What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Finance position at Recess?
Location: Remote
Reports To: Chief Financial Officer
Compensation: $150,000 - $165,000 15% bonus
About Recess
Recess is a leading beverage company built around the idea of helping people feel calm, balanced, and inspired. Our mission is to bring functional, better-for-you beverages to the mainstream through products that are as enjoyable as they are effective. With a portfolio that includes sparkling waters infused with magnesium and adaptogens, mocktails crafted for social occasions, and other wellness-driven beverages, Recess is redefining what it means to drink something good for both body and mind.
Founded with creativity and culture at its core, Recess has quickly grown into one of the most recognizable functional beverage brands in the U.S. We're expanding rapidly into national retail (target, plus 5,000 new doors for mood and craft mocktail lines) and our distribution footprint is growing through our partnerships.
We're a small, scrappy team punching well above our weight, and we're looking for a finance leader to help us scale the business with the same intention we put into the product. Our drinks are designed for modern consumers who want healthier options without compromising on taste, quality, or experience. At Recess, we’re not just building beverages — we’re creating a lifestyle brand that connects with people through innovation, design, and authenticity.
The Role
The director of finance will be the financial backbone of recess — owning FP&A, modeling, distributor economics, and the numbers behind every strategic decision we make. You'll report directly to leadership and partner closely with sales, ops, and supply chain. this is not a "close the books" role (we have great support for that). This is a build-the-models, find-the-margin, sit-at-the-table role.
if you love getting your hands dirty in a spreadsheet, can dissect a depletion report at a distributor level, and want to help scale a beverage brand from emerging to category-defining — read on.
What You'll Do
- Own the company's financial model end-to-end: revenue, gross margin, opex, cash, and scenario planning across product lines and channels
- Build bottoms-up models for every distributor relationship — depletions, velocities, pricing, programming spend, trade promotion, chargebacks, and contribution margin by sku, by account, by region
- Partner with sales leadership to evaluate new distributor agreements, chain authorizations, and retailer programs before we commit dollars
- Run the annual budget and quarterly reforecasts; turn the model into a decision-making tool, not a static deck
- Lead board reporting, investor updates, and lender/cash management in partnership with the ceo and CFO
- Build the muscle for unit economics: cogs walks, landed cost analysis, freight and logistics modeling, co-packer negotiations
- Support fundraising, M&A, and strategic finance projects as the business scales
What You'll Bring
- 7 years of progressive finance experience, with meaningful time in cpg — beverage strongly preferred (rtd, functional, better-for-you, or alcohol all relevant)
- You've lived inside a distributor p&l and can speak fluently about depletions, plds, fobs, srp, slotting, mcb, scan, and the rest of the alphabet soup
- Elite financial modeling chops — the kind of person who builds a model from a blank sheet and can stress-test someone else's by lunch
- Comfortable being the most senior finance person in the room and translating numbers into strategy for non-finance partners
- Equally happy in the weeds (auditing a co-packer invoice) and at altitude (a 3-year strategic plan)
- Bias toward action, low ego, allergic to bureaucracy
- Bonus: experience with three-tier distribution, dsd, and/or natural channel; prior work with a VC-backed brand
- Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related; MBA/CPA nice but not required
Why Recess?
Wellness Benefits
- Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Mental health and wellness resources.
- 401K
Lifestyle Perks
- 15 days of PTO annually, plus company holidays and volunteer time off.
- Discounts on all Recess beverages.
- A culture that values creativity, inclusivity, and balance.
Family Support
- Paid parental leave.