Associate, Strategic Finance & Corporate Development

About the role

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way.

We are looking for an Associate to join as an early member of our Strategic Finance & Corporate Development team. In this role, you will act as a force multiplier for the finance organization, bringing analytical rigor and strategic clarity to our most critical workstreams. This is a high-visibility opportunity for an impactful contributor to have a front-row seat to the growth of a frontier tech leader and help architect our long-term financial foundations.

• You will...
• Provide End-to-End Modeling Support: Build and maintain the sophisticated financial models that underpin our strategic and commercial initiatives-ensuring every decision is grounded in rigorous data.
• Manage the Long-Range Financial Plan: Support the evolution of our LRP, integrating technical R&D milestones with commercial growth objectives to maintain a clear roadmap for the company’s future.
• Build Strategic Business Cases: Develop the analytical frameworks for new growth initiatives and partnerships, ensuring we allocate capital toward the highest-impact opportunities.
• Support Corporate Development: Partner on deal modeling, structuring, and due diligence for strategic partnerships, serving as a key contributor throughout the deal lifecycle.
• Evaluate Capital Strategy: Help explore CapEx financing solutions and support treasury strategies to optimize our cash management.
• Craft the Strategic Investor Narrative: Collaborate on the development of board-ready materials and high-fidelity communications that distill our technical and commercial progress into a clear narrative that reinforces our market-leading position.
• Drive Investor Engagement: Support the investor relations strategy and calendar, managing investor universe mapping and quarterly reporting.
• Establish Foundational FP&A: Build the core frameworks for a scaling organization, including leadership reporting, budget vs. actuals analysis, and cross-functional financial discipline.
• Synthesize Market Intelligence: Monitor the Physical AI and autonomy landscape, translating competitor moves and macro trends into actionable insights for the leadership team.
• Support Special Projects: Partner on high-impact initiatives that fall at the intersection of finance, strategy, and operations.

Qualifications

• Professional Experience: 3-5 years of experience in Investment Banking, Private Equity, Growth Equity, or a Strategic Finance role at a high-growth technology company.
• Analytical Rigor: Advanced financial modeling skills with a focus on accuracy and scalability. You take pride in the quality of your work and can translate complex data into reliable decision-making tools.
• Agency & Execution: A self-starter who thrives in ambiguity. You are highly organized, capable of managing multiple workstreams, and proactive in moving projects to completion with minimal oversight.
• Executive Communication: The ability to distill vast amounts of data into clear, concise, and polished insights for executive audiences.
• Collaborative: A "roll-up-your-sleeves" mentality with a focus on the speed and quality of team decisions. You are comfortable in a fast-paced environment and happy to pitch in wherever you can make the biggest impact.
• Aptitude for Frontier Tech: A genuine interest in Physical AI and autonomy. You are eager to understand the "how" of the technology to better model its impact and adoption at scale.
• Systems Mindset: A natural inclination to build frameworks from scratch and a desire to make financial processes more efficient as the organization grows.