IDEA Public Schools Careers

Chief of Staff of Finance

Finance Department

Role 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 Officer’s 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 department’s 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 CFO’s functional team operates with a high level of efficiency and discipline through organizing functional team systems; ensuring that the CFO’s 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 CFO’s 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 CFO’s partner in prioritizing the most important work– both now and in the future– 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 year

What You’ll Do – Accountabilities

The 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 CFO’s 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.

The Chief of Staff will possess the following executive-level leadership qualities:

●        Ability to engage in analytical, critical, conceptual thinking, and problem-solving, along with the ability to coach and develop these skills in others.

●        Anticipate problems and whenever possible resolve those by taking initiative independently or bringing options and recommendations to the CFO for engagement.

●        Emotional intelligence to engage in the complex, sensitive, and high-impact challenges that must be resolved at the CFO level.

●        Fluid ability to build trust with others to create and sustain effective working relationships.

●        Fluid ability to activate trust to influence others and/or manage conflict.

●        Act with empathy and diplomacy as warranted, maintaining direct and honest communication with the CFO and colleagues.

●        Act with integrity, including making and supporting honest and ethical decision-making, exercising sound judgment, and maintaining confidentiality.

●        Ability to organize, prioritize, follow through, and attend to detail using a variety of project and performance management tools and techniques.

●        Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including identifying and replicating the CFO’s “voice” to ensure consistency and clarity of expectations in departmental and cross-functional spaces.

●        Taking initiative to self-assign responsibilities or challenges, with exceptional independence and requiring minimal supervision, including sharing opinions and setting direction.

●        Owning follow-through and being trusted throughout the organization as dependable and consistent.

●        Orientation toward achievement and effort by establishing and maintaining individually challenging achievement goals that serve the organization’s mission.

What You Bring – Competencies

Knowledge and Skills:

• 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

Required experience:

●        Education:  Bachelor’s degree in economics, management, finance, business or other relevant field. Master of Business Administration or other advanced degree preferred

• 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.

●        Certifications: PMP preferred, but not required

●        Must have  experience in strategy, analysis, project management, and interacting/influencing senior leaders.

●        High level of proficiency with the Office 365 suite.

●        Proven experience translating data and metrics to action.

●        Demonstrable experience managing high-profile projects.

●        Robust written and verbal communication portfolio.

What We Offer:

Compensation & Benefits:

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $108,000 and $128,600, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.

Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.

* IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

Application process:

Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Learn more about IDEA

At IDEA the Staff Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members.  Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values