Startup Equity-Administration Recovery Leader

The mandate

Options, restricted instruments, advisor grants and promised offers were recorded across board minutes, spreadsheets, cap-table software, employment letters and payroll. Exercises and departures have not always updated tax and share records, and the option pool used in financing models differs from grant availability. A diligence request exposed uncertain ownership and the people-operations leader’s departure before the next financing.

The nine-month assignment begins within ten days and covers authority and pool reconciliation, grant population, approvals, vesting, performance terms, exercises, withholding, leavers, cancellations, secondary transactions, cap-table interface, employee support and control evidence. It must restore trusted administration without acting as corporate secretary, securities counsel, tax adviser, valuation provider or compensation committee.

Permanent recruitment starts in month four. Handover requires an authorised grant register, reconciled pool and cap-table bridge, resolved leaver backlog, exercise and withholding controls, two grant cycles and a financing scenario. The successor must resolve an unseen departure plus accelerated vesting and explain ownership, tax, payroll and disclosure consequences during a six-week overlap.

The role may pause unsupported grant communication or exercise processing, require approval evidence, set administration controls, correct delegated people-system records, redirect the authorised INR 120 million remediation budget and replace temporary equity-operations staff. The board retains pool and award approval, valuation, financing, acceleration, securities filings, tax position, executive compensation, secondary sales and permanent appointments.

Legal interpretation, tax advice, valuation, cap-table legal ownership, board minutes, securities filing, payroll remittance and financing negotiation remain outside scope. The leader may coordinate their evidence but cannot promise a particular share value or personal tax outcome. The optional equity component requires separate board approval and cannot influence correction of the historical register.

Why this seat is open

Legal holds corporate approvals, Finance models dilution, Payroll handles withholding and People Operations communicates awards; the departed leader manually connected them. Financing diligence revealed the bridge was incomplete. Temporary authority is required to rebuild employee-facing administration and transfer it before investors and employees rely on another grant cycle.

What you will own

• Reconcile authorised pools, board approvals, grants, vesting, exercises, cancellations, leavers, transfers and cap-table records.
• Establish evidence and workflow for offer promise, grant date, acceptance, performance condition, modification and acceleration.
• Connect equity administration to payroll, withholding, tax reporting, accounting inputs, securities filings and employee communication.
• Resolve duplicate, missing, expired, over-issued and incorrectly vested awards through authorised specialist decisions.
• Lead scenarios for termination, exercise window, tender, down round, acquisition and accelerated vesting.
• Maintain least-privilege access, approval segregation, correction history, participant inquiry and board-reporting controls.
• Transfer two grant cycles, the reconciled register and unseen departure-and-acceleration case to the permanent leader.

Candidate qualifications

• Held senior equity-operations, stock-administration or rewards authority in a venture-backed multinational technology company.
• Reconciled board approvals, cap-table records, grants, vesting, exercises, leavers, payroll and tax-provider files.
• Recovered historical award populations before financing, audit or acquisition diligence under severe deadlines.
• Managed India and cross-border employee equity events while preserving legal, tax, valuation and board boundaries.
• Communicated uncertain corrections to executives and employees without promising value, ownership or personal tax outcomes.
• Completed succession through live grant cycles and an unfamiliar departure, acceleration and financing event.

Non-negotiables

• Can start in Bengaluru within ten days and remain through financing diligence and two grant cycles.
• Will disclose interests involving founders, employees, investors, law firms, tax advisers, valuers and cap-table vendors.
• Brings transaction-tested startup equity administration across countries; general C&B or payroll experience is insufficient.
• Will not approve grants, interpret law or tax, value shares, alter board records or let personal equity affect corrections.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe an equity register you recovered before financing or acquisition diligence.
2. 49 words maximum. How would you handle a promised grant that lacks valid board approval?
3. 49 words maximum. What departure-and-acceleration case must the permanent leader resolve before handover?