Perplexity
Technology
StrategicFinanceLead-Infrastructure
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Lead candidates.
“Strategic Finance Lead - Infrastructure at Perplexity. Skills: Infrastructure economics, Cloud financial management, Capacity planning. Build capacity forecasts. Maintain capacity models”
Industry & Context.
First-principles thinking
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
4+ years strategic finance, 2+ years investment banking, Financial modeling skills, Partnering with engineering teams
Nice to Have
Manage cloud infrastructure spend, AI/ML infrastructure economics, GPU pricing familiarity, Capital-intensive decisions experience, Advanced Excel skills
What You'll Do.
Build capacity forecasts
Maintain capacity models
Partner on capacity decisions
Translate roadmaps to requirements
Own infrastructure spend management
Drive optimization initiatives
Build cost-driver models
Support CSP negotiations
Maintain knowledge of CSP terms
Partner on contract operationalization
Own inference cost management
Forecast inference costs
Partner on scenario analysis
Support training-run budgeting
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner with engineering; Partner with infrastructure; Partner with product teams; Partner with Accounting; Partner with leadership
Communication Scope
Communicate financial concepts
Process & Methodology
Roadmap planning
Full Job Description
ABOUT THE ROLE Perplexity is seeking a Strategic Finance - Infrastructure Lead to provide financial leadership over our cloud service provider (CSP) spend, compute and model capacity planning, and broader infrastructure economics. This person will be a core partner to our engineering, infrastructure, and product teams, bringing financial rigor and judgment to the most consequential cost decisions the company makes. You’ll build the models that underpin our capacity investments, own the day-to-day CSP and model provider relationships, and help shape how we plan for infrastructure as the business scales. The role partners closely with Accounting and Engineering leadership to keep our compute and CSP strategy tightly aligned with the company’s financial trajectory. RESPONSIBILITIES: Capacity Planning & Infrastructure FP&A - Build and maintain multi-year capacity forecasts and scenario models across CPU, GPU, and accelerator footprints - Partner with Strategic Finance leadership on long-horizon capacity decisions, including reserved/committed structures and build-out sequencing - Lead ROI and trade-off analysis for new platforms, hardware generations, and efficiency initiatives - Translate engineering and product roadmaps into capacity requirements and the cost envelope to support them Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Financial Management - Own day-to-day management for all core infrastructure spend, including the monthly bill, variance analysis, and forecasting - Drive efficiency and optimization initiatives with engineering and infrastructure teams - Build cost-driver models that explain spend movements and surface the levers behind them - Support CSP rate and commit negotiations with rate analysis, benchmarking, and contract modeling - Maintain deep working knowledge of CSP contract terms, pricing structures, discount programs, and optimization opportunities - Partner with Accounting on contract operationalization, accrual accuracy, and compliance Inference Cost Allocati
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