AVP - Finance (Finance Controller):

(Financial Control - Business Partnering - Compliance - Technology)

Location: Bengaluru - Near Garudacharapalya Metro Station

Reports to: Head of Finance

Level: AVP

Start Date: Immediate

About KLAY:

KLAY is India's most established early childhood education and care company, backed by Peepul Capital and operating under Founding Years Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. For 15 years, KLAY has been the parenting partner of choice for India's top Fortune 500 companies and for parents who believe that early childhood is the foundation for everything that follows.

Under new CEO leadership, KLAY is scaling aggressively - new centres, new cities, new business lines. The finance function is a critical business enabler in this journey, not just a control function. We are building a finance team that thinks like business partners and acts like owners.

The Role:

This is not a back-office role. The AVP/VP Finance will own critical financial control and compliance functions while actively partnering with the business to drive growth decisions. You will work closely with the Head of Finance and the broader leadership team - interacting with auditors, investors, leading large team and internal stakeholders as KLAY scales.

Financial Control & Compliance:

- Own the Accounts Payable function end to end - accurate, timely, and compliant with Indian GAAP

- Drive monthly and annual book closures with speed and accuracy - reduce close cycles without compromising quality

- Lead statutory and internal audits independently - prepare, manage and close without needing hand-holding

- Ensure full GST compliance including reconciliation of books and timely filing of returns

- Own direct and indirect tax compliance across KLAY's operating entities

- Build and maintain internal controls and SOPs that scale as KLAY grows

- Manage cash flow and treasury operations with discipline - forecast, monitor and optimise

Business Partnering & Commercial Support:

- Own the MIS function - build dashboards and reports that give leadership real visibility into business performance, not just numbers on a page

- Support the Annual Operating Plan process - bring commercial thinking, not just financial modelling

- Partner with business teams on unit economics, expense analysis and cost optimisation across KLAY's centre network

- Support new city and centre expansion decisions with financial analysis that helps the business move fast with discipline

- Interact constructively with leadership, auditors and investors - able to challenge decisions with data and hold your ground

Technology & Process:

- Lead and own Oracle NetSuite ERP operations - and actively drive automation and efficiency improvements

- Work with Salesforce CRM for billing and revenue tracking across centres

- Build dashboards that replace manual reporting - finance that runs on data, not spreadsheets

- Drive initiatives that improve the speed and accuracy of month-end close through process and technology

Who We Are Looking For:

You are a CA with strong commercial instincts who has been inside a business - not just reviewing it from the outside. You understand that finance exists to serve the business, not police it. You have strong technical foundations and the commercial instinct to apply them to real decisions.

- You own your work. You do not wait to be told what the problem is - you find it, fix it and tell the business what changed.

- You have managed auditors, vendors and internal teams without supervision and come out the other side with relationships intact.

- You are comfortable in a scaling business where not everything is defined yet. You build the process as you go.

- You think about what the number means for the business - not just whether it is correct.

Qualifications & Experience:

- Must be a chartered accountant

- 12 to 18 years of post-qualification experience, with a minimum of 2 years experience in a finance controller role.

- Experience in a service, retail or consumer business - preferably from large distributed business models.

- PE-backed or investor-owned company experience preferred.

- Deep knowledge of Indian GAAP, GST, direct and indirect taxes.

- Hands-on experience with Oracle NetSuite or similar ERP. Salesforce exposure a plus.

- Advanced Excel and dashboard building capability - automation mindset essential

- Based in or willing to relocate to Bengaluru

Why This Role:

KLAY is at an inflection point. New leadership, active scaling, and a vision that goes well beyond preschools. The finance function being built here will be central to everything - not a support act.

- You will work directly with the Head of Finance and the senior leadership team and will be part of important business decisions.

- You will build something - systems, processes, and a finance culture that scales with KLAY

- The mission is real. Early childhood is the most important and most under-discussed business opportunity in India