Director of Finance and Administration Job in Berkshire County

Salary:  $70/hr - $80/hr  (Part-time, 20-25 hours/week

Schedule:  3 days a week

Position Description:

Our client is a nonprofit conservation organization in western Massachusetts that cares for the ancestral homelands of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, who were forcibly displaced from the region by European colonization. As a land trust, our client, protects wildlife and habitat, preserves local farms, and provides free access to the Berkshire outdoors for everybody, at over 55 nature reserves across the region.  While currently envisioned as a 3 day/week job, there is potential to make it a full-time position in time.

Responsibilities:

This is a new position, taking the place of a one-day-week CFO.  As such, the new DFA will have the opportunity to work with the President and Finance Committee to further develop and refine the job’s duties and responsibilities.

Reporting to the President, the Director of Finance and Administration will have overall responsibility for Company’s fiscal and HR functions to ensure that company is operating in a fiscally responsible way, using raised funds according to donor intent, adhering to all relevant laws and policies, and stewarding its resources to accomplish its mission.

As a member of the senior management team, the director will be involved in strategic planning, evaluation, and professional development initiatives, as well as planning for Company’s future headquarters.

Financial Management: 

• Assume responsibility for and oversee company’s financial functions.
• Manage the preparation and finalization of monthly, quarterly and annual financial reporting statements in accordance with GAAP.
• Prepare financial reporting materials and metrics for company’s President, senior staff and Board of Directors.
• Oversee budgeting, financial forecasting, and cash flow for administration and programs.
• Oversee grant accounting to ensure foundation and government grants and restricted donations are spent in accordance with donor requirements.
• Meet with Department managers monthly to review their actual financial statements vs. Budget.
• Ensure strong internal controls and compliance.
• Manage one part-time bookkeeper; hire and retain support staff as needed in the future.
• Coordinate all tax filings and audit activities.

Investment Management and Oversight: 

Company holds approximately $14 million in board designated, endowed, restricted and unrestricted funds. The DFA will:

• Serve as the liaison to company’s investment committee and financial managers.
• Develop systems and processes to support the Foundation’s implementation of Board-approved investment policies. 
• Implement investment-related decisions made by the Investment Committee.
• Monitor investment activities to ensure assets are safeguarded. 
• Prepare quarterly cash availability reports and a summary of investment activities for presentation to the Investment Committee and Board of Directors.

Human Resources Management: 

Company offers a full slate of benefits including health insurance, 401(k), family leave and other benefits, and strives to have comprehensive, fair, and equitable human resource policies. The DFA will:

• Set staff salary structure and annual merit pool in conjunction with the President. 
• Work with the senior team to ensure that performance reviews are conducted in a fair, consistent and timely way.

Other Duties: 

• Collaborate with senior staff to oversee contractors including preparing RFPs, negotiating contracts, ensuring accurate billing and fulfillment of project deliverables.
• Conduct and annual review of business insurance policies and recommend changes to coverage when necessary. 
• Serve as a public representative on behalf of the organization to support the President and other senior staff to advance Company’s mission and goals. 
• Coordinate with BNRC’s technology staff to manage and improve our IT plan to meet organizational needs (hardware, software, training, support) as the organization grows.
• Oversee the management of the Company's physical infrastructure, physical plant, and system maintenance (phone system, security, cleaning, supplies, etc.) with support from other staff.
• Perform additional duties as requested by the President, Treasurer and Chairs of the Audit, Finance, and Investment Committees.

Qualifications

The Director of Finance and Administration will have at least five to eight years of professional experience, including managing the finance and administration of a high-growth organization (preference given to nonprofit experience). He/she/they will have experience creating and driving the analytic framework for planning and managing organizational change in a highly entrepreneurial organization.

The DFA will have most of the following experience and attributes:

• Bachelor’s degree (MBA preferred) in Business, Management, or Finance; special preference for Sustainable MBA. CPAs also welcome to apply.
• Experience with the accounting requirements related to land conservation. 
• Excellent people skills, with experience collaborating in a multidisciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team.
• Demonstrated experience in financial management and accounting, ideally in the nonprofit sector.
• Expert-level proficiency in QuickBooks.
• Experience should include legal, audit, compliance, budget, and resource development.
• Demonstrated resourcefulness in setting priorities, proposing new ways of creating efficiencies, and guiding investment in people and systems.
• Proven effectiveness leading professionals in finance and accounting.
• Technologically savvy, with an ability to point to examples of having worked with IT staff to develop and implement new processes and systems that increased efficiency in a fast-moving environment.
• Flexible and a self-starter; able to multitask while also being highly detail-oriented.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and a commitment to Company’s mission