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Chief Financial Officer (New Haven, CT)

Background

  • Location: New Haven, CT
  • Deadline to apply: July 15th, 2012
  • Start Date: Immediate

Summary

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will develop and lead IPA’s financial strategy, and ensure that strategies are implemented effectively and nimbly throughout the organization. In addition, s/he will serve as a key member of the organization’s Senior Leadership Team and partner with the Board of Directors, working to address poverty and other social problems with innovation, evidence and action. The CFO will work closely with and report to the Executive Director. This position is perfect for someone looking to work in a dynamic environment on cutting-edge development research, and interested in building processes and systems for a fast growing organization.

Mission

IPA is a nonprofit dedicated to discovering what works to help the world’s poor. We design and evaluate programs in real contexts with real people, and provide hands-on assistance to bring successful programs to scale.

About IPA

IPA applies rigorous research techniques to develop and test solutions to real-world problems faced by the poor in developing countries. We operate on the belief that innovative action driven by evidence of what works accelerates the eradication of global poverty, and we partner with frontline organizations to develop and test solutions to poverty through randomized evaluations. Combining technical rigor, immediate policy interest, and solid grounding in the needs of the poor, our work helps practitioners and donors better allocate their resources and improve their operations.

IPA was founded in 2002 by Yale Economics professor Dean Karlan, who currently serves as its President. The organization’s affiliated researchers are scholars at leading universities, including Yale, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Princeton and Dartmouth. In the last ten years, IPA has grown to over 500 local and international staff, with over 350 projects in 43 countries including the United States. IPA’s funding has grown from approximately $4 million in 2007 to $25 million in 2010, reflecting significant grants and contracts awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the World Bank, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, amongst others. IPA has attracted financial support from a diverse group of funders indicating broad support of its mission and capacity to address key challenges facing developing countries. In response to the rapid growth of the organization, Annie Duflo became IPA’s first Executive Director in November, 2011.

Position

The CFO will be responsible for developing and implementing the finance and investment strategy and global financial operations of the organization. S/he will manage a dedicated and growing team of professionals who attend to the day-to-day financial business of the organization, strengthen the organization’s financial health and management and lead the development of effective systems, to allow the organization to manage its growth and to produce high quality research and scale-up programs in a cost-effective manner.

Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Strategy & Financial Operations Oversight

  • Identify key strategic finance issues faced by IPA and develop a plan to address them, including key finance investments needed to provide state of the art research services and scalable programs
  • Make actionable recommendations to the Executive Director and the Senior Leadership team on overall strategy, budget and financial operations and oversight
  • Participate in key decisions pertaining to operating model, strategic directions and operational execution, including the development of IPA direct and indirect cost structure
  • Lead the strategic and action planning for the Finance and Grants Teams, including the setting of milestones and targets to achieve the identified priorities

Executive Leadership

  • Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team and Officer of the Corporation, and regularly engage with the Audit and Finance Committee of the IPA Board of Directors
  • With the rest of the Leadership team, work to continuously build understanding and support for IPA’s core mission to foster effective collaboration across the organization
  • Together with the Senior Leadership Team, identify and address cross-functional organizational priorities and build appropriate organization-wide processes and systems
  • Represent IPA to financial partners, including financial institutions, foundation executives, auditors, as well as IPA partners and affiliated researchers

Finance and Grants Team Leadership

  • Lead and oversee the Finance and Grants Teams and provide mentorship and capacity development to staff
  • In partnership with the Financial Controller, review and establish the internal structure of the Finance and Grants divisions, to ensure effective coordination and timely financial oversight

Financial Planning, Forecasting and Reporting

  • Develop and utilize forward-looking, predictive models and activity-based financial analyses to provide insight into the organization’s operations and business plans.
  • Oversee the organization’s budgetary planning and cost management in relation with strategic priorities, and the development of long- and short-range financial plans
  • Regularly assess organizational performance against the budget and strategy
  • Oversee the production of monthly reports at all organizational levels, including financial statements and cash flow projections for use by Executive and Board management

Financial Processes, Policies and Systems

  • Working with other IPA teams, establish financial oversight and financial accountability mechanisms throughout the organization
  • Together with the Financial and Traveling Controllers, lead the development and documentation of clear financial policies and procedures at all organizational levels, and ensure that those are communicated and implemented throughout the organization
  • In coordination with Finance, Legal, HR, Operations and Country Offices, oversee the development and management of compliance protocols in line with IPA’s growing and diversified pool of donors and stakeholders
  • Remain up to date on nonprofit finance and audit best practices and state and federal compliance regarding nonprofit financial operations
  • Identify the need for, and oversee the implementation of appropriate organization-wide systems that respond to IPA’s needs and make financial operations more efficient, while ensuring that they are used effectively


Qualifications


The CFO will be a seasoned and mature leader with at least 10-12 years of broad finance experience. S/he will ideally have experience managing finance (accounting, budgeting, control, and reporting) for a complex nonprofit with multiple funding sources including multilateral (e.g. World Bank) and government (federal and state) grants, cooperative agreements and contracts (including USAID, MCC, etc) and an affiliate structure with diverse program areas delivered globally.

The CFO will have the following experience and attributes:

  • Demonstrated leadership ability, team management, interpersonal and communications skills
  • A Bachelor’s degree is required and graduate level training is preferred with preference given to candidates with an CPA, MBA, MPP, MPA or PhD
  • At least four years’ experience as CFO or equivalent, preferably in a nonprofit organization with an overall organizational budget of at least $10 million
  • Experience working with a Board of Directors and a Financial and Audit committee
  • A sound understanding of financial management and significant experience in, and knowledge of nonprofit accounting, including sophisticated fund and grant accounting, compliance, and reporting
  • Knowledge of the Office of Management and Budget Circular A133 audit
  • Direct knowledge of and experience with financial systems appropriate for large organizations
  • Excellent analytical and abstract reasoning skills, plus excellent organization skills
  • Demonstrated experience and interest in building systems and processes for a growing organization
  • Experience with an organization working in developing countries preferred
  • Steadfast commitment to the mission of IPA, evidence-based policy making and the belief that systemic change can make a difference

Contact Details


Contact:
Kyla Levin-Russell
Telephone:
203-583-6049
Email:
klevin-russell@poverty-action.org

Application Instructions


Please send an email to jobs@poverty-action.org and copy jobs-hr@poverty-action.org following these instructions exactly:

  • In the subject line: Copy exactly the following position line: 100688IPAUSA,Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

  • Attachments: Please attach your resume and cover letter.

  • In the email body: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application deadline is July 15th 2012.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the CFO. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to jobs-info@poverty-action.org.

IPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), adhering to the laws that prohibit discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment. The IPA EOE policy provides equal employment, volunteer, and service opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, national origin or ancestry, religion, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, marital status, veteran status, disability (including HIV/AIDS), or any other status protected by applicable law.