Mighty Earth is hiring a Vice President of Finance and Administration, a key position on our leadership team. We’re looking for a strategic leader to play a key role in our growing organization. As the Vice President of Finance and Operations, you will be responsible for leading the finance and operations functions and will partner with senior leadership and the Board to set the strategic direction and ensure the financial health of Mighty Earth. You will provide strong technical and visionary leadership to the Finance Department and will serve as a strategic thought partner to leaders across the organization. This role is critical to Mighty Earth’s mission to protect nature and fight climate change.
Who We Are
Founded in 2016, Mighty Earth is a growing global advocacy organization, with a goal to protect Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We aspire to be the most effective environmental advocacy organization in the world.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Mighty Earth has built strong partnerships globally and currently has staff based across the U.S., South America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. The organization manages a significant amount of restricted foundation and government funding, with a budget of more than $8 million and expectations of continued growth.
Position Overview
As Vice President, you will have primary day-to-day oversight for accounting, grants management, financial planning, analysis, operations, and compliance. You will build and nurture a high performing finance organization, coordinate closely with our program staff, and encourage and develop financial literacy and accountability throughout the organization. You will lead the finance and operations team, managing our Accounting Manager and Senior Associate, Grants & Finance.
The Vice President will report to our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and work closely day- to-day with our Chief of Staff.
Mighty Earth is growing in revenue and is also in the process of launching a UK-based charitable entity.
The right candidate can balance high level thought leadership and strategy with hands on problem solving, flexible solutions, and a drive to support high impact advocacy work to protect Nature. As part of a small, effective leadership team, the Managing Director will collaborate to solve unique operational challenges, while continually building our professionalism, operational, and financial excellence.
Your responsibilities:
STRATEGIC FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Be a strong strategic partner and thought leader to the Leadership team and liaise directly with the Finance & Audit Committee and the Board of Directors
Oversee cash flow forecasting and management
Develop and drive a vision for optimizing systems to enhance accuracy, consistency, and efficiency of fiscal operations
Support the Leadership team to build out Mighty Earth’s international operating model, including setup and maintenance of entities in new countries.
Step in and support human resource responsibilities as needed.
PLANNING & ANALYSIS
Lead financial and operational planning for the organization, including annual budget development and building out Mighty Earth’s medium to long-term planning capabilities
Provide the CEO, Board, budget holders, and the wider the organization with accurate and timely financial information, including scenario planning, that enables optimal decision-making
ACCOUNTING & GRANTS MANAGEMENT
Oversee and refine fiscal operations, including monthly and year-end close,
Oversee the contracts and grants management process, including supporting leaders to develop budgets, providing access to up-to-date and accurate financial information, and overseeing due diligence, compliance, and reporting
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
Train, manage, and mentor our Staff Accountant and Senior Associate, Grants & Finance -
Oversee trainings for staff in nonprofit financial management, including during roll out of process or system updates in support of successful change management.
PARTNERSHIP WITH DEVELOPMENT
COMPLIANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT
Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements; monitor fiscal compliance with funder requirements
Formulate, recommend, and implement sound fiscal policies, procedures and controls
Oversee the timely completion of external audits and the IRS Form 990
Ensure that Mighty Earth is in compliance with international accounting and tax regulations for both a US and UK entity.
OPERATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
With the Chief of Staff, Provide CEO, senior leaders, and Board members with progress reports, insight, and recommendations on Mighty Earth’s operations and Human Resources
Drive operational initiatives such as Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, security assessment and training, and other trainings we need for grant compliance and best practices
What we’re looking for in you:
You have at least ten years of finance and accounting experience in a nonprofit setting, with a minimum of five years in a leadership capacity for a finance department, preferably at a nonprofit organization
You can manage complex financial situations, are an effective manager, and can be a thought partner and strategic leader with the CEO, Chief of Staff, and the Board of Directors. You are excited to be a part of a growing organization.
You have experience driving systems change and process improvement.
You can find flexible and creative solutions to enable important and time sensitive work when necessary while keeping leadership informed of any potential risks
You have nonprofit finance and accounting knowledge as demonstrated by a thorough understanding of organizational audited financial statements, budgets, monthly reports and projections and experience with financial planning, analysis, reporting, and grants management. Experience working with grants from international sources is a huge plus.
You are excited to work with campaign directors to effectively build plans to drive impact for Nature, given budgeting and changes in revenue.
You have experience with fund accounting and cloud-based billing and expense management systems
You have experience working in an international context
You have strong problem solving, analytical, and reasoning skills
You can work independently and successfully manage multiple projects with competing deadlines, and excellent attention to detail
You have an interest in protecting the environment and advancing a more just society
You have experience with and a commitment to working with people from a variety of backgrounds, including different ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds, and the LGBTQ+ community
Preferred qualifications
Experience working in an advocacy or campaigning setting
Experience working with colleagues based across the globe
Location: This is a full-time position with a preference for candidates based in the Washington, D.C. area. We are open to remote candidates based in other U.S. locations, with a preference for Eastern time zone locations. For candidates based in the D.C. area, the expectation is to work in the office two days per week. Occasional travel will be necessary, including travel to Washington, D.C. if based elsewhere.
Compensation and benefits: The salary range for this position is $140K- $180K. We have a generous benefits package including group health insurance, dental benefits, unlimited vacation time, paid holidays, and a 401(k) plan.
To apply: Please visit here https://mightyearth.org/careers/ to submit a resume, complete our short application, and tell us where you heard about the job. The position will remain posted until it is filled.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or participating in the employee selection process, please get in touch with Tim at stim@mightyearth.org. Applications should be submitted through our application link and not sent to this email.
Interview process: Our interview process involves a phone interview, a video interview, a candidate exercise, an in-person interview, and reference calls for candidates advancing in our process.
**More about Mighty Earth: **
_Our team: _Mighty Earth is made up of people from various backgrounds, including people with backgrounds in non-profit organizations, election campaigns, government, the private sector, and legislative offices, at a range of experience levels. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, parents, empty-nesters, and more.
Approach and Culture: Consistent with our obsession with impact, Mighty Earth is results-focused, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and nimble – and we seek candidates who are excited to work in that culture. While remaining true to our public interest mission and commitment to movement-building, we have sought to apply the best of business to our organization. A resource that has informed our approach to culture is the book No Rules Rules and the famous Netflix culture deck.
Read more about our approach in the following resources:
Appealing to Companies’ Better Angels (Eco-Business)
Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change (Mongabay)
How Pressuring Corporations Can Save the Amazon from Destruction (Yale Environment 360)
Profile of Mighty Earth founder Glenn Hurowitz
Mighty Earth is an equal opportunity employer; we strictly prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant based on race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, and any other characteristic protected by law. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are strongly encouraged to apply.