PopVax is an Indian full-stack biotech building first-in-class and best-in-class vaccines and cancer immunotherapies using machine learning-driven protein design and relentless empiricism. We design, develop, and manufacture our own RNA medicines end-to-end because we believe great pharmaceutical science can only flourish in tight feedback loops that iterate rapidly. PopVax’s experimental work and clinical dose production is based at the RNA Foundry, our integrated R&D and GMP-capable clinical dose production facility in Hyderabad.
PopVax's north star is our goal of developing novel vaccines and therapeutics over the next decade with the cumulative ability to save 1 million lives each year – the Million Lives Mission. To that end, we are developing first-in-class vaccines against Hepatitis C, Strep A, and adult pulmonary TB; broadly-protective best-in-class vaccines against COVID-19, influenza, malaria, and HPV; and precision immunotherapies against hard-to-treat solid tumours such as liver cancer and pancreatic cancer. Beyond existing diseases, we are leveraging our high-speed platform to build rapid-response biosecurity capabilities against engineered de novo pathogens.
Our mission is funded by Vitalik Buterin’s Balvi Fund, the Gates Foundation, the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Renaissance Philanthropy, and Good Ventures, with individual investments from Enveda founder Viswa Colluru and Tesla self-driving AI pioneer Dhaval Shroff. Our first program, an open-source broadly-protective COVID-19 vaccine, will begin a Phase I clinical trial in Australia in mid-2026. This is just the start – we intend to advance 6+ novel vaccine and immunotherapy programs into human clinical trials over the next three years, decisively demonstrating that world-class biotech R&D is possible in India.
No matter the job title, each person’s role at PopVax is ultimately about helping bring safe, effective new medicines that represent a step-change over the current standard-of-care to the people who need them, as quickly as possible. If you are looking for a place where the ambition is high, the learning curve is steep, and the work matters to billions, you’ll feel at home here.
If you’re excited by the idea of advancing scientific, clinical, and regulatory frontiers of vaccines and immunotherapies, spending each day developing medicines with the potential to save millions of lives, and building a generational global pharmaceutical company in India along the way – join us!
Role Overview
At PopVax, we are a team of 100+ people, and we are moving very, very fast with our first program headed to clinic by Mid-2026 and we intend to put 5 more into clinic over the next few years. Here's the thing about moving very, very fast: it costs money. And the money comes from grants, prizes, and philanthropic funders — each with their own reporting requirements, milestone-linked disbursements, compliance terms, and expectations of financial rigour. Meanwhile, the company is simultaneously running R&D programs across multiple disease areas, operating a GMP manufacturing facility, procuring reagents and equipment from vendors around the world, hiring aggressively, and scaling infrastructure — all at the same time.
Right now, we do not have a dedicated finance leader. The CEO, VPs, and ops team have been holding this together with duct tape and determination with the help of external counsel and an outside CA, and to their credit, nothing has fallen apart. But "nothing has fallen apart" is not a financial strategy. We need someone who can build the financial infrastructure of this company from scratch — the systems, the controls, the reporting, the forecasts — and do it in a way that gives leadership real-time visibility into where every rupee is going, while keeping us compliant with every funder, every regulator, and every auditor who comes knocking.
That someone is our Head of Finance.
What You'll Actually Do
You will be the financial architect of a company that is attempting something genuinely ambitious. Not the person who signs off on expense reports (though yes, you'll do that too). The person who builds the entire system — from the chart of accounts to the board-ready financial model — that allows PopVax to operate at speed without losing financial control.
You'll be the person leadership turns to when they need to understand the true cost of a manufacturing run, the burn rate against a Gates Foundation milestone, the financial implications of launching a new clinical program, or whether we can afford to hire ten more scientists this quarter without running into a cash crunch in six months. You'll work closely with the CEO, VP of Operations, and department heads to ensure that every rupee is deployed with intention — and that we can prove it to anyone who asks.
Specifically, you will:
Own financial planning and analysis. Build and maintain the annual budget, rolling forecasts, and long-range financial model. Translate scientific and operational plans — which at PopVax change frequently, because the science moves fast — into financial projections that are honest, granular, and actually used by leadership to make decisions. Not projections that sit in a spreadsheet nobody opens.
Establish accounting and controls from the ground up. We need robust accounting practices, internal controls, and audit-readiness — and we need them built properly the first time. You'll manage relationships with external auditors and chartered accountants, and ensure that our books are clean enough to withstand any level of scrutiny.
Master grant and donor financial management. This is not a company with a single revenue stream and a simple P&L. Our funding comes from multiple grants and philanthropic sources, each with their own reporting cadences, compliance requirements, and milestone-linked disbursements. You'll oversee financial reporting to funders including the Gates Foundation, Renaissance Philanthropy, BARDA, and others. You'll ensure that every disbursement is tracked, every report is accurate, and every compliance requirement is met. You'll also assist in the preparation of financial components for new grant applications and funding proposals.
Manage cash and treasury. Cash flow forecasting in a grant-funded biotech is its own particular art form — money arrives in lumps tied to milestones, while expenses flow continuously. You'll ensure the company maintains adequate liquidity across all its programs, and you'll flag risks early enough that we can do something about them.
Keep procurement and vendor finance tight. You'll work with procurement and operations teams to ensure that purchase orders, vendor payments, and contract terms are financially sound and well-documented. When a scientist needs to order a reagent that costs more than a small car, you'll make sure the financial controls are in place without slowing things down to the point where the experiment is delayed by a week.
Own statutory and regulatory compliance. Indian tax law, GST, TDS, company filings, and any applicable international financial regulations — all of it. Full compliance, no surprises, no scrambles at filing time.
Build the finance systems. ERP setup, expense management, payroll, reporting dashboards — you'll build and maintain the financial infrastructure that gives leadership real-time visibility into the company's financial health. The goal is a system where Soham can ask "where are we on the Gates deliverable budget?" and get an answer in minutes, not days.
Who You Are
You've built financial systems from scratch before — not just inherited a functioning finance department and kept it running, but actually constructed the infrastructure in an environment where it didn't previously exist. You understand that building finance systems at a scaling organisation is fundamentally different from maintaining them at an established one. You know what it feels like when the company is growing faster than its financial plumbing, because you've lived through it and fixed it.
You're deeply comfortable with grant accounting, multi-funder environments, and the particular financial complexity of an organisation that is running R&D and manufacturing in parallel. You understand that a variance in the budget isn't just a number to explain away in a quarterly review — it's a signal that something is broken upstream, and you go find it.
You're as comfortable presenting to a board or a funder as you are reconciling a vendor invoice. Neither is beneath you, and you understand that in a company at this stage, the Head of Finance does both — sometimes in the same afternoon.
You think in systems. You care about getting things right. And you understand that in a company whose mission is to save a million lives, financial rigour isn't bureaucracy — it's what allows the science to move at the speed it needs to.
Qualifications
CA, CFA, MBA (Finance), or equivalent qualification.
6–10 years of relevant experience, including time in a high-growth startup, biotech, pharma, or research-driven organisation.
Demonstrated experience building financial systems, controls, and reporting infrastructure — not just operating within existing ones.
Deep familiarity with Indian statutory and tax compliance (GST, TDS, company filings, audit requirements).
Strong financial modelling, forecasting, and analytical skills.
Excellent communication skills — you can explain financial implications to non-financial leaders clearly and without condescension.
Preferred (but not required)
Prior experience with government or philanthropic grant management (BARDA, DBT, Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, or similar).
Familiarity with biotech or pharmaceutical cost structures — clinical trials, manufacturing runs, reagent procurement, animal studies.
Experience with ERP systems and building finance infrastructure in a scaling organisation.
Experience working in a multi-currency or internationally funded environment.
Reporting Structure
You'll report to the VP of Operations and work closely with the CEO, department heads, and external funders. This is the role that ensures PopVax can move at the speed it wants to without flying blind financially. If you want to build the financial backbone of a company that is doing something genuinely unprecedented in Indian biotech — and you're not afraid of the chaos that comes with it — we'd like to hear from you.