Finance Chief Financial Officer
Job Description
Chalkbeat, the nonprofit news organization covering the effort to improve schools for the almost 30 million children in America who live near or below the poverty line, is seeking a seasoned Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead Chalkbeat’s financial strategy and operations, helping take Chalkbeat to the next level of scale, impact and sustainability. The position reports to Chalkbeat’s Chief Executive Officer.
Chalkbeat has tripled the size of its operating budget in the past five years, is embarking on an ambitious strategic plan and seeks to increase the capacity of its finance team in its next chapter. The CFO should be a strategic, tactical and visionary finance leader with the ability to “deep dive” into the details of the organization while staying focused on the overall financial health of the organization.
Position Overview:
As a member of Chalkbeat’s leadership team, The CFO will provide financial and strategic support to the CEO, leadership team, and Board of Directors in order to support Chalkbeat’s financial management and long-term goals. Responsibilities include the following:
Responsibilities Include the Following:
- Lead a talented Finance team including Director of Finance and finance department, including general ledger accounting, A/P, A/R, cash management, payroll, grants management and overall financial reporting.
- Provide thought partnership to the Board of Directors, leadership team, and staff on compliance, risk and organizational effectiveness matters; mitigation of organizational risk and organizational decision implications
- Collaborate with the CEO and leadership team on strategic planning and change management associated with new structures, systems and processes.
- Lead annual budget preparation at the organizational level, monitoring budget variances and linking results back to strategic priorities established by the leadership team.
- Provide guidance and leadership regarding short and long-term projections, including in-depth financial modeling and scenario analyses.
- Provide oversight of the organization’s legal and contractual agreements,financial and administrative operations.
- Oversee the audit process, in collaboration with the Director of Finance and external auditors, and ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements.
- Develop and execute a strategy to build and maintain a reserve, and design an investment strategy, in collaboration with the leadership team, the Board, and Chalkbeat’s financial partners.
- Present financial reporting and analysis for a variety of audiences, including leadership, board of directors, and other Chalkbeat leaders.
- Collaborate with the Chief Revenue Officer on the development and implementation of integrated financial and revenue systems, leveraging technology for great efficiency and effectiveness.
- Collaborate with Chief People Officer on general office administration across bureaus and office locations; corporate and space planning for a highly distributed workforce
What background and skills do you have?
- Strong understanding of nonprofit accounting
- Minimum of 10+ years in financial leadership roles
- A track record process improvement bringing greater efficiency and effectiveness to an evolving organization
- Experience leading financial scenario planning, forecasting, and financial decision making
- Experience planning and executing a reserve and investment strategy
- Ability to present financial information clearly to a non-finance audience
- CPA or Masters degree in finance, accounting or comparable graduate degree
- Strong leadership skills with commitment to growing and supporting diverse teams
- Passion for Chalkbeat’s mission and values
- Experience working with a leadership team and reporting to a Board of Directors, and ability to serve as a thought partner
- Integrity, dependability and sound judgement
This is a full-time position with benefits. Chalkbeat offers a competitive salary, commensurate with experience, and a generous benefits package, including a retirement plan and a paid recess between Christmas and New Year’s in addition to vacation time.
About Chalkbeat:
Chalkbeat is the nonprofit news organization committed to covering one of America’s most important stories: the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education. We are mission-driven journalists who believe that an independent local press is vital to ensuring that education improves. Currently in seven locations and growing, we seek to provide deep local coverage of education policy and practice that informs decisions and actions, leading to better schools. Read more about our mission and values.
Chalkbeat is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. Chalkbeat encourages people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations and marital statuses to apply.
