Chief Financial Officer/Chief Business Officer – Central Office

Description
Independence Mission Schools (IMS) is a non-profit network of 15 independent Catholic schools providing a transformative education to children of all faiths in low-income neighborhoods across the city of Philadelphia.

The vision of the IMS network is that:
All IMS Scholars will be-

• Morally formed by our Catholic Education and example
• Academically prepared by our high-quality instruction and ready to be well prepared for high school.

As one of the vital members supporting the IMS mission, the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Business Officer (CFO/CBO) will be responsible for the financial, strategic and operational aspects of the IMS network of schools. Reporting to the President and CEO, as the CFO/CBO the candidate will manage finance and accounting, short- and long-term strategic planning, operations including facilities management, legal & risk management and technology. The CFO/CBO will define school-based operational excellence for IMS and will manage others to ensure the schools achieve such excellence. The CFO/CBO manages a team of operations and finance professionals, and works closely with board, regional, and school leaders to ensure IMS’s successful impact, sustainability, and growth.

The CFO/CBO reports to the President/CEO and is a key member of the Executive Leadership Team of the organization.

Key Functions

1. Finance & Accounting

• Ensure IMS achieves annual and multi-year financial sustainability goals and budget results.
• Oversee Finance staff to manage financial operations of IMS's schools and the central office in the areas of accounting, reporting, banking, budgeting, procurement, compliance, and financial planning.
• Ensure staff and board have accurate, timely financial information to make resource decisions in the best interest of IMS and its students and families.
• Oversee staff and systems for purchasing, procurement, and inventory management, including vendor management and securing administrative supplies, instructional materials, furniture, and equipment.

2. Strategic Planning

• Work with the President and Board leaders to develop, manage, and organize planning around IMS’s multi-year, detailed financial model, including position-specific annual staffing plans, detailed analysis of each revenue source and critical expense driver, “pro forma” income statements with line item budgets for each school, and overall pro forma financials for individual schools and for IMS in the aggregate.

3. Operations & Facilities Real Estate

• Define operations excellence for IMS and develop dashboards to manage central office and school-based operations staff members to results.
• Oversee school operations staff to deliver excellent operations services and supports.
• Oversee management of IMS’s real estate portfolio, ensuring facility solutions and plans are in place integrating mission, finance, development, and facility perspectives

4. Legal & Risk Management

• Lead network-wide management of legal affairs, insurance, and other risk management strategies.

5. Technology

• Oversee staff and strategies for planning, implementation, and support of all technology required for IMS to achieve its educational and business goals.

Qualification Requirements

• The successful candidate will believe in the IMS Mission and have significant operational and financial accounting experience.
• Possessed of deep capability to effectively build, develop and maintain strong relationships with internal and external constituents including school leaders, staff, teachers, parents, students, board members, and community stakeholders
• Thorough understanding of finance and systems; broad experience with the full range of business functions and systems, including strategic development and planning, budgeting, business analysis, finance and information systems.
• Proven track record of exceeding goals and a bottom-line orientation; evidence of the ability to consistently make good decisions through a combination of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment.
• High level of business acumen including successful P&L management; the ability to balance the delivery of programs against the realities of a budget; and problem solving, project management, and creative resourcefulness.
• Ability to think strategically, anticipate future consequences and trends, and incorporate them into organizational plans and financial models.
• Exceptional capacity for managing and leading people; a team builder who has experience in scaling up organizations; capacity to enforce accountability, develop and empower talent and learn the strengths and weaknesses of the team to put people in a position to succeed.
• Enjoys working hard and looks for challenges; able to act and react as necessary, even if limited information is available; not afraid to take charge of a situation; can overcome resistance to leadership and take unpopular stands when necessary.
• Ability to self-direct and prioritize among competing goals, exhibit flexibility and good judgment, and drive results in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Desire to work in an urban setting, with an entrepreneurial instinct and keen understanding good business practices.
• 7+ years of work experience

Location
Central office location at St. Malachy’s school

Work Schedule
Full Time, 12-month position.

FLSA

Exempt