Director of Finance

Equitable Hiring Group•Pittsburgh, PA

9d•$140,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance (PLSA) is seeking a Director of Finance to serve as their financial lead during a phase of rapid growth. This role involves building and running the systems that support operations and emerging venture capital initiatives. While structured as a 501(c)(3), PLSA operates with the speed of an early-stage startup. The Director of Finance will report directly to the CEO, manage the financial tech stack, handle grant accounting, design investment tracking workflows, and ensure smooth internal operations. This is an opportunity to lead a function end-to-end, build efficient processes from scratch, and do meaningful work for the region. The role offers a hybrid office schedule.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive financial management experience leading core accounting, budgeting, and financial strategy in dynamic or evolving organizations.
Proven multi-funder grant accounting experience, managing restricted budgets across state/federal grants, philanthropic foundations, and/or corporate funding.
Hands-on experience using class, division, or customer/project fields to cleanly manage expense allocations by program and funder.
Familiarity with federal grant compliance mechanisms, including Single Audits under Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200).
Understanding of capital deployment and venture accounting, including the GAAP treatment of early-stage equity investments, SAFE notes, and convertible instruments.
Fluency with modern cloud-based finance tech stacks (e.g., QuickBooks Online, Ramp) and a passion for automating and streamlining manual workflows.
Exceptional communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate complex financial data, forecasts, and accounting nuances for non-financial stakeholders.
An Enabler, Not a Gatekeeper: You see finance as a tool to empower others, not a gatekeeping function. You proactively partner with non-financial team members to help them manage their budgets, demystify complex reporting, and share financial insights openly so the whole organization can move faster together.
Solutions-Oriented: You bring a startup mindset with a bias for action. Where others see dead ends, you look for sensible workarounds, try fresh approaches, and focus on getting things done.
Strategic & Intentional: You recognize that time and resources are finite. You prioritize thoughtfully, focusing your effort on the work that drives the greatest value for the organization.
A Nimble & Adaptable Teammate: You thrive amid ambiguity and rapid change. You can seamlessly shift between big-picture strategic thinking and granular daily execution, stepping outside your job description whenever the team needs a hand.
Connected to the Region: You currently live in the Pittsburgh region or have strong established connections to the community, with an appreciation for what makes our local innovation ecosystem unique.

Responsibilities

Drive Annual Planning & Budgeting: Lead the organization's annual budgeting process in close partnership with the CEO, developing dynamic budgets at the organizational, program, and funder levels that align with strategic priorities.
Proactive Forecasting & Decision Support: Develop rolling monthly and quarterly financial forecasts; analyze variances, surface strategic insights, and deliver executive-level reporting to leadership and Board.
Oversight of External Accounting Partners: Partner with and guide external bookkeeping and accounting service provider to ensure smooth, accurate day-to-day operations, including A/P, A/R, payroll, month-end close, and reconciliations.
System & Process: Continually evaluate and enhance financial systems, workflow automation, and internal controls to support PLSA’s growth and evolving operational complexity.
End-to-End Grant Ownership: Take accountability for understanding and ensuring all funder terms, serving as the primary authority on allowable spending, compliance, and reporting across state, federal, foundation, and corporate grants.
Proposal Financial Strategy: Lead the financial design and narrative development for grant applications across state, federal, private foundation, and corporate donors.
Fund Tracking & Compliance: Monitor grant spending and allowable costs to keep programs on budget and fully compliant with funder terms.
Funder Reporting: Produce timely, accurate financial reports for grantors in compliance with donor requirements.
Audit-Ready Documentation: Maintain structured, accessible financial records for all grant agreements to ensure seamless compliance and reporting at all times.
Investment Operations: Establish the financial workflows needed to move, track, and account for investment capital as PLSA explores possible venture initiatives.
Regulatory & Accounting Compliance: Ensure all investment activity, equity instruments, and capital flows strictly adhere to GAAP, nonprofit accounting standards, and relevant tax/regulatory frameworks.
Deal & Legal Alignment: Partner with leadership, legal counsel, and investment advisors to review financial terms, evaluate deal structures, and track post-investment requirements.
Audit Leadership & Execution: Serve as PLSA’s primary liaison for external audits - including federal Single Audits under Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200) - managing audit preparation, documentation gathering, and the resolution of any audit findings.
Risk Mitigation & Control Environment: Maintain a proactive, year-round internal control environment and updated fiscal policies to safeguard organizational assets and maintain an impeccable audit posture.
Management of Operations: Provide oversight over PLSA internal systems (IT, Facilities, etc.), including supervision of operations staff and contractors.