Director, Finance & Administration

Harvard Hillel

Location: On Site, Harvard Hillel  |  Cambridge, MA

Employment Status: Exempt salaried staff member

Reporting: Jason Rubenstein, Executive Director 

Salary Range: $100,000 - $120,000

Role Overview

The mission of Harvard Hillel is to be a Jewish home, both physical and virtual, on the Harvard University campus. Harvard Hillel welcomes all students to experience the variety of Jewish identity, tradition, practice, values, culture, and community and to inspire and enable connections on campus and beyond. Harvard Hillel students find meaningful connections and friendship while engaging in unique opportunities to make Jewish thought and culture integral in the life of the University.

The Director, Finance & Administration (Director) reports to the Harvard Hillel executive director who has been in the role less than two years. As a team, they will engage effectively with internal and external constituent groups around operational excellence at Harvard Hillel. The Director will move easily between strategic decision-making, governance requirements, and the everyday tactical coordination and planning that brings operational priorities to fruition. The Director serves as an empathetic and collaborative leader and coach, where operational excellence and a positive engagement around organizational culture is as important as rigorous monitoring of systems and process.

The Director’s role will ensure effective and consistent financial integrity and compliance of this 501(c)(3) institution. Working closely with the executive director, chief of staff, and other stakeholders, the Director will oversee the planning, coordination, and tracking of institutional annual goals against budget. The Director will serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the executive director and staff on organizational priorities, strategic goal setting, and effective project coordination in relation to designing and meeting budget goals.

Key to the success of the Director’s role is to add capacity to the executive director to support the transformation of the institution and its future. In year one, the Director will actively engage with colleagues and outsourced providers to modernize financial budgeting systems, tracking and reporting. A goal in year one will also be to design a financial planning and analysis tool that is right-sized for the institution, in preparation for a capital project to renovate the historic Rosovsky building and to support the institution’s journey to scale.  Over time, a successful Director in this role will help reshape Harvard Hillel—its building and its operations, to move the organization forward.

Anticipated accountabilities are outlined below. The Director will be expected to actively surface and collaboratively design projects and address anomalies to ensure work moves forward effectively and efficiently.

What You’ll Do

Annual Planning & Financial Management

• Accounting, Banking, Benefits, Insurances, Payroll: accountability for ensuring an annual cycle, with relevant systems, tracking, and reporting designed and implemented to record and reflect on the overall fiscal health of the organization.
  • Lead annual budget cycle: engaging with budget holders and other colleagues to establish and coordinate an effective budget planning process and reporting tools to support budget holders’ ability to manage and track their budgets and cashflow. At minimum, monthly and quarterly budget reviews, cash flow management and reporting, and ad-hoc tracking and issue resolution as needed. Ensure organizational priorities are visible, clear, and actionable in relation to budget monitoring and tracking. Lead communications in relation to annual budget cycle process and the obligations of contributors. Serve as a trusted colleague and coach around budget management, accountability, and tracking in relation to finance and budgets.
  • Lead annual cycle of audited financial statements and filings: engage with external providers to oversee and actively manage the timely scheduling and delivery of an annual audit; delivery of a 990, and to meet an annual schedule of filing obligations.
  • Annual Insurances: engage with a broker and others to manage insurance obligations for this 501(c)(3) organization.

Board of Directors Operations

• Working closely with the chief of staff and executive director, and Board committees, plan and coordinate audit, finance, and risk related committees and reporting to meet timely Board reporting and meetings. Serve as the staff liaison for finance, audit, and risk related committee meetings and discussions.
• Support committee development, structures, and governance principles and processes to ensure the organization’s ByLaws support and drive compliance and governance decision-making in relation to financial risk.

Fiscal Sponsorships Management

• In close coordination with the Director of Programs and others, actively manage student-led initiatives related to financial controls, guidance on policy, procurement, and expenditures and timely payments of events for student-led projects.

Policy Design and Management

• Actively review and manage organizational policies in relation to both risk management and business continuity, balancing the organization’s values and core programming, to facilitate a smooth-running institution in service of students and other stakeholders.
• Schedule routine policy review cycles to ensure the organization is up to date with best practices and technologies to function with operational excellence.

Human Resources

• Work closely with payroll providers and benefits brokers to manage an annual benefits cycle of enrollments and benefits assessments, actively engaging and communicating with staff through a benefits review cycle.
• Actively engage with the chief of staff to design and implement an annual cycle of health and safety protocols specific to this institution. Working closely with the chief of staff and executive director, actively track and monitor engagement in mandatory trainings for Boston, MA.
• Work in close partnership as needed on staff disciplinary activities, including investigations, performance management support, hiring and termination, holding personnel records and record keeping for related human resources materials.

Facilities

• Oversee the planning of budgets and coordination support needs for buildings owned or rented by Harvard Hillel.
• Oversee the health and safety, security, and business continuity planning around onsite activities, in close partnership with the manager of facilities and operations and the executive director.
• Oversee onsite programmatic activities and events in close liaison with the Director of Program and Facilities Manager, ensuring smooth running of event scheduling, planning, and logistics.
• Oversee management and coordination of facilities technologies serve onsite programming through facilities.
• Identify and manage cost-savings opportunities for services provided by Harvard University.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience as a CFO with an Operations portfolio, Finance & Operations Manager, or similar role in a nonprofit or community engagement organization.
• High comfort in Microsoft Office tools, QBO, Bill.com, other financial management platforms.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• 8+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit or mission-driven leadership roles.
• Commitment to the organization’s mission and respectful of Jewish values.
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning and execution, operational systems and tracking, and Board governance. People-center systems thinker, with strong success operationalizing strategies into trackable, measurable action plans.
• Strong financial, project management, and institutional administration skills.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal skills.
• Highly effective manager of people, projects, and budgets.
• Adaptable, sound judgment, diplomatic, and respectful of holding sensitive information.
• Ability to successfully balance high emotional intelligence with result-driven project management and serving as an empathetic culture carrier who models collaborative leadership and teamwork.
• Open and willing to engage in conversations about religion, and to learn about Judaism and Israel in a way that inspires stakeholders to invest in our work.
• Highly collaborative problem-solver with curiosity to engage across teams both inside and outside of Hillel to successfully manage competing priorities.
• A self-starter, adept at project management tools and practices, time-management and effective communications both verbally and in writing.
• Highly comfort working effectively both independently and in teams to meet goals and deadlines.

Benefits

• A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D and Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending accounts, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
• A unique opportunity to develop and promote a vibrant, pluralistic Jewish community at Harvard Hillel.

Harvard Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.