School Network Staff Director of Finance
Job Description
About the Great Oaks Foundation
The Great Oaks (GO) Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of launching and supporting a network of charter schools that prepare students for college success through high-dosage tutoring. By design, GO’s schools contribute to the vitality of the urban neighborhoods where they are located by attracting and creating social, human and investment capital. What sets Great Oaks schools apart from other charter schools is a high-dosage tutoring model, which is delivered through the Great Oaks Tutor Corps, a selective cadre of recent college graduates who deliver at least two hours of individualized instruction to every student every day. The Great Oaks Foundation has successfully replicated this program in Newark, NJ, Bridgeport, CT, New York, NY and Wilmington, DE.
To learn more about Great Oaks https://greatoakscharter.org/
Position Overview:
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer of Great Oaks Foundation, the Director of Finance plays a critical role in organization, managing all bookkeeping duties at Great Oaks Foundation, and several of our schools located in different states. The Director of Finance will be a member of the Foundation’s Executive Committee, a group that includes the Foundation’s President, which meets weekly to discuss the strategic and operating issues facing the organization. The Director of Finance will process all accounting transactions, review and analyze all accounting information and act as a liaison to the schools. The Director of Finance will also be responsible for supervising the Finance Associate. Specific responsibilities include:
- Providing strategic and financial leadership and clear communications to the Great Oaks Executive Committee and Great Oaks Charter Schools in the areas of treasury, budgeting, audit, tax, accounting, short-term and long-term forecasting, and strategic financial modeling.
- Significantly improving existing forecasting, reporting and analytic capabilities and systems to support decision- making, improve performance, and drive growth.
- Maintaining and enhancing tools to oversee the effective management of resources, including how to best manage fixed versus variable costs.
- Managing the completion of the organization’s annual audit, sales and state audits, and annual Form 990 submission.
- Recording and tracking income and expenses related to all contracts, grants and philanthropy.
- Ensuring proper documentation, implementation tracking and reporting of government-funded grant programs.
- Overseeing disbursement activities, ensuring the accurate and timely processing of accounts payable, petty cash, employee expense reports, cash control, payroll processing, and total corporate payroll tax compliance.
- Ensuring that payroll and benefit expenses and liabilities are accurately transferred from payroll software into the general ledger (and audit payroll administration systems).
- Maintain general ledger and journals to support financial activities and transactions.
- Closing the monthly books and maintain accurate records of all transactions.
- Ensuring adherence with Great Oaks fiscal policies.
- Ensuring each entity’s compliance with Federal, State(s), and local laws, rules and regulations in the areas of tax, audit, grant management and other required financial filings and registrations.
- Ensure that all aspects of financial operations are managed with the highest possible ethical standards and in compliance with all internal policies and external regulatory and statutory requirements .
- Working closely with the Boards of Trustees for all locations with real-time snapshots of the financial health of the school including monthly reporting.
- Regular train travel to (Bridgeport, Wilmington and Newark) and leverage travel time for productive work.
Skills and Experience:
As a prerequisite, the successful candidate must believe in the core values of Great Oaks and be driven by its mission. The candidate should demonstrate a passion for breaking new ground to lead social change. The successful candidate will most likely have had prior work experience with a public or non-profit organization. As noted, GO is an organization driven by the values of its people, so experience in a “values-driven” organization will be highly prized. Additional requirements are:
- Bachelor’s Degree required; CPA strongly recommended.
- 5+ years of experience in financial management for organizations in the $2-10MM annual budget range; experience in charter schools, CMOs, or start-ups preferred.
- Strong analytical and problem solving skills with the ability to turn data into insights and anticipate questions and problems; strong understanding of statistics and data analysis preferred.
- Experience with GAAP, GAAS, non-profit/public school financial accounting, and grants management required.
- Hands on expertise in Microsoft Office, specifically Excel, QuickBooks Online, and payroll software. Ability to communicate data analysis visually is a plus.
- Ability to guide colleagues, senior management, and Board members around financial management function.
- Strategic, analytical approach combined with strong interpersonal skills, maturity, professionalism, and integrity. Results and outcome-oriented individuals especially welcome.
- Ability to manage the ambiguity and multiple priorities inherent in an entrepreneurial environment.
- Flexibility, humility, grace under pressure, ability to make strong rational decisions and a sense of humor.
Compensation:
This is an outstanding opportunity for a highly motivated professional to assume a pivotal role in the evolution of a fast- growing organization. We are seeking an individual of outstanding quality with a respected track record. The Great Oaks Foundation is prepared to offer an attractive compensation package, including a competitive base salary as well as health and vacation benefits.
