Chief Financial Officer - Backblaze

Please note: this role is exclusively managed by our retained search partner, Diversified Search. Please contact CFO-BLZE@divsearch.com if you are interested in learning more about the role.

Submissions sent directly to Backblaze will not be considered.

Chief Financial Officer (San Mateo, CA / Hybrid with regular travel)

About Backblaze

Backblaze is a leader in the open cloud movement — fueling customer success with cloud storage built purposefully to unlock budgets, unburden administrators, and unleash innovators. Together with our partners, we’re helping customers break free from the restrictive, overpriced legacy clouds that hold them back, and blaze forward with the full power of the open cloud in their hands.

Founded in 2007, Backblaze scaled with less than $3 million in outside funding until 2021, when it made an initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticker BLZE. It’s the leading specialized storage cloud that manages over three billion gigabytes of data storage, serving 500K+ customers in 175+ countries, including businesses, developers, IT professionals, and individuals.

The ideal candidate will be local to the San Francisco Bay Area. We will consider exceptional candidates who will travel regularly (2-3 times/month) to our San Mateo head office. Please note: this role is not open to 100% remote applicants.

The Role

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) will partner with the executive leadership team and board of directors in managing risk and optimizing opportunities to drive shareholder value and sustainable growth, supporting the Backblaze strategy and business objectives. The CFO will oversee and lead investor relations, corporate development, financial planning & analysis, controllership, treasury & risk management, tax, information technology, internal audit, and facilities. The CFO must collaborate in developing and implementing financial strategies, partnering with the business, and owning continuous improvement results alongside the senior executive team. The CFO must operate with integrity, bring influential and effective interpersonal skills, possess emotional intelligence, and have an impressive history of team leadership and development, hiring, and retention.

Key responsibilities

• A business partner to the CEO, providing insight and counsel relative to all areas of strategic planning, risk assessment, and financial leadership with a growth and operational mindset.
• Oversee all financial management, IT, and facilities for the company. Financial matters include financial planning, budgeting, tax, capital deployment, internal audit, strategic financial analysis, M&A, capital structure strategy and execution, and leading accounting and financial reporting functions globally.
• Lead and execute financial strategy to enable the company's overall strategic and operational objectives.
• Establish a strong working relationship with the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee.
• Communicate all financial matters and issues with senior management and the Board; principal responsibility for working closely with investors, analysts, and other external constituents to ensure credibility with the investment community.
• Engagement with investors in communicating company strategy, vision and direction, and appropriately responding to investor questions.
• Partner with the business to drive forecasting and analytics, strategic business and operational performance, and best-in-class processes.
• Build, develop, inspire, and retain a best-in-class team.
• Build a culture that embeds and shares in best practices, including continuous improvement company-wide.
• Ensure corporate-wide compliance with regulatory requirements, including FASB, GAAP, SOX, SEC.
• Oversee timely preparation and review of financial statements, including 10Q’s, 10K’s and 8K’s.
• Understand reporting as an Emerging Growth Company (EGC) while preparing people, systems, and processes to ensure readiness when the EGC status lapses.

Experience

The CFO will be a broadly qualified and highly talented financial executive with extensive finance/operations experience in a well-respected, complex, and international business environment. The successful candidate will have low ego and high emotional intelligence, operating in an open, collaborative, and transparent working environment.

• A Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance or a technical-related field. An MBA and/or CPA is a plus.
• A proven track record of performance as a Corporate CFO of a publicly traded technology business or company closely tied to the company’s markets, ideally with experience in a smaller, agile business.
• Technology industry experience with knowledge of cloud platforms, IaaS, and SaaS. Knowledge of subscription-based and consumption business models.
• Experience working with infrastructure such as equipment, not pure software.
• Experience working with large and small investment bankers and outside audit firms, formulating, analyzing, and executing financing and growth strategies, including debt/equity offerings, M&A, and strategic partnerships.
• Extensive experience and credibility working with the Finance and/or Audit Committees of a Board of Directors.
• Capital markets experience and Wall Street acceptance/reputation for excellence.
• Strategic agility and focus on the long-term strategy with a continuous business development focus.
• Operational success driving results while being mindful of organizational productivity
• Experience working in various financial or operating assignments in which he or she has been responsible for executing best-in-class disciplines to optimize business results.
• Experience with successfully developing and leading a high-performance finance organization (e.g. hiring, training/developing, and retaining the team)

Leadership & Personal Characteristics

• Leadership: A demonstrated leadership, team building, and culture development track record. Experience in developing talent/succession plans that align with business strategies is a must.
• Collaboration: Facilitating teamwork where diverse opinions and skills complement each other, leading to innovative solutions and better decision-making.
• Communications: Strong communication skills and capable of speaking with investors and capital markets to share corporate vision and strategy.
• Partnership: Strong partnership abilities and experience working with various colleagues and groups to achieve success.
• Diversity: The Company’s active DEI program is vital to the company culture. Executives must embrace diverse perspectives, inclusive hiring practices, employee equity, and team development.
• Adaptability: Flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions and business needs.
• Ethical Standards: Unwavering commitment to ethical practices and corporate governance.
• Innovative Mindset: Willingness to embrace new technologies and innovative financial strategies.

Please note: this role is exclusively managed by our retained search partner, Diversified Search. Please contact CFO-BLZE@divsearch.com if you are interested in learning more about the role.

Submissions sent directly to Backblaze will not be considered.