FP&A Manager

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution conducting curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

• Funding: Arc fully funds Core Investigators’ (PIs’) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.


• Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize, and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators. 


• Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially, and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.


• Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc has scaled to nearly 300 people to date. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly in the coming years.

About the position

We are seeking an independent and analytical FP&A Manager to join our Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) team. This critical role will partner closely with key budget owners in our Technology Centers and Core Labs, driving the annual budgeting process, project-specific forecasting, and strategic decision-making. The ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in financial modeling, experience at a science organization, and a proven ability to translate data into actionable insights for leadership.

About You

• You are deeply analytical with a knack for effectively communicating that information visually and verbally


• You are a team player; you like to work as a team to help people get their jobs done


• You are detail-oriented and have a passion for organized processes and structured systems 


• You are familiar with our science and motivated about Arc’s mission


• You are a life long learner

In this position, you will

• Lead the development and presentation of Arc’s annual operating budget, long-range strategic plans, and forecasts for our Institute Initiatives, research labs, and operational units.


• Partner directly with budget owners (specifically CSO, CTO, and COO organizations) to ensure financial plans align with strategic goals and provide detailed variance analysis against prior forecasts and budget.


• Develop scenario-driven financial models for key Institute Initiatives, new scientific programs, and capital expenditures.


• Drive continuous improvement in FP&A processes, reporting automation, and financial system utilization (e.g., Netsuite, Prendio).


• Support strategic vendor negotiations to reduce our operational costs.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, or a related quantitative field and 5-8 years of experience in a demanding finance or analytical role.


• Demonstrated experience leading and executing the core functions of corporate FP&A, including budgeting, forecasting, and reporting, ideally within a fast-paced Technology or Biotechnology company.


• Prior experience as an Investment Banking Analyst (2-3 years) OR experience as a Consultant at a major/large consulting firm program (2-3 years). This experience must have provided deep exposure to financial analysis, rigorous modeling techniques, and effective communication of data.


• Exceptional proficiency with spreadsheets (advanced modeling, pivot tables, lookups, chart visualizations). 

Preferred Qualifications

• Educational background (e.g., degree or advanced coursework) or professional experience in the Biosciences, Biotech, and/or related fields is highly desirable.


• Experience with financial planning systems (e.g., Netsuite Planning, Adaptive Planning) is a plus.

The base salary range for this position is $116,750 to $144,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.