Charter School Finance Manager (CFO/Director of Finance)

Overview

School Finance Manager

This role provides outsourced finance leadership for a portfolio of 5–8 schools, advising school leadership and boards on financial and operational policy, strategic decisions, and long-term financial planning. The School Finance Manager partners with internal finance specialists and the broader finance team to analyze historical financial data, build forward-looking forecasts, support compliance reporting, and deliver strategic recommendations aligned with each school’s mission and goals.

This is a remote position. Part-time arrangements are possible for exceptional candidates.

Reports to the Director or Senior School Finance Manager.

Responsibilities

• Serve as an outsourced CFO for a portfolio of 5–8 schools, advising leaders and Boards on:
  • Financial and operational policies
  • Strategic decisions
  • Long-term financial planning
• Build and maintain strong relationships with assigned schools through proactive support aimed at client satisfaction and retention
• Gather inputs from the school and internal team to produce forward-looking financial forecasts, including generating reports from accounting software and translating accounting schedules
• Act as a liaison between the school and internal accounting team to support compliance reporting for authorizers, SEAs, and other agencies
• Develop annual operating and grant budgets and lead finance strategy development aligned with school goals
• Attend or prepare school leaders to present finance strategy at finance committee or board meetings, building board-level relationships and trust
• Identify internal control issues and propose improvements using best practices
• Participate in client listening to proactively identify and solve financial challenges, directly or through collaboration with other internal teams
• Collaborate regularly with School Finance Specialists assigned to the schools to ensure high-quality customer service
• Maintain positive working relationships with internal teammates through regular check-ins, open communication, and teamwork
• Serve as a conduit between the school and the internal team by sharing relevant information and communicating what the team needs to complete deliverables
• Provide timely, appropriate feedback to Finance Team Managers on the performance of specialists
• Foster and maintain positive relationships with Finance Team Managers in support of client work
• Collaborate with Finance Team Managers to problem-solve internal issues and client concerns
• Conduct check-ins via regular and ad hoc meetings, with consistent and timely use of Slack as appropriate and email as needed
• Contribute to internal research, development, and innovation related to the finance product
• Manage school work in line with internal standards and policies
• Ensure client deliverables meet defined quality expectations
• Manage client requests for out-of-scope and customized work, with attention to contract profitability and efficiency
• Consult with Senior School Finance Managers or Directors as necessary for complex situations, policy clarification, or other expert-level advice

Key Outcomes

By Year 1:

• Solve small, real problems for schools on a daily basis
• Advise school leaders on nuanced, long-term strategic financial decisions (e.g., facilities projects, staffing models, school expansion)
• Build close, trusting partnerships with C-Level school leadership
• Present important financial information to a school’s Board of Directors
• Strengthen expertise in strategic school finance, including multi-year budget development and internal process refinement
• Work with 5–8 schools in different stages of growth and across different academic models

By Year 3:

• Contribute to the development and refinement of the organization’s standard finance product and best practices
• Lead project-based or market development work beyond the school portfolio
• Continue solving real problems for schools every day

Requirements

• Experience excelling in a School Finance Management role (e.g., led the finance function for a school or led part of the finance function in a larger school organization)
• Experience as part of a School Leadership Team or working closely with a School Leadership Team
• Comfort with accounting; a CPA or extensive expertise is not required, but experience navigating accounting software and reading/analyzing financial reports is required
• Intermediate Excel knowledge, including formulas such as VLOOKUPs and SUMIFS
• Strong quantitative analysis, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent client communication and interpersonal skills; ability to present and explain information (verbally and in writing) to stakeholders with varying financial literacy
• Comfort interacting with, advising, and challenging C-Level leaders in schools
• Strong organization and time management skills
• General comfort with technology systems (e.g., Google Suite)
• Openness and proactive mindset toward leveraging new technology, including AI tools, to improve the quality and efficiency of work (candidates are encouraged to share experience using AI to improve or speed up work)
• Typically, 10–15 years of work experience or post-secondary educational experience
• Experience leading audits

Preferred Qualifications

• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and willingness to learn and grow in these areas

Compensation & Benefits

• Purpose-driven work focused on student achievement through operational excellence
• Chance to work daily with colleagues committed to children and supportive of one another
• Benefits and additional perks are available (details provided during the hiring process)

Location

• Remote (location flexible)

Application Process

• App review
• First screen
• Performance task
• Final interview
• Reference check
• Offer