The National Employment Law Project (NELP) seeks a dynamic, experienced, and skilled finance professional to lead our financial operations in service to our mission to build a Good Jobs Economy – a just and inclusive economy where workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs.
NELP’s annual operating budget ranges from $17M to $20M and in an average year we manage over 30 grants from private foundations that fund various NELP programs. Under the terms of several of our grants, NELP also issues subgrants. Between 2020 and 2022, NELP distributed grants to over 160 partner organizations.
As NELP continues to grow, we are excited to welcome our first-ever Vice President of Finance. We are looking for a highly-collaborative leader who would be energized by the opportunity to engage with staff across the organization to help us make the best use of our resources and sharpen our capacity to meaningfully improve the lives of workers.
We are seeking candidates with expertise and experience in nonprofit accounting practices and rules and who have built and managed internal systems and controls for organizations that run multiple programs and have an annual budget of at least $6M.
Who We Are
Founded in 1969, the nonprofit National Employment Law Project (NELP) is a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a Good Jobs Economy – a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. NELP advances transformative solutions by centering Black, immigrant worker power to achieve racial and economic justice. Together with local, state, and national partners, NELP advances its mission through transformative legal and policy solutions, research, capacity building, and communications. Our victories over the last decade have impacted the lives of an estimated 100 million workers and their families. We lead and collaborate in fights for higher pay and just benefits, secure and safe jobs, and support at each stage in a worker’s life.
NELP has a team of 55 staff people based across offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Berkeley, CA, with an 11-person Board of Directors, an annual budget of $17M-20M, and hundreds of partners in the field with whom we work to further our mission.
For more information, read our annual reports and explore our website: www.nelp.org.
What You Will Do
As NELP’s Vice President of Finance, you will manage high-level and managerial accounting and oversee the financial activities of the organization. You will oversee all aspects of accounting from payroll to tax compliance. You will work across our programs and development teams to build understanding of our work and to translate strategic objectives into financial plans and processes. This position will report to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and in partnership with the COO, assist with the development of internal control policies, procedures, and financial planning as needed.
Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:
- Oversee and engage in all aspects of accounting, billing, financial statements, general ledger, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, tax compliance, inventory accounting, cost accounting, revenue recognition, and various special analyses.
- Supervise a team of three part-time accounting staff, including a controller and two finance associates, and commit to an ongoing proactive practice of deepening your anti-racist management capacity with the support of our leadership team and external resources (e.g. Management Center) as needed.
- Collaborate with the COO to develop team and financial objectives, track and report progress against objectives.
- Assist COO with preparing the annual organizational budget, forecasting requirements, scheduling expenditures, monitoring/funding balances and analyzing variances.
- Oversee the preparation and presentation of accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports.
- Regularly prepare and review financial reporting and forecasts with the Executive Team and board.
- Partner with NELP’s Chief Development Officer and Chief of Programs to develop and maintain tools for managing revenue, including multi-year grants management.
- Partner with program leadership to develop modeling tools that deepen our understanding of our investments across programs and inform our planning for growth. Prepare short- and long-term financial projections and spending plans that reflect NELP’s strategic priorities.
- Support NELP’s programmatic team leads by providing financial education, as needed, bringing to your work a genuine desire to create access and understanding of finance-related topics for staff at all levels.
- Lead the team budget creation and management processes and conduct regular reviews of financial activity against budget.
- Work with our Finance and IT teams to ensure timely integration Sage Intacct, which we have recently implemented, with other NELP systems, full adoption and leveraging of Sage tools, and updating of NELP’s internal processes and controls to reflect the new accounting system environment.
- Support labor-management relations by providing financial information and education to NELP’s staff union.
- Serve as the primary lead for the annual audit and 990 preparation; organize information and statements for audits and both internal and external auditors.
- Lead the finance team in defining, benchmarking, documenting, maintaining, and implementing accounting policies and operational best practices.
- Ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal laws regarding finances, tax filings, reporting, including ensuring NELP complies with all additional legal and regulatory requirements.
Who You Are
- You have 10+ or more years of experience as an accountant, accounting supervisor, or manager, at least 5 years of which is in nonprofit accounting.
- You have exceptional knowledge of finance, accounting, budgeting, cost accounting and cost control principles, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). You have advanced knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting best practices, laws, standards, and state/national regulations. CPA licensure is preferred but not required.
- You are interested in expanding your analysis and knowledge about the role that structural racism plays in our society and institutions are committed to NELP’s priority of centering racial equity internally and externally.
- You have formal experience managing full or part-time staff, and are a leader who cultivates empathy and vulnerability through open and honest dialogue, builds relationships that foster trust and transparency across lines of difference, and offers direct, honest feedback with compassion and clarity of purpose.
- You are analytical and exceptionally curious. You have a skill for identifying unusual and unexpected changes in financial activity or trends and are tenacious in tracking down and understanding underlying causes. You excel at identifying areas for improved cost management.
- You are detail oriented. You enjoy working with numbers and have experience working with multiple stakeholders in developing forecasts and managing budgets.
- You thrive in a team environment. You prioritize building relationships across the organization and continually deepening your understanding of how the finance team can support the priorities of different departments.
- You are systems oriented and seek continuous improvement. You have led teams to develop and improve new systems and workflows as needed to support the financial management needs of the organization or ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
- You have a passion for financial analysis and have a talent for explaining complex financial concepts and data to non-finance professionals. You have developed or maintained finance “dashboards” and data visualizations that improve organizational understanding of financial performance.
- You have excellent computer skills, experience in accounting software and Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, Sage Intaact, or other system knowledge.
- You operate with a commitment to excellence, integrity, diplomacy, and camaraderie.
- Must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States.
Start Date, Location, Compensation & Benefits: This full-time exempt position will be based in New York City or Washington, DC. NELP has a hybrid model that includes an in-person office requirement, which is being phased in this year. Staff work in-person at least six days per month. This hybrid model seeks to leverage both the benefits of working with colleagues in-person and the benefits of flexible remote arrangements. This position will require some travel, including for NELP internal meetings or conferences. The start date will be as soon as possible.
The salary range for the Vice President of Finance position is $140,000-$150,000 depending upon years of experience.
Compensation at NELP also includes an excellent comprehensive benefits package, including full coverage of family health insurance, a medical reimbursement plan, generous vacation and sick leave, plus additional organization-wide holidays, significant contribution from employer to a retirement plan (both an unelected contribution and employer match); and for qualifying participants, up to 26 weeks paid parental leave, 12 weeks paid medical leave, 6 weeks of paid family medical caregiving leave, a sabbatical leave program, childcare/eldercare reimbursement assistance, and student loan repayment assistance. Staff at NELP are members of Local 2320, UAW, excluding, however, management and certain other categories. This position is in management.
Application Instructions & Hiring Process
This position is open until filled, and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
APPLY AT THIS LINK by uploading these items:
- A resume
- A cover letter that thoughtfully addresses your alignment with the position
Nonprofit talent agency People Power is the search partner for this hire. We appreciate your time and interest in contributing your talents to NELP’s mission. Thank you! You will receive an email auto-reply to your application. We wish we could respond personally to all applicants, but only those chosen to interview will be contacted. Please do not contact NELP directly to inquire about the status of your application.
Selected applicants will be invited to an initial brief screening interview with People Power via phone. Those who continue in the process will ultimately participate in two longer former interviews with leadership and staff teams and may be asked to complete a skills assessment.
We welcome your interest and feedback. If you would like to make a *confidential* inquiry and/or have questions regarding your qualifications for this position, compensation or benefits, our process or internal timeline for hiring, or suggestions for how to improve this announcement or the opportunity itself, please email Kate Brumage at People Power: kate@peoplepowerproject.org
NELP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an equal opportunity, fair chance, affirmative action employer, committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) seeks a dynamic, experienced, and skilled finance professional to lead our financial operations in service to our mission to build a Good Jobs Economy – a just and inclusive economy where workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs.
NELP’s annual operating budget ranges from $17M to $20M and in an average year we manage over 30 grants from private foundations that fund various NELP programs. Under the terms of several of our grants, NELP also issues subgrants. Between 2020 and 2022, NELP distributed grants to over 160 partner organizations.
As NELP continues to grow, we are excited to welcome our first-ever Vice President of Finance. We are looking for a highly-collaborative leader who would be energized by the opportunity to engage with staff across the organization to help us make the best use of our resources and sharpen our capacity to meaningfully improve the lives of workers.
We are seeking candidates with expertise and experience in nonprofit accounting practices and rules and who have built and managed internal systems and controls for organizations that run multiple programs and have an annual budget of at least $6M.
Who We Are
Founded in 1969, the nonprofit National Employment Law Project (NELP) is a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a Good Jobs Economy – a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. NELP advances transformative solutions by centering Black, immigrant worker power to achieve racial and economic justice. Together with local, state, and national partners, NELP advances its mission through transformative legal and policy solutions, research, capacity building, and communications. Our victories over the last decade have impacted the lives of an estimated 100 million workers and their families. We lead and collaborate in fights for higher pay and just benefits, secure and safe jobs, and support at each stage in a worker’s life.
NELP has a team of 55 staff people based across offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Berkeley, CA, with an 11-person Board of Directors, an annual budget of $17M-20M, and hundreds of partners in the field with whom we work to further our mission.
For more information, read our annual reports and explore our website: www.nelp.org.
What You Will Do
As NELP’s Vice President of Finance, you will manage high-level and managerial accounting and oversee the financial activities of the organization. You will oversee all aspects of accounting from payroll to tax compliance. You will work across our programs and development teams to build understanding of our work and to translate strategic objectives into financial plans and processes. This position will report to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and in partnership with the COO, assist with the development of internal control policies, procedures, and financial planning as needed.
Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:
- Oversee and engage in all aspects of accounting, billing, financial statements, general ledger, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, tax compliance, inventory accounting, cost accounting, revenue recognition, and various special analyses.
- Supervise a team of three part-time accounting staff, including a controller and two finance associates, and commit to an ongoing proactive practice of deepening your anti-racist management capacity with the support of our leadership team and external resources (e.g. Management Center) as needed.
- Collaborate with the COO to develop team and financial objectives, track and report progress against objectives.
- Assist COO with preparing the annual organizational budget, forecasting requirements, scheduling expenditures, monitoring/funding balances and analyzing variances.
- Oversee the preparation and presentation of accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports.
- Regularly prepare and review financial reporting and forecasts with the Executive Team and board.
- Partner with NELP’s Chief Development Officer and Chief of Programs to develop and maintain tools for managing revenue, including multi-year grants management.
- Partner with program leadership to develop modeling tools that deepen our understanding of our investments across programs and inform our planning for growth. Prepare short- and long-term financial projections and spending plans that reflect NELP’s strategic priorities.
- Support NELP’s programmatic team leads by providing financial education, as needed, bringing to your work a genuine desire to create access and understanding of finance-related topics for staff at all levels.
- Lead the team budget creation and management processes and conduct regular reviews of financial activity against budget.
- Work with our Finance and IT teams to ensure timely integration Sage Intacct, which we have recently implemented, with other NELP systems, full adoption and leveraging of Sage tools, and updating of NELP’s internal processes and controls to reflect the new accounting system environment.
- Support labor-management relations by providing financial information and education to NELP’s staff union.
- Serve as the primary lead for the annual audit and 990 preparation; organize information and statements for audits and both internal and external auditors.
- Lead the finance team in defining, benchmarking, documenting, maintaining, and implementing accounting policies and operational best practices.
- Ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal laws regarding finances, tax filings, reporting, including ensuring NELP complies with all additional legal and regulatory requirements.
Who You Are
- You have 10+ or more years of experience as an accountant, accounting supervisor, or manager, at least 5 years of which is in nonprofit accounting.
- You have exceptional knowledge of finance, accounting, budgeting, cost accounting and cost control principles, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). You have advanced knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting best practices, laws, standards, and state/national regulations. CPA licensure is preferred but not required.
- You are interested in expanding your analysis and knowledge about the role that structural racism plays in our society and institutions are committed to NELP’s priority of centering racial equity internally and externally.
- You have formal experience managing full or part-time staff, and are a leader who cultivates empathy and vulnerability through open and honest dialogue, builds relationships that foster trust and transparency across lines of difference, and offers direct, honest feedback with compassion and clarity of purpose.
- You are analytical and exceptionally curious. You have a skill for identifying unusual and unexpected changes in financial activity or trends and are tenacious in tracking down and understanding underlying causes. You excel at identifying areas for improved cost management.
- You are detail oriented. You enjoy working with numbers and have experience working with multiple stakeholders in developing forecasts and managing budgets.
- You thrive in a team environment. You prioritize building relationships across the organization and continually deepening your understanding of how the finance team can support the priorities of different departments.
- You are systems oriented and seek continuous improvement. You have led teams to develop and improve new systems and workflows as needed to support the financial management needs of the organization or ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
- You have a passion for financial analysis and have a talent for explaining complex financial concepts and data to non-finance professionals. You have developed or maintained finance “dashboards” and data visualizations that improve organizational understanding of financial performance.
- You have excellent computer skills, experience in accounting software and Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, Sage Intaact, or other system knowledge.
- You operate with a commitment to excellence, integrity, diplomacy, and camaraderie.
- Must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States.
Start Date, Location, Compensation & Benefits: This full-time exempt position will be based in New York City or Washington, DC. NELP has a hybrid model that includes an in-person office requirement, which is being phased in this year. Staff work in-person at least six days per month. This hybrid model seeks to leverage both the benefits of working with colleagues in-person and the benefits of flexible remote arrangements. This position will require some travel, including for NELP internal meetings or conferences. The start date will be as soon as possible.
The salary range for the Vice President of Finance position is $140,000-$150,000 depending upon years of experience.
Compensation at NELP also includes an excellent comprehensive benefits package, including full coverage of family health insurance, a medical reimbursement plan, generous vacation and sick leave, plus additional organization-wide holidays, significant contribution from employer to a retirement plan (both an unelected contribution and employer match); and for qualifying participants, up to 26 weeks paid parental leave, 12 weeks paid medical leave, 6 weeks of paid family medical caregiving leave, a sabbatical leave program, childcare/eldercare reimbursement assistance, and student loan repayment assistance. Staff at NELP are members of Local 2320, UAW, excluding, however, management and certain other categories. This position is in management.
Application Instructions & Hiring Process
This position is open until filled, and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
APPLY AT THIS LINK by uploading these items:
- A resume
- A cover letter that thoughtfully addresses your alignment with the position
Nonprofit talent agency People Power is the search partner for this hire. We appreciate your time and interest in contributing your talents to NELP’s mission. Thank you! You will receive an email auto-reply to your application. We wish we could respond personally to all applicants, but only those chosen to interview will be contacted. Please do not contact NELP directly to inquire about the status of your application.
Selected applicants will be invited to an initial brief screening interview with People Power via phone. Those who continue in the process will ultimately participate in two longer former interviews with leadership and staff teams and may be asked to complete a skills assessment.
We welcome your interest and feedback. If you would like to make a *confidential* inquiry and/or have questions regarding your qualifications for this position, compensation or benefits, our process or internal timeline for hiring, or suggestions for how to improve this announcement or the opportunity itself, please email Kate Brumage at People Power: kate@peoplepowerproject.org
NELP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an equal opportunity, fair chance, affirmative action employer, committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.
