Position Overview:
The Role
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer serves as a key member of
HCZ's Executive Team and provides strategic leadership across the organization's finance function.
The CFO oversees approximately 20 finance professionals across four primary functional areas:
- Accounting, financial reporting, audit, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and real estate accounting
- Financial Planning & Analysis, budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and donor reporting
- Treasury, banking, investment administration, liquidity management, and regranting operations
- Procurement, sourcing, purchasing, and corporate card administration
The CFO works closely with the CEO, Executive Team, Board of Trustees, Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees, while partnering extensively with leaders across Development, Operations, Strategy, Human Resources, National Impact, Education, and Legal. A key aspect of the role is partnering with HCZ's education leadership to support the financial strategy, budgeting, and long term sustainability of the organization's Promise Academy schools.
This is a highly visible leadership role requiring equal strength in financial stewardship, organizational leadership, relationship building, and strategic execution.
Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is seeking an accomplished, strategic, and collaborative finance executive to serve as its next Chief Financial Officer.
For more than three decades, Harlem Children's Zone has been recognized as one of the nation's most innovative nonprofit organizations, transforming outcomes for children, families, and communities through a comprehensive cradle-to-career model. Under the leadership of CEO Kwame Owusu-Kesse, HCZ is entering an exciting new chapter, one that builds upon a strong organizational foundation while expanding its influence through new initiatives focused on economic mobility, wealth building, and national impact.
The next Chief Financial Officer will inherit a finance organization that has undergone significant
modernization over the past several years. New leadership has been installed across key finance
functions, enterprise systems have been upgraded, budgeting and procurement processes have been redesigned, and finance has evolved into a trusted strategic partner across the organization.
The opportunity now shifts from building the foundation to scaling it.
The CFO will serve as one of HCZ's most trusted executive leaders, helping guide a complex
organization that encompasses three legal entities, an annual expense budget exceeding $200M, HCZ's Promise Academy charter schools, a significant real estate portfolio, and an expanding national platform. The CFO will play a critical role in ensuring the financial strength and long-term
sustainability of the organization's educational programs by partnering closely with school
leadership on budgeting, resource allocation, financial planning, and strategic decision-making.
More than a financial steward, the CFO will be a visible organizational leader who partners across
the executive team to ensure HCZ has the financial strategy, operational infrastructure, and
decision-making capabilities necessary to advance its ambitious mission.
Key Responsibilities:
Executive Leadership
- Serve as a trusted strategic advisor and thought partner to the Chief Executive Officer on organizational strategy, financial planning, risk management, and long-term growth.
- Contribute as an enterprise leader, embracing HCZ's "Executive Team First" philosophy by supporting organizational priorities beyond the finance function.
- Help translate strategic vision into sustainable financial and operational execution.
- Foster collaboration across the Executive Team to support enterprise-wide decision making.
Financial Stewardship
- Lead all aspects of HCZ's finance function across multiple legal entities.
- Ensure the integrity of financial reporting, internal controls, compliance, treasury operations, procurement, budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning.
- Continue strengthening monthly reporting, financial analytics, and executive dashboards that support informed decision-making.
- Lead annual financial audits, Form 990 preparation, and relationships with external auditors.
- Oversee liquidity planning and cash management while partnering with investment leadership regarding endowment distributions and capital deployment.
- Ensure effective enterprise-wide procurement policies and financial governance.
Strategic Finance
- Lead HCZ's annual budgeting and long-range financial planning processes.
- Partner closely with executive and education leadership to align financial resources with organizational priorities, including HCZ's schools, cradle-to-career programs, and strategic growth initiatives.
- Support strategic initiatives, including wealth-building, economic mobility, national expansion, digital transformation, and future organizational growth.
- Develop financial models supporting new initiatives and investment decisions.
- Continue strengthening financial literacy across departments through partnership, education, and transparent reporting.
Organizational Partnership
- Partner with the Chief Development Officer to align fundraising strategy, grant reporting, and financial storytelling.
- Partner with the Chief Operating Officer on facilities, capital investments, and real estate strategy.
- Partner closely with Education leadership and school administrators to support the financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, and long-term financial sustainability of HCZ's Promise Academy schools, ensuring resources are aligned with student outcomes and organizational priorities.
- Collaborate with Strategy, National Impact, Human Resources, Legal, and Operations to ensure finance serves as a proactive organizational partner.
Board Engagement
- Serve as the primary finance liaison to the Board of Trustees and its Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees.
- Develop clear, insightful, and decision-oriented financial materials for trustees.
- Build trusted relationships with an exceptionally sophisticated Board comprised of accomplished financial and business leaders.
People Leadership
- Continue building upon the strong culture established within the Finance organization.
- Coach and develop an experienced leadership team while creating clear succession plans for critical positions.
- Foster collaboration, accountability, continuous improvement, and cross-functional partnership throughout the department and organization.
The Leader:
Qualified candidates will bring:
- Fifteen or more years of progressive finance leadership experience within large, complex organizations.
- Demonstrated success overseeing accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, procurement, internal controls, compliance, audit, and financial reporting.
- Experience supporting organizations with multiple business units, legal entities, or complex operating structures.
- A track record of partnering with executive leadership and governing boards on strategic planning and organizational growth.
- Experience leading organizational transformation, systems implementation, and process improvement initiatives.
- Outstanding people leadership with demonstrated success developing high-performing teams.
- Experience presenting regularly to sophisticated Boards of Directors, Finance Committees, Audit Committees, and Investment Committees.
- Strong business judgment with the ability to balance stewardship, innovation, and organizational growth.
- Experience with modern financial technology platforms, including ERP, procurement, and expense management systems. Familiarity with Sage Intacct, Coupa, and Ramp is preferred.
- Experience within nonprofit, education, healthcare, government, or similarly complex mission-driven environments is valued but not required. Candidates from corporate environments who bring relevant scale, complexity, and collaborative leadership experience are encouraged to apply.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related discipline is required.
- CPA designation is strongly preferred. An MBA, MPA, or other relevant graduate degree is advantageous.
Closing Perspective:
Harlem Children's Zone seeks more than an accomplished financial executive. The organization seeks a trusted advisor to the CEO, a respected partner to an exceptional Executive Team, a credible presence with one of the nonprofit sector's most sophisticated Boards, and a leader who understands that financial excellence and mission impact are inseparable. For an executive who combines strategic financial leadership with humility, curiosity, and a passion for transforming lives, this represents one of the premier Chief Financial Officer opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
Location:
New York City
Compensation:
The salary range for this position will be $375,000 to $400,000 and will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. HCZ offers a competitive benefits package.
