Chief of Finance, Talent and Operations
Stronger Consulting, United States

Overview: The RISE Network’s mission is to ensure all high school students graduate with a plan and the skills and confidence to achieve college and career success. Founded in 2015, RISE partners with public high schools to lead networks where communities work together to use data to learn and improve. Through its core and most comprehensive network, RISE partners with nine high schools and eight districts, serving over 13,000 students in historically marginalized communities.

RISE high schools work together to ensure all students experience success as they transition to, through, and beyond high school by using data to pinpoint needs, form hypotheses, and pursue ideas to advance student achievement. Partner schools have improved Grade 9 promotion rates by nearly 20 percentage points, while also decreasing subgroup gaps and increasing school-wide graduation and college access rates. In 2021, the RISE Network was honored to receive the Carnegie Foundation’s annual Spotlight on Quality in Continuous Improvement recognition. Increasingly, RISE is pursuing opportunities to scale its impact through research publications, consulting partnerships, professional development experiences, and other avenues to drive excellent student outcomes.

Role Summary: The Chief of Finance, Talent and Operations (CFTO) serves as a member of the RISE Leadership Team and oversees the organization’s core internal functions. They lead RISE finances, talent, and office operations. This includes leadership of the RISE Operations Team and various external and high-stakes partnerships. The CFTO invests in excellent back-office operations to promote organizational effectiveness and efficiencies in support of RISE’s direct service work with school partners. The CFTO will help the organization move from planning to execution as part of a process to develop a 5 year strategic plan.

The Team and Resources: The COO will report to RISE’s Executive Director and will manage a team of at least two direct reports specializing in finance, operations and compliance, and talent management. The CFTO will also oversee and manage multiple vendors who provide key operational services, including: a PEO firm that manages human resources and payroll and benefits, an accounting partner to execute accurate bookkeeping, a legal services firm responsible for contract review and counsel, a talent strategy consulting firm to support with talent acquisition, and an IT services provider.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Team Leadership

• Oversee the implementation and continuous improvement of RISE’s finance, talent and operations functions.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for the team, ensuring all team members have a shared understanding of success metrics and how their roles support results in these areas.
• Promote team coordination and communication, including by facilitating purposeful team meetings and overseeing team work plans.
• Be a strong team developer with strong relational skills and the ability to effectively lead, encourage, and develop teams with diverse backgrounds and work styles.
• Support the ongoing professional development of all team members through coaching, modeling, mentorship, feedback, and other learning opportunities.
• Maintain an excellent team climate rooted in high expectations, an appreciation for team diversity, and a commitment to create an inclusive and collaborative team environment.
• Engage team members in weekly one-on-one check-ins and ongoing performance management routines, providing staff with ongoing feedback and coaching.
• Serve on the Leadership Team, helping to shape and advance the organization’s strategy and growth.
• Be the change management, process and practice, champion, supporting the overall success of the organization.
• Manage key external partnerships that serve as an extension of the Operations Team’s capacity.
• Promote strong collaboration with other RISE functional teams.
• Oversee organizational systems for project management and KPI tracking.

1. Finance

• Lead the development of RISE’s annual budget and provide financial analysis for multi-year budget models in collaboration with the Executive Director.
• Oversee systems for accounts payables and accounts receivable, and ongoing accounting functions and other financial reporting and auditing functions in partnership with our external bookkeepers.
• Bring leadership and a strong understanding/experience with non-profit finances and accounting
• Serve as the finance liaison to the Board of Directors and Treasurer.
• Support managers in developing and leveraging team budgets and resources.
• Prepare quarterly financial reports and briefing updates for the Leadership Team and Board of Directors, inclusive of variance flags and recommendations.
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Job Rewards and Benefits