Finance Business Manager
Job Description
Our Mission & History
Mackintosh Academy was established as a nonprofit independent school in 1977 by Eve Mackintosh, an influential leader in gifted education in Colorado. The Academy now has two campuses, one in Littleton and our campus in Boulder that opened its doors in 2011. Mackintosh Academy – Boulder (Mack Boulder) has two divisions, Lower School (K-5), and Middle School (6-8), that serve 155 total students with 37 faculty and staff. Mack Boulder operates with a highly supportive, independent Board of Trustees.
Mackintosh Academy’s mission is to nurture the keen minds and compassionate hearts of the gifted child in a responsive and caring community of learners. Our students mature into confident, healthy human beings inspired to contribute to a world that needs them. In addition to being Colorado’s first independent school for gifted learners, it is Colorado’s only independent school that’s an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) school with both a Primary Years Programme (PYP) for K-5, and Middle Years Programme (MYP) for 6-8. As an authorized IB World School, Mackintosh Academy’s mission also aligns with the IB program’s mission, “to create a better world through education.”
Business Operations Specifics
While the story of Mackintosh Academy comes to life through our students and our staff, numbers fill in some important details about our operation:
- $3.8 million annual operating budget, 71% from tuition, 26% from donations, and 3% from other sources
- $650,000 provided annually in tuition assistance to students + $180,000 provided annually to cover tuition for Mack Scholars
- $580,000 achieved of cash reserve goal of $800,000
- Two clean audits achieved in past two fiscal years since establishing financial independence from Littleton (prior to that partnered in eight previous clean audits)
Additionally, we have developed strong supports for our highly talented and committed educators and staff members that set Mackintosh Academy apart:
- Faculty/staff wages place them among the highest paid independent schools educators in our local area.
- Faculty/staff have a 401K featuring a “double down match” benefit (i.e., 3% employee matched by 6% employer)
We now seek an experienced Business Manager to add to our leadership team.
Position Overview
The Business Manager is a critical member on the School’s Leadership Team. The Business Manager is responsible for supervising and/or leading these functions: Accounting, Finance, Treasury, Human Resources, Facilities, IT and Risk Management. In addition, the Business Manager attends Board meetings and serves on various finance, fundraising, and strategic planning board committees.
Opportunities for Impact
The incoming Business Manager will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on our operations and our ability to deliver on our core mission. Some of these opportunities include:
- Work and partner with an entrepreneurial, future thinking Head of School to further grow and strengthen Mack. Be part of a nimble, action-oriented leadership team that is curious, committed to excellence, and innovative.
- Establish Mack Boulder as a fully independent (new) 501c3. The school is currently an LLC under the umbrella of a parent company (Mackintosh Academy) that holds the 501c3 status. Both our Littleton and Boulder campuses have independent programming, finance, liability, and governance.
- A $6 million capital campaign (“Quantum”) has been established and drafted. While temporarily on hold during COVID19, we have been working for 3+ years on a campus expansion project (adding +9000 sq. ft. building) that also includes building endowed funding to support people and programming. The Business Manager will provide critical financial and administrative support to this campaign.
- Enhance financial reporting processes and tools to support decision-making and strategic use of resources.
- Participate in all aspects of school life, building relationships with staff, faculty, parents, students, and partners.
Mack Boulder has several broader plans for the next few years in which the Business Manager will play a significant role:
- Expand and brand our remote learning programming (Mack Without Walls) to serve more families.
- Create a “school within a school” to support gifted learners with dyslexia in school year 2021/22.
- Establish endowed, or cash-term donations to support professional development and tuition assistance/scholarship funding.
The Mack Boulder Culture
People who thrive at Mack Boulder find their values and personal attributes align with these key features of our culture:
- Mack Boulder has a family-like atmosphere comprised of experienced, creative, and supportive faculty and staff who work hard every day to serve our school community.
- Mack Boulder is a school for and about children. All our decisions have a child at the center, and we each value regular opportunities to be with and learn from the students at the school.
- We are infinitely patient and curious. Students, teachers, staff members, board members, parents regularly ask, “Why” and expect others to do the same. Education is all about asking questions and understanding the world in new ways, and we practice that thinking every day in all our efforts.
- Having a keen sense of humor and an openness to interacting regularly with people who are interesting, quirky, compelling, and service-minded are essential to success at Mack Boulder.
- We take a lot of pride in our work, we demand excellence from ourselves and each other, we exhibit consistently strong ethics, and we are committed to our efforts to educate children who can make the world a better place.
- We are not a school for people who like traditional or stagnant practices. As an IB World School, we work under a vigorous pedagogical framework that requires constant rationale for everything we do programmatically. We design and implement curriculum that will benefit our learners by preparing them for their future – not ours.
- Employees keep their learning spaces and office doors open. When you work at Mack, we encourage you to build on peers’ ideas and share your successes and failures with others We are committed to supporting the growth of our entire team though mentoring, peer observations, and teaching each other.
What Does It Take
Qualified candidates for the Business Manager position will exhibit these leadership skills and characteristics:
- Demonstrates clear commitment to the mission of Mackintosh Academy and its approach to education.
- Shows independence, enthusiasm, high self-esteem and a sense of humor.
- Demonstrates honesty, reliability, and strong integrity – takes pride in quality work consistently.
- Demonstrates strong attention to detail with a proven ability to keep focused on big picture and long-term goals.
- Is a strategic, pragmatic and creative thinker.
- Demonstrates empathy and compassion.
- Employs an open and collaborative management style.
- Models perseverance.
- Demonstrates exceptional time management skills.
Additionally, candidates will have professional experience in these areas:
- 5+ years of experience in a CFO, Controller, or Assistant CFO/Controller/ Business Manager role (Director of Finance and Operations).
- Strong background in finance, budgeting, investing, and cash management.
- Proven skills in effective presentation of financial data to support executive decision-making.
- Experience in managing payroll, employee benefit plans, and effective HR strategies.
- Experience with non-profits or independent schools, a plus.
- Some knowledge of effective fundraising processes and supporting administration preferred.
- Experience and skill with advanced technology including: modern data management systems, Office suite, accounting (QuickBooks), visual representation of financial data, and fundraising software, etc.
- Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in business, accounting or finance and administration with a strong grasp of accounting. CPA, a plus.
- MBA or related advanced degree preferred.
Compensation
In accordance with independent school guidelines and local market conditions, the salary range for this position is $95,000-$110,000 depending on skills and experience. Full time employees of Mackintosh Academy also have access to a comprehensive benefits package that includes healthcare, dental, vision, retirement, and ample paid time off.
