Reports to: President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
About United Way of New York City
Founded in 1938, United Way of New York City (UWNYC) is a nonprofit mobilizing people and organizations to eradicate barriers and create opportunities that empower and improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers. Part of the United Way Worldwide network, one of the world's most recognized charitable brands, we envision caring communities in which all individuals and families have access to quality education and the opportunity to lead healthy and financially secure lives. We strive to model our values in all our relationships, both internal and external: Collaboration, Compassion, Integrity, Accountability, and Superior Performance. Today, our organization is still creating solutions for our City's toughest challenges, but in a more innovative, efficient, and effective way. Over the past eighty plus years, we've grown from being more than just a fundraising entity, to becoming a leader in collaboration, capacity building, and systems change. While funding is critical to fuel our mission, we measure success not in the dollars we raise, but in the lives we impact.
Position Overview
Reporting to the President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) plays a critical role in developing and implementing the multi-year financial strategy for UWNYC. The CFO is a sounding board and strategic partner for the CEO and the Board of Directors. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), the CFO is an advisor on a broad range of financial issues to all department leads, evaluating and assisting them with their financial plans and modeling. They will be responsible for overseeing all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities for the organization, including evaluating the financial viability of new initiatives and programs in conjunction with the ELT and Board of Directors, particularly the Finance and Investment and Audit Committees.
This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced leader with broad finance experience gathering and evaluating financial information and making actionable recommendations to senior leadership.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Strategy & Planning:
- Oversee long-term financial planning and management in alignment with UWNYC's strategic plan, especially as UWNYC considers changes in program and revenue models, sponsorships, collaborations with external organizations, and potential commercial co-ventures
- As a business partner to the CEO and ELT, assess organizational performance against financial plans (both the annual budget and UWNYC's long-term needs and goals) and provide financial expertise for efforts to remediate identified deficiencies or shortfalls
- Develop, implement, and continuously improve systems and processes to provide essential financial and operational information to the CEO and ELT
- Manage the Board Finance & Investment and Audit Committees; advise the Board regarding issues, trends, and changes operations and/or UWNYC's delivery against financial plans
Financial and Operational Management:
- Oversee all accounting functions, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, bank reconciliations, monthly/annual closing schedules. Ensure compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, regulatory requirements, and NYC Office of Management and Budget audit requirements as well as any New York City or State-specific regulations and practices
- Direct the annual budget preparation cycle. Coordinate the timing of deliverables between finance and programmatic departments
- Monitor and revise (as needed) the UWNYC’s cost allocation methodology, ensuring optimal matching of revenues and expenses in a complex public-private matrix
- Actively manage the utilization of NYC government contract revenue, ensuring optimal coverage of expenses, budget composition, and fiscal compliance
- Track the performance of UWNYC's endowment and restricted funds in keeping with applicable legal requirements, as well as the policies and investment guidelines established by the Finance and Investment committee
- Assist the Community Impact program leaders with planning and decision making around grant funding, government and contractual relationships, RFPs and new initiatives, performance measurement, and technical support to community benefit organizations
- Evaluate the efficacy of in-use enterprise resource planning software (ERP); project-manage the change to a new platform, as determined
- Forecast cash flow; ensure liquidity and project long-term operating needs
- Formulate, recommend, and implement sound fiscal policies, procedures and controls, including internal control compliance
- Support the Resource Development department through data analysis, financial metrics and benchmarking
- Facilitate annual financial audit and tax filings, draft financial statements and serve as liaison to external auditors
- Serve as the lead for key external financial relationships – banking, investments, insurance
- Partner with the Chief Operating Officer to review employee fringe benefits programs (health, life insurance, retirement)
Team Management:
- Supervise a team of seasoned accountants, budget analysts and functional managers
- Train, develop, and mentor finance staff; ensure quality control and capacity growth
- Provide financial guidance and leadership for larger, cross-departmental teams
Candidate Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance; CPA and/or MBA preferred
- 15+ years of experience overseeing finance (accounting, budgeting, analysis, internal control, and reporting) within a complex, multi-division organization (non-profit strongly preferred)
- Experience serving as a business partner to the CEO and board; ability to operationalize a strategic vision
- Proficiency in grants management, including government funding: budgeting, multi-program allocations, indirect cost rates, and financial reporting. Familiarity with fiscal systems and processes of the City of New York, in particular the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, a big plus
- Expertise in cash flow management (strategic planning, analysis, forecasting)
- Broad knowledge of payroll concepts, regulations, systems, processes and terminology
- Active and recent use of various accounting software platforms (Microsoft Great Plains strongly preferred)
- History of successful partnering with I.T., Human Capital, and administrative operations departments in the management of critical enterprise systems – finance, payroll, fundraising
- Hands-on, collaborative leadership style featuring integrity, strong communication skills, service orientation, and attention to detail
- Excellent stakeholder (internal and external) and people management skills – adept at addressing subordinates, senior staff, executive-level peers, and an active board
- Demonstrated passion for UWNYC's mission and core values, strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
- Ability to balance organizational needs with the needs of communities served by UWNYC
Additional Requirements:
- Background check
- UWNYC is presently on a Hybrid/In-Person work schedule
United Way of NYC Core Competencies for All Staff
- Mission Focused: Catalyze others’ commitment to the mission to create real social change that leads to better lives and healthier communities. This drives their performance and professional motivations
- Relationship-Oriented: Understands that people come before processes and is astute in cultivating and managing relationships toward a common goal
- Collaborator: Understands the roles and contributions of all sectors of the community and can mobilize resources (financial and human) through meaningful engagement
- Results Driven: Dedicated to shared and measurable goals for the common good: creating, resourcing, scaling, and leveraging strategies and innovations for broad investment and impact
- Brand Steward: Steward of the brand and understands his/her role in growing and protecting the reputation and results of the greater network
United Way of New York City is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer
