Senior Finance Manager

Hermeus is an aerospace and defense technology company founded to radically accelerate air travel by delivering hypersonic aircraft. The company aims to develop hypersonic aircraft quickly and cost-effectively by integrating hardware-rich, iterative development with modern computing and autonomy. This approach has been validated through design, build, and test of the company’s first combined turbojet-ramjet engine and is now being scaled through its first flight vehicle program, Quarterhorse. Hermeus is also developing Darkhorse — an uncrewed hypersonic aircraft designed to deliver unique asymmetric capabilities to the warfighter.

We are seeking a highly motivated Finance Manager to join our growing team. This individual will be a key business partner across engineering, operations, and leadership—driving clarity through forecasting, enabling resource scaling, and supporting investment in production capacity. The ideal candidate has a strong FP&A foundation, thrives in a fast-paced hardware environment, and enjoys shaping processes as much as delivering insight.

• FP&A Leadership: Lead budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis across company functions, with a focus on hardware R&D, engineering, and operations.
• Hardware-First Business Modeling: Partner with technical teams to model program costs, NRE, and capital expenditures as we transition from prototype to production.
• Business Partnering: Serve as a strategic finance partner to engineering, supply chain, and operations - enabling data-driven decision-making.
• Scenario Planning: Develop and maintain dynamic models for product launches, production scaling, and fundraising support.
• Financial Systems & Process: Help mature internal FP&A processes and systems to support multi-year planning, reporting automation, and program profitability tracking.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Collaborate with technical and operational teams to ensure our near-term resourcing is aligned and sufficient to support our long-term strategic plan.

• 6+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, or related roles; experience in defense, aerospace, or hardware-intensive startups is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of hardware R&D lifecycles, new product introduction, and manufacturing concepts.
• Demonstrated success in budgeting, forecasting, and building scalable financial models.
• Proven ability to partner cross-functionally and translate technical plans into financial outcomes.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial modeling; experience with tools like Adaptive Insights or similar is a plus.
• Experience supporting Series B-D startup growth stages and capital deployment planning is a plus.
• Eligibility for a security clearance may be required depending on program needs.

U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS 

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. US persons include U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending. 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Hermeus is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions at Hermeus are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.