Fast Facts

EL Education is seeking a Senior Director of Accounting to lead their accounting function, ensuring operational excellence and strong financial controls during a transitional period.

Responsibilities: The role involves overseeing accounting operations, managing financial reporting, and leading ERP and HRIS implementations while ensuring compliance and accountability.

Skills: Candidates should have expertise in financial ERP and HRIS systems, accounting operations, and financial reporting, as well as strong project management skills.

Qualifications: Preferred qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance and demonstrated experience in overseeing accounting functions and implementing financial systems.

Location: This position is based in the USA and is remote-friendly.

Compensation: $109000 - $150000 / Annually

Senior Director, Accounting

ORGANIZATION

EL Education is a national nonprofit that partners with educators to transform K-12 schools and districts into hubs of equitable opportunity. Guided by a multi-dimensional vision of student achievement, we support all students to cultivate their unique genius and contribute to a better world. EL Education offers research-proven resources and practices, including the acclaimed EL Education K-8 Language Arts curriculum, Core Practices, and aligned professional learning. EL Education was founded in 1991 and currently serves 450,000 students in diverse communities across the country. Learn more at ELEducation.org.

OPPORTUNITY

As the Senior Director, Accounting, you will provide critical senior-level leadership to the organization's accounting function. You will be responsible for providing stability and operational excellence during a period of leadership transition, leading vital enterprise systems implementations, and ensuring comprehensive management of core accounting, financial reporting, and compliance functions. This role requires an individual who can expertly manage daily accounting functions while driving major organizational initiatives and ensuring the organization maintains strong financial controls and prepares for future growth and technological adoption.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Accounting Operations Oversight (30%)

• Partner with Finance Team on Operations: Partner with the Finance team to ensure that all financial and accounting functions are completed in a timely and accurate manner.
• Oversee critical operations including month-end close, cash management, accounts receivable/payable, and bank reconciliation.
• Ensure effective management of Payroll operations/benefits administration and the organization's line of credit.
• Coordinate Accounts Payable Management: Coordinate with the Chief Financial Officer to oversee the Accounts Payable function, ensuring adherence to process, controls, and cadence as it pertains to vendor payment review, authentication, and payment.
• Coordinate Payroll Management: Coordinate with the Chief Financial Officer to oversee the payroll function, ensuring the efficacy of payroll adjustments, reconciliation, and bi-weekly submission. Manage multi-state payroll governance and compliance.
• Document Processes and Refresh Control Procedures: Document pre-existing processes and procedures. Provide an assessment of processes and current control procedures, and recommend revisions to bolster the current compliance infrastructure and prepare for the new system implementation and adoption of AI solutions.

Financial Reporting Oversight (20%)

• Lead Internal and External Reporting: Provide leadership and oversight to internal and external financial reporting.
• External Reporting: Oversee the preparation of the Income statement, Balance Sheet, Cash flow statement, and 990 tax returns.
• Internal Reporting: Manage the production of Departmental budgets and the aggregate EL budget.
• Banking and Investing Oversight: Direct all aspects of banking and investing, which will include financing and cash management plus managing relationships with banking partners.

Systems Implementation, Leadership and Support (30%)

• Lead and Project Manage the NetSuite (Finance ERP) Implementation: Serve as the key liaison across all stakeholders, guiding the implementation and ensuring timely delivery on milestones. Serve as a thought leader for best practices regarding implementation, roll-out, and organization-wide adoption.
• Provide Auxiliary Support for Rippling (HRIS) Implementation: Support the HRIS implementation as a key determinant of the payroll configuration and launch across the organization.
• Support Data Management and Testing: Provide overflow support for system setup, data loading, reconciliation, and unit integration testing.
• Support Organization-Wide Readiness and Adoption: Prepare documentation and artifacts necessary for organization-wide training and payroll support in Rippling.

Systems Management (20%)

• Fiscal Policy and Compliance: Maintain and enforce fiscal policies and procedures that meet the highest standards of accountability.
• Public Oversight: Ensure that all obligations to public oversight organizations at local, state and federal level are met and exceeded.
• Audit Management: Oversee internal and external audits and ensure there are no significant negative findings of any kind.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with internal colleagues on cross-functional projects.
• Other Duties: Other responsibilities to be assigned as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

Traits & Competencies

• Visionary: A strong vision for excellence in financial compliance, reporting, and systems architecture.
• Goals Focused: Demonstrated success in setting and meeting ambitious project and operational goals, especially related to systems implementation and month-end close cadences.
• Project Management: Able to get things done efficiently and well; skilled at establishing processes that move internal stakeholders forward to goals; able to manage multiple projects at once. Exceptional ability to lead major ERP/HRIS implementations.
• Influencing Skills: Builds strong relationships and motivates and influences others across levels and identities, from direct reports to C-suite leaders and external banking partners.

Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated experience successfully leading and managing major financial ERP (e.g., NetSuite) and HRIS/Payroll (e.g., Rippling) systems and their implementations.
• Proven expertise in overseeing the full cycle of accounting operations, including month-end close, payroll, AP/AR, and cash management.
• Strong ability to prepare and present financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) and tax returns (990).
• Expertise in managing multi-state payroll governance and compliance.
• Strong ability to assess, document, and revise financial processes and internal control procedures, and manage internal and external audits.
• Experience with and understanding of organizational financial cycles, data loading, reconciliation, and integration testing, especially in a non-profit, multi-state context.
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field preferred.