before they're signed. Build the credibility and relationships to shape how deals and programs are constructed rather than reacting to them — getting to Sales, Legal, and Finance early with a clear point of view, and making the accounting case in commercial terms that decision-makers can act on.

• Lead financial reporting and disclosure. Lead preparation of revenue related footnotes and technical disclosure positions, and build toward public-company reporting readiness.

• Lead the revenue system enhancements. Own the ongoing roadmap of our revenue system — requirements, design, testing, cutover, and post-launch optimization — partnering with Finance Systems.

• Influence the systems and automation roadmap. Advocate with engineering and system partners for the automation your team needs, translating accounting requirements into system priorities and building the working relationships that get them sequenced and shipped.

• Design and implement internal controls. Build controls over financial reporting for revenue and technical accounting processes, including documentation, testing, remediation, and audit support.

• Build scalable processes. Design well-documented processes that hold up as transaction volume and deal complexity multiply, replacing manual effort with automation.

• Apply Claude to the team's work. Utilize Claude to streamline processes, including accelerating research, drafting memos, reviewing contracts, and preparing reconciliations and disclosures.

• Enable growth while maintaining controllership. Partner across Sales, Finance, Legal, and systems teams to support new products, pricing models, and go-to-market motions, and advise leadership on accounting implications before decisions are made.

• Lead and grow the team. Set priorities, mentor the team, and raise the technical bar as the team scales.

Minimum qualifications

• A track record of leading and developing a high-performing accounting team.

• Deep expertise in revenue recognition under ASC 606 for software, subscription, or consumption-based business models.

• Personal ownership of complex technical accounting research — writing position memos, defending those conclusions with external auditors, and preparing the resulting disclosures under US GAAP.

• Experience designing, implementing, and operating internal controls over financial reporting, including documentation and testing.

• Demonstrated ability to influence non-accounting stakeholders — shaping commercial deal and program structures with Sales and Legal, and shaping automation priorities with systems teams.

• Experience owning a revenue or billing platform (Zuora or comparable), either as implementation lead or as the accounting owner of its roadmap.

• CPA or an equivalent professional accounting qualification.

 

Preferred qualifications

• Public company experience, or experience preparing a high-growth company for public reporting and SOX 404 compliance.

• Background at a national or Big Four firm.

• Experience with consumption-based, usage-based, or hybrid revenue models, particularly in AI, cloud, or infrastructure.

• Experience using large language models or AI tooling to automate accounting, contract review, or controls work.

• Experience standing up or overhauling a deal desk approval process.

• Hands-on Zuora implementation or operation experience.