Description

ORGANIZATION

Foundation Academies is Trenton, New Jersey’s most prominent and highest-ranking K-12 free public charter school. Foundation’s mission is to ensure that all of our students secure the academic knowledge and skills to prepare them for the nation’s finest colleges and instill the core values of caring, respect, responsibility, and honesty. Serving more than 1,000 of the city’s K-12 population across four schools on two campuses, Foundation admits students by lottery, irrespective of gender, race, household income, or academic ability.

Foundation’s team of experienced and mission-driven urban educators values growth mindsets, lifelong learners, and individuals who believe every child deserves an excellent education. They hold themselves, their students, and the city of Trenton to high standards because that’s what their families deserve.

For more information on Foundation Academies, please visit https://foundationacademies.org/.

OPPORTUNITY

Foundation Academies seeks a Chief Operating and Financial Officer who is ready to lead, plan, oversee, and coordinate the organization's entire operational and financial functions toward the achievement of established policies, goals, and operating objectives.

The ideal candidate for the Chief Operating and Financial Officer will be:

A visionary leader who:
- understands the history of Foundation Academies and what it represents in the Trenton community;
- thinks in terms of systems and process improvement and is deeply committed to continuing Foundation Academies along its path to becoming a more racially equitable charter school model;
- has an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality education and support services to Foundation Academies’ scholars;
- deeply believes in culturally affirming and responsive educational practices that prioritize student and family promise and potential;
- can articulate a vision towards a more racial equity charter model that can be clearly communicated to help generate buy-in from all key stakeholders.
A strategic and innovative systems builder who:
- develops and mobilizes others within the school community to imagine, plan, and execute new ways of knowing, being, and supporting black and brown families thriving at school;
- can build new systems from scratch, willing to operate from the unknown as we expand;
- demonstrates the courage to take risks, make decisions, and accept responsibility aligned to the community’s vision for Foundation Academies;
- responsibly owns and uses their power to dismantle oppressive school systems, and inspires action to cultivate humanizing spaces for students and families;
- can create clearly defined systems with goals and levels of expectation to hold staff accountable for coaching and management.

A community and relationship-driven leader who:
- enjoys working and being around children, embracing our mission, and making it their own;
- can learn and understand the existing team dynamic, including the impacts of COVID on the team and community, then help bring us back to a positive, collaborative environment;
- Motivates and inspires their reports to get the most out of their team;
- has a deep level of curiosity and humility that demonstrates their willingness to understand and learn about the community they are serving;
- instills confidence, helps boost team morale, helps improve internal culture, and builds relationships with the students and families.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer include:

Operate as a senior leader to drive the intersection between organizational vision and functional leadership:
- Create and articulate an inspiring vision for the organization, not only for the areas they are directly responsible for but the enterprise as a whole;
- Seek and analyze data from a variety of sources to support decisions and to align others with the organization's overall strategy;
- Exemplify Foundation Academies' core values and commitment to anti-racism in daily actions and engagement.
Set a vision aligned to the organization’s growth strategy and business model:
- Set a multi-year financial strategy anchored in Foundation’s strategic plan that meets the organization’s impact and reaches targets;
- Facilitate and evaluate our multi-year resource investment plan through consistent review of internal and external signals to determine opportunities for acceleration and blindspots;
- Engage Foundation’s Board finance committee in the review and shaping of our multi-year and annual budget. Work closely with the finance committee chair to ensure oversight on our multi-year assumptions about revenue and expenses;
- Look ahead to prepare for the possibility of significant changes or other disruptive events—and then identify ways to mitigate these disruptions if they occur.
Steward the translation of Foundation’s multi-year strategy to an annual operational and financial plan:
- Lead the development and execution of an annual plan that weaves together financial and operational requirements for the organization;
- Identify operational roadblocks in advance and adjusts accordingly to achieve objectives on time successfully;
- Provide strategic thought partnership to the CEO as their strategic plan translates into action;
- Drive operational efficiency and scalability through systems and process enhancements and operational infrastructure;
- Effectively align systems and structures across teams and functions to maximize impact.
Provide leadership in the development of continuous evaluation aligned to Foundation’s short and long-term strategic organizational objectives:
- Oversee financial strategy, leading the Finance team in the development of financial models, budgets, and analyses; leverage data to drive key operational decisions;
- Ensures timely and accurate analysis of systems, processes, budgets, financial trends, and forecasts;
- Strategically supports the development of budgets for new business growth and strategy;
- Provides executive management with recommendations on the operational and financial implications of business operations and activities

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS

To fulfill these responsibilities, the ideal Chief Operating and Financial Officer candidate will be:

Commitment to Foundation’s service, mission, and equity journey;
A high-level, strategic thinker who focuses on ROI and operational efficiencies and brings senior-level, multI-functional leadership experience;
A nonprofit, District-level, or private sector leader with deep experience and expertise in senior financial leadership;
A seasoned operations leader and change manager who has led through growth with the vision and leadership skills needed to guide other leaders;
Experience as a senior-level executive; 10+ years in a progressively responsible financial and operational leadership role, preferably in the education sector;
A leader who is comfortable at the intersection of Finance and Operations and preferably brings additional experience in Accounting, IT, and Talent;
A strong facilitator with experience reporting to Boards;
BS in Accounting or Finance, MBA, MFA, or CPA preferred.

Benefits

Foundation Academies offers a salary range of $155,000 to $175,000 for this role, as well as comprehensive benefits to best support our people. Benefits we offer include two days a week working from home, a laptop (provided), a paid cell phone plan, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefit plans, a tax-deferred 403b retirement account with 25% matching up to a certain amount, independent, conflict-free, financial wellness advising through Spring Financial, generous vacation time and sick leave, and optional short or long-term disability benefits through Aflac.

For additional questions about this position or to speak with someone about your interest, please contact Zachary Harr at zharr@edgilityconsulting.com.

Foundation Academies is committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization. We are an equal-opportunity employer and encourage individuals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds and gender identities to apply to our positions.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

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Foundation Academies, Chief Operating and Financial Officer