Director, Technical Accounting – Investments

About Anthropic Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems. About the role We are seeking a Director, Technical Accounting – Investments and M&A to join our Finance team at Anthropic. In this role, you will own the company's accounting for strategic investments, partnerships with investment components, and related capital transactions, and support mergers and acquisitions when deal volume requires. You will report to the Senior Director, Technical Accounting – M&A and Investments. As Anthropic continues to scale rapidly and deploy capital into strategic investments, joint ventures, and novel commercial structures, including compute arrangements that carry warrants and other investment features, you will be a key technical resource on classification, consolidation outcomes, fair value, and financial statement impact across the portfolio. You will partner closely with Corporate Development, Legal, Tax, Treasury, FP&A, and leadership to ensure that investment economics are accurately reflected under US GAAP and that positions are defensible to external auditors, valuation specialists, and future regulators. This is a builder role: you'll help stand up and continuously sharpen the portfolio accounting process, controls, and valuation governance expected of a world class finance organization, working alongside the Senior Director as the function takes shape. If you want to own a portfolio end to end — and still be in the room when deals are shaped — we want to hear from you. Responsibilities • Execute technical accounting for strategic investments, joint ventures, partnership structures, and related financing/equity instruments from entry through exit • Partner with and influence Corporate Development to steer investment structures toward preferred terms and outcomes, reviewing term sheets and deal documents before signing • Own entry accounting for each new investment — classification under ASC 321, 323, or 810, VIE/primary-beneficiary analysis, basis differences, and the initial measurement memo • Run the quarterly portfolio review — reconsideration events, impairment indicators, observable price changes, and equity method pick-ups — and account for follow-on investments, conversions, down rounds, and exits • Own the investment rollforward, its reconciliation to the general ledger, and the portfolio reporting that supports close, FP&A, and leadership, including review of portfolio company financial statements • Manage third-party valuation specialists; review fair values of investments, warrants, and derivative features, including Level 3 inputs and impairment analyses • Assess warrants, equity rights, and other investment components embedded in partnerships and compute arrangements, partnering with Accounting Policy on how consideration is allocated • Support M&A transactions alongside the M&A lead when deal volume requires — accounting due diligence, purchase accounting (consideration measurement, PPA review, opening balance sheet), and measurement-period adjustments • Author and defend technical accounting policies & memoranda; partner closely with external auditors on investment, consolidation, and M&A matters • Help build the investments operating model — intake form and approval gates, memo templates, quarterly checklists, and SOX-ready controls — designed to scale as the portfolio grows including utilizing Claude, ERP systems and third party applications (as applicable) • Prepare and review investment and transaction disclosures for quarterly and annual filings, including fair value, equity method, and VIE disclosures • Present investment accounting conclusions and financial statement impacts to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders in clear, decision-ready terms • Monitor standard-setting and SEC developments affecting investments, consolidation, and business combinations; support adoption and cross-functional education Minimum qualifications • Bring significant Big 4 experience — ideally in a National Office, Transaction/Deal Advisory, or Capital Markets/Accounting Advisory group — paired with in-house experience at a technology company and public accounting or advisory experience • Proven experience leading complex valuations (e.g., business combinations, equity and debt investments, warrants and other Level 3 instruments), including directing and challenging the work of third-party valuation specialists • Have owned the accounting for a portfolio of minority/strategic investments, including quarterly impairment and fair value monitoring and at least one investment of meaningful scale or complexity • Possess deep command of US GAAP for investments in equity securities, equity method, consolidation and VIEs, fair value measurement, and business combinations, with a track record of positions that withstand auditor and regulator scrutiny • Are fluent in valuation concepts and can direct and challenge third-party specialists on private company fair value, warrant/option pricing, impairment, and PPA models • Have operated within an investments-accounting or deal-accounting function, contributing to playbook and controls design • Communicate effectively with Corporate Development, Legal, and Tax on structuring trade-offs, translating technical conclusions for cross-functional and senior stakeholders • Demonstrate exceptional written and verbal communication, translating complex investment and deal accounting into clear business implications • Excel at hands-on technical execution in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, shifting between portfolio work and live deals as priorities change • Are proficient with accounting systems (Workday preferred), consolidation tools, and advan