Chief of Staff to the Chief Finance Officer
IDEA Public Schools Careers
- San Antonio, TX
- $108,000 per year
- Permanent
- Full-time
Location: Headquarters-Rio Grande Valley
Region: Headquarters - Rio Grande Valley, TX
Category: Headquarters
Job Type: Full-TimeShare:DescriptionChief of Staff of FinanceFinance DepartmentRole Mission:IDEA Public Schools is searching for a Chief of Staff of Finance. The Finance Team strives to support the leadership at IDEA as we work together to meet and exceed our ambitious financial and student achievement goals.The Chief of Staff is an executive-level role responsible for facilitating and overseeing the functions of the Chief Financial Officerâs senior team to ensure that the Chief is able to maximize their focus and productivity to achieve their organizational goals. The Chief of Staff has the skills, knowledge, and leadership presence to design, lead, execute, and evaluate the impact of strategic initiatives within their departmentâs scope in response to a topic-specific directive from their Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The Chief of Staff is able to effectively manage complex situations and multiple responsibilities simultaneously, balancing long-term priorities with urgent demands.The Chief of Staff serves the CFO as a strategic and trusted advisor, including on confidential matters; as a collaborator in identifying and solving problems to achieve outcomes; and as a credible voice/proxy. The Chief of Staff is responsible for ensuring that the CFOâs functional team operates with a high level of efficiency and discipline through organizing functional team systems; ensuring that the CFOâs time is focused on their stated priorities and on functional areas with gaps in progress toward goals; and ensuring that the CFO has relevant, timely, and comprehensive data to make informed decisions.From the outset, the Chief of Staff must build trust with colleagues within their department and in all other HQ departments, and collaborate with and achieve results through influencing others. The Chief of Staff must be able to effectively manage highly confidential information, and must be viewed as credible and reliable among the staff and key external partners. The Chief of Staff must have strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively and efficiently convey information with clarity to stakeholders within their department, in other departments, including at the school level, and externally.The Chief of Staff should directly manage members of the CFOâs team, including the Executive Assistant and Project Manager; manage specific scopes of work or time bound projects; and support effective preparation and follow-through on items for consideration by the Board of Directors.The Chief of Staff is the CFOâs partner in prioritizing the most important workâ both now and in the futureâ and creating time and space to ensure it gets done.Supervisory Responsibilities:This position will have supervisory responsibilities to be determined in partnership with the CFO.Location:This is a full-time remote position based in Texas with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.Travel Expectations:Up to 30% of the time during the busiest parts of the yearWhat Youâll Do â AccountabilitiesThe Chief of Staff will:
- Design and lead strategic initiatives and objectives of the department and/or organization, along with processes and projects in accordance with the directives of the CFO and senior leadership.
- Act as a strategic thought partner, confidante, and sounding board for the CFO by helping them shape and advance their vision, providing them with the most relevant information, data analysis and decision support through synthesizing, funneling and filtering advice and perspective.
- Act as a strategic thought partner, confidante, and sounding board for leaders within the CFOâs line of management, including Vice Presidents/Directors, as well as other Chiefs of Staff in the organization.
- Inform the CFO of timely and relevant information, including department-specific data and diverse perspectives, during deliberation and decision-making. Support the CFO and department VPs to be accountable to feedback data from staff and to make improvements as needed.
- Develop over time the in-depth knowledge, communication, and leadership skills to represent the CFO internally. The exceptional proxy represents the CFO when needed to gather and disseminate information, seek input, or provide guidance.
- Coordinate and interact with senior leaders and external partners as needed on a diverse range of strategic, operational, and organizational matters.
- Design and implement systems of organization for repeated procedures, including setting responsibilities, coordinating functions among departments, and providing accountability for adherence.
- Prepare and/or contribute to the preparation of reports, proposals, briefings, presentations, and responses on functional or organizational data/outcomes.
- Communicate with a variety of audiences, primarily internal, and within a variety of contexts, including but not limited to functional progress toward goals, organizational priorities, and functional scopes of work that are in turnaround or other improvement modes.
- Skill in critical-thinking and problem-solving, along with the ability to perform during moments of ambiguity
- Skill in organization, prioritization, follow through, and attention to detail
- Organizational and political intelligence
- Able to build strong relationships and mutually beneficial business partnerships through trust, empathy, and credibility
- Skill in written communication, ability to share complex information, translate for end users, and maintain a supportive and helpful tone
- Able to manage and monitor multiple projects at once, often under pressure with competing priorities and tight turnarounds while maintaining composure, ensuring quality, and achieving results
- Able to analyze and interpret data and statistics to identify trends, draw conclusions, and develop strategies and tactics that that yield results and achieve goals
- Ability to maintain confidentiality of privileged and sensitive information
- Minimum experience: A minimum 8 years (10 preferred) of successful experience or a combination of 8 years of experience in finance and/or a non-profit or educational setting, including knowledge of the following functions: Finance and accounting, Accounts Payable, Procurement, Procurement card services, Training and Development, Board Relations, Treasury, Financial Planning and Analysis, and Payroll.
- IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.