How to Apply: Qualified applicants should submit their resume and cover letter to employment@detroitopera.org
Position Summary
Detroit Opera is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to lead the re-development of the company’s vital finance function as it implements new entrepreneurial initiatives to grow, expand, and diversify its revenue portfolio and provide for capital renewal of a 160,000-square foot historic Opera House. The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for ensuring the financial well-being of Detroit Opera, including short- and long-term financial and capital planning, accounting, forecasting, budgeting, financial reporting, treasury, and endowment management. The CFO will ensure the highest standards of financial management and guide how the company manages earned and contributed revenue, expenses and cash flow in an inherently dynamic performing arts environment.
Key Responsibilities:
Organizational Leadership & Strategy
- Partner with the senior management team and Board to develop and manage a 10-year financial plan, including the launch of a business initiative designed to significantly increase earned revenue.
- With the CEO, formulate the long- and short-term financial strategies for Detroit Opera and establish annual financial goals for the company, in collaboration with members of the senior management team and the Board Finance Committee.
- Provide financial guidance and strategic direction for all dimensions of the business that impact revenue and expense. Monitor ongoing financial performance against objectives; identify problems and initiate appropriate corrective action.
- Establish and ensure timely, accurate, and transparent financial reports to management and the Board of Directors.
- Develop and maintain cash and credit management programs working closely with the Finance Committee of the Board.
- Evaluate and advise on debt financing and debt obligations.
- Oversee retirement plans.
- Oversee the organization’s risk management, including general liability and related insurance coverage, and risk mitigation.
- Oversee contract management and administration.
- Evaluate and advise on the fiscal impact of strategic plans, introduction of new programs/strategies, and regulatory action.
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with senior team to identify their needs, coordinate planning, and seek the full range of potential revenue generating business solutions.
- Provide senior management with advice on the financial implications of real estate and other business activities.
- Work closely with investment advisors to provide advice on management of Detroit Opera’s investment portfolio and takes all Board approved actions regarding the portfolio.
Financial Management
- Direct and oversee the finance and accounting functions of the organization including cash management, budget preparations, financial reporting, cash forecasting, banking, payroll, and audit functions.
- Provide timely and accurate analysis of budgets, financial trends, and forecasts.
- Analyze cash flow, expenses, and financial statements to pinpoint potential areas for improvement/risk mitigation.
- Hold responsibility for financial records and ensure adherence to proper accounting principles, standards and governmental reporting requirements. Ensure that effective internal controls are maintained.
- Coordinate and lead the external audit preparation process to ensure the auditors can complete the audit in a timely and efficient manner, serve as the primary liaison for external auditors
- Develop and maintain a competent, productive, and efficient departmental staff.
- Maintain effective financial and accounting policies and procedures and implement a periodic review process for policies and procedures to ensure they reflect the latest changes in business operations, organizational structure, technology upgrades, and the evolving regulatory landscape.
- Direct the preparation of all financial reports including income statements, balance sheets, cash projections, financial analyses and other reports.
- Analyze operations to identify areas in need of reorganization.
- Perform additional duties as required.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting, or Finance.
- At least eight to ten years of progressively responsible experience in financial management, with at least 5 years in a nonprofit organization, performing arts experience a plus.
- Demonstrated management and supervisory skills.
- Demonstrated analytical and organizational skills.
- Proficient in database and accounting computer application systems.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate financial information to non-financial stakeholders
- Experience in strategic and operational planning and execution.
- Knowledge of contracting, negotiating, and change management.
- Knowledge of federal and state financial regulations.
- Ability to understand diverse perspectives and acknowledge the significance of differences and complexities in backgrounds, cultures, values and viewpoints as the foundation for an inclusive environment.
Desired Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Business Administration.
- Certified Public Accountant designation.
Physical Demands/Work Environment:
- The person in this position remains in a stationary position for long periods of time.
- The person in this position occasionally moves throughout the building to access files.
- The person in this position occasionally moves materials weighing up to 15 pounds.
Application Deadline
Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended. Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.
About Detroit Opera:
Founded in 1971, Detroit Opera (DO) is the premier multi-disciplined producer and presenter for opera, musical theatre, and dance in the Great Lakes Region. Based in the city of Detroit, the organization engages artists of national and international stature for stellar main stage and outreach performances and provides compelling cultural enrichment programs for the diverse audiences and communities that it serves, making it one of Detroit’s pillars of arts and culture. DO is among a select few opera companies nationwide to own its theatre, the historic 2,700-seat Detroit Opera House, which is located in the heart of downtown Detroit.
On January 2, 2024, Patty Isacson Sabee became President & CEO of Detroit Opera. She is only the third person to lead Detroit Opera since its founding as Michigan Opera Theatre in 1971 by the late David DiChiera. Isacson Sabee has most recently served as the inaugural Executive Director and founding staff member of Planet Word, an immersive language experience in Washington, D.C. that opened in October 2020 and celebrates the fun, beauty, and power of words, language, and reading. At Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), founded in 2000 as the Experience Music Project, she served as Deputy Director of External Relations and Development before being named CEO and Director. She oversaw MoPOP’s national programming and $213 million in assets and was responsible for bringing in more than 600,000 annual visitors.
DO is seen as the most innovative opera company in America. DO garnered great critical and popular acclaim during the pandemic for its socially-distanced, drive-thru production of Twilight : Gods, an adaptation of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. Brainchild of Artistic Director Yuval Sharon, Twilight : Gods was performed across multiple levels in DO’s own parking structure, and provided performance opportunities for local cast and orchestra members, in addition to international opera stars. Lauded for past projects such as his reverse chronological staging of Puccini’s La Bohème, Sharon in July premiered a high-tech reimagining of a Wagner opera. Described by The New York Times as “opera’s disrupter in residence,” director Yuval Sharon has been creating an unconventional body of work that seeks to expand the operatic form.
In 2022, Sharon was recognized by Time Magazine as one of 100 rising stars from across industries and around the world in its 2022 TIME100 Next list. Recipients of this honor are united by their extraordinary efforts to shape our world—and to define our future. The magazine noted, “To see the most innovative opera company in America, visit Motor City,” adding, “Yuval Sharon has long used unconventional settings in unexpected ways, but now, as the artistic director of the Detroit Opera, he is breaking new ground.”
Additional Information
Detroit Opera is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and encourages all employees to fully incorporate their diverse backgrounds, skills, and life experiences into their work and towards the fulfillment of the DO mission.
The salary range for this position is $150,000 to $165,000 annually. Detroit Opera offers a comprehensive package of benefits.
For more information, please visit https://detroitopera.org
