Finance Director

NEXT DOOR FOUNDATION INC•Milwaukee, WI

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

Next Door is seeking a strategic, collaborative, and solutions-focused Director of Finance to serve as its senior internal finance leader. This role is not a traditional back-office accounting position, as much of the transactional accounting and financial operations have been outsourced. The Director of Finance will ensure this model is effective by providing strong internal leadership, managing the vendor relationship, supervising the Lead Grant Accountant, and maintaining organizational ownership of financial quality, compliance, and decision-making. The Director will also act as a trusted advisor to the President, translating financial statements, grant requirements, forecasts, and risks into clear information and practical recommendations. The ideal candidate will understand that strong nonprofit finance is crucial for making thoughtful decisions that protect resources and advance the mission.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field.
At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit accounting, financial management, or grant finance.
Experience working with organizations that receive funding from multiple public and private sources.
Strong knowledge of federal grant requirements, Uniform Guidance, generally accepted accounting principles, nonprofit financial reporting, budgeting, internal controls, and audit preparation.
Experience supervising and developing accounting or finance staff.
Ability to manage and evaluate work performed by an outsourced accounting provider, consultant, or professional-services partner.
Demonstrated ability to analyze complex financial information and explain it clearly to executives, program leaders, committees, and board members.
Strong judgment, organization, problem-solving, project management, and relationship-management skills.
Ability to ask informed questions, identify risks, establish accountability, and drive issues through resolution.
High standards of integrity, discretion, accuracy, responsiveness, and follow-through.
Proficiency with fund accounting systems, spreadsheets, reporting tools, and related financial technology.

Nice To Haves

Direct Head Start or Early Head Head Start fiscal management experience.
Experience with federal monitoring reviews, audits, non-federal share requirements, in-kind documentation, cost-allocation plans, or federal grant applications.
Experience leading finance within an outsourced or co-sourced operating model.
Experience with Sage Intacct or a comparable nonprofit fund accounting system.
CPA, CMA, master’s degree, or comparable advanced training in accounting, finance, or business administration.

Responsibilities

Serve as a strategic financial advisor to the President and other leaders, helping them understand the organization’s financial position and make informed decisions.
Translate complex financial information into clear implications, risks, options, and recommendations.
Prepare and present financial dashboards, forecasts, budget-to-actual analyses, and decision scenarios.
Identify emerging financial concerns early and help leadership understand underlying causes and available responses.
Support decisions related to staffing, funding, programs, contracts, organizational investments, and strategic priorities.
In collaboration with the outsourced vendor, present financial information to the Executive Team, Finance Committee, Board of Directors, and other stakeholders.
Serve as Next Door’s internal fiscal leader for Head Start, Early Head Start, and other government-funded programs.
Maintain a strong working knowledge of Head Start fiscal requirements, Uniform Guidance, award terms, and other applicable regulations.
Oversee compliance related to cost allowability and allocation, personnel costs, procurement, cash management, equipment, indirect costs, non-federal share, in-kind documentation, and financial reporting.
Partner with program, Human Resources, Development, and operational leaders to ensure spending and staffing decisions align with approved funding and grant requirements.
Coordinate the fiscal components of grant applications, continuation applications, budget revisions, monitoring reviews, audits, and corrective action plans.
Identify potential compliance concerns or questioned costs and ensure they are resolved promptly.
Help build financial and grant-compliance knowledge throughout the organization.
Be Next Door’s primary relationship owner and on-site manager of the outsourced fiscal vendor.
Establish clear responsibilities, workflows, deadlines, service expectations, and escalation processes with the vendor.
Oversee work performed by the fiscal vendor, including monthly close, financial reporting, general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll accounting, cash management, reconciliations, fixed assets, audit support, and tax filings.
Review the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and usefulness of the fiscal vendor’s work.
Resolve issues directly and escalate recurring or significant concerns when necessary.
Ensure the fiscal vendor understands Next Door’s programs, grants, cost-allocation methods, reporting needs, policies, and decision-making timelines.
Maintain a clear division of responsibility between internal staff and the outsourced team.
Assess vendor performance and recommend changes to processes, systems, scope, staffing, or contractual expectations.
Ensure that Next Door’s financial systems and reports are accurate, reliable, compliant, and useful.
Oversee the integrity of the general ledger and the preparation of financial statements, grant reports, reconciliations, and management reports.
Lead the annual organizational budget process and periodic reforecasting.
Monitor cash flow, banking activity, debt, reserves, investments, and other significant financial matters.
Design and continuously improve internal controls for an environment with shared responsibilities between Next Door and an outsourced provider.
Ensure appropriate approvals, access controls, reconciliations, documentation, segregation of duties, and review processes are consistently followed.
Coordinate the annual financial statement audit, Single Audit, Form 990 preparation, funder reviews, and other external examinations.
Oversee responses to audit findings and corrective action plans.
Directly supervise and support Next Door’s Lead Grant Accountant.
Establish priorities, expectations, and clear areas of responsibility for the Lead Grant Accountant.
Review work and provide coaching, feedback, and professional development opportunities to the Lead Grant Accountant.
Build effective documentation, backup coverage, and continuity plans for the finance function.
Establish a consistent finance operating cadence, including close calendars, grant reviews, budget meetings, and issue tracking.
Create a service-oriented finance function that balances strong compliance with practical support for program and administrative teams.