Director of Accounting in Santa Clara, California at Upscale, Inc.

Position Overview

Upscale is seeking an experienced, hands-on Director of Accounting to build and scale the accounting infrastructure required to support a rapidly growing fabless semiconductor business. This role will lead the development of manufacturing and inventory accounting processes, revenue recognition policies, SAP workflow design, financial reporting, and internal controls as the company transitions from early commercialization to volume production.

The ideal candidate combines strong operational accounting leadership with experience supporting complex manufacturing environments, ERP implementations, and U.S. GAAP compliance. This individual will partner closely with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Legal, and Finance to establish scalable processes that support growth while maintaining financial accuracy and control.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing & Cost Accounting

• Design and implement the manufacturing accounting framework for a fabless semiconductor business utilizing TSMC, Flex, and other outsourced manufacturing partners.
• Establish inventory accounting processes for consigned inventory, wafer purchases, die banks, work-in-process, finished goods, inventory reserves, and inventory valuation. Develop standard costing methodologies, overhead absorption models, and manufacturing variance reporting.
• Build scalable processes for inventory reconciliations, inventory ownership transfers, cost of goods sold, and manufacturing-related internal controls.
• Analyze purchase price, yield, scrap, and E&O inventory variances and provide actionable insights to management.
• Partner with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality teams during new product introduction (NPI) activities and production ramps.

Revenue Recognition & Technical Accounting

• Develop scalable revenue accounting policies and ASC 606 compliance processes.
• Evaluate and document accounting conclusions for complex commercial arrangements, including customer incentives, rebates, distributor programs, MFN provisions, pricing protections, and other strategic customer agreements.
• Partner with Sales and Legal to assess accounting implications of customer contracts before execution.
• Support technical accounting research and preparation of audit-ready documentation.

Systems & Process Improvement

• Lead SAP process design and workflow optimization to support operational scale and automation.
• Partner with implementation consultants and business stakeholders to design efficient inventory, manufacturing, procure-to-pay, and revenue accounting processes.

Financial Reporting & Leadership

• Lead monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes and ensure timely and accurate financial reporting.
• Develop and maintain accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
• Manage external audits and support future readiness for public-company reporting and SOX compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive accounting experience.
• Experience leading accounting functions within high-growth technology, hardware, manufacturing, or semiconductor companies.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP and ASC 606. Demonstrated experience with month-end close, audits, process improvements, and ERP systems.

• Semiconductor, electronics, networking hardware, or fabless manufacturing experience. Experience with inventory accounting, standard costing, and manufacturing variance analysis.