Finance Director

Practical Farmers of Iowa is Hiring a Finance Director

Practical Farmers of Iowa is seeking a diligent, respectful and passionate person to serve as a finance director for the finance department. Since 1985, Practical Farmers has worked to equip farmers to build resilient farms and communities.

This work has always been rooted in our value of welcoming everyone and creating a culture of mutual respect. We believe that a diversity of people, ideas and perspectives strengthens our ability to find creative solutions, enriches our understanding and broadens our impact.

At Practical Farmers, we celebrate this diversity and are committed to ensuring that our policies and practices create an equitable and inclusive workplace. We take equal opportunity seriously, and seek to empower and support all applicants and teammates.

The finance department provides critical organizational support to process, track and manage all organizational income and expenses, and to ensure PFI’s financial sustainability and health to carry out its mission. Practical Farmers of Iowa is in an exciting phase of growth, which brings with it a need for increased efficiency of financial processes to control costs, mitigate risk and streamline internal processes for clarity and expediency.

An active participant in setting PFI’s overall financial strategy, the finance director will also lead all financial administration, budgeting, financial reporting, fiscal grant management and financial policies and controls maintenance. The finance director will support the finance department’s growth and day-to-day activities by:

  • Setting a strategic financial direction for the organization and connecting financial planning, execution and strategy to our strategic plan
  • Developing financial policies and procedures, including analyzing and improving processes and systems to maximize access to and utility of financial information for planning, execution and strategy
  • Preparing and presenting PFI monthly financial reports to staff and the board of directors
  • Conducting monthly allocations and invoicing
  • Supervising PFI’s bookkeeper and managing finance and insurance vendor and contractor relationships

Practical Farmers offers a flexible, fast-paced work environment with opportunities for independent initiative and professional development.

Duties

  • Develop and oversee finance vision and strategy to achieve strategic plan
  • Develop evaluation procedures and make decisions based on evaluation results for finance:
  • Oversee financial planning and analysis, and provide guidance on reporting
  • Align financial analysis with strategic plan goals and identify funding gaps and opportunities
  • Ensure sustainable funding for PFI programs and strategic objectives with support from the development team:
    • Design and implement long-term planning and budget forecasting
    • Work with board of directors and executive director to keep PFI’s investment policy current with board of director investment priorities and investment best practices
    • Manage cash flow in an efficient manner that safeguards PFI’s cash and maximizes return
  • Ensure that that finance department processes meet generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
  • Oversee contractors, staff members, volunteers and partners who conduct finance and insurance work:
    • Supervise PFI’s bookkeeper
    • Lead audit firm selection and A-133 audit process with hired firm
    • Manage insurance vendor relationships and insurance policy renewal
  • Facilitate collaboration between departments, teams and board in accordance with PFI by-laws:
    • Create and present financial reports to the PFI board of directors, finance committee and department leaders
    • Work closely with the grants manager and grant project owners to complete grants billing, reporting and reconciling in a consistent and efficient manner
  • Design and implement data management tools for finances:
    • Create standards for, and recommend and approve changes to, the chart of accounts
  • Conduct monthly finance processes including:
    • Allocations
    • Grant billing
  • Other duties as assigned or volunteered to support department or team projects

Required Qualifications and Characteristics

  • Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and laws governing financial management
  • Knowledge of investment options and strategies for non-profit organizations
  • Knowledge of non-profit fund accounting
  • Strong grant accounting skills including budgeting, invoicing and financial reporting
  • Strong financial reporting skills including creation of dashboards and financial reports and reporting financial status to stakeholders
  • Strong data analysis skills including identifying and presenting key metrics from complex financial data for decision-making
  • Strong financial data management skills, preferably with managing charts of accounts
  • Strong organizational budgeting and long-term financial planning skills
  • Strong cash flow management skills
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Strong process evaluation and optimization skills
  • Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel
  • Demonstrated or transferable personnel management skills
  • Ability to take and give feedback to improve work
  • Ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced work environment
  • Ability to learn quickly
  • Ability to maintain high quality of work through attention to detail

Desired Qualifications and Characteristics

  • Change management skills
  • Proficiency with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for financial data management
  • Proficiency with program and grants management software
  • Vendor management, including finance services (audit, payroll) and insurance vendors
  • Staff supervision and development skills
  • Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, accounting, economics or related field
  • At least five years’ experience managing finance processes, systems and budgets for a multimillion-dollar non-profit or comparable entity

This is a full-time position based in our Ames, Iowa, office. Annual salary range is $72,000-$95,000, based on experience and qualifications.

The position reports to Sally Worley, executive director. Practical Farmers is a family-friendly employer. The position includes full health care benefits, a flex plan, short- and long-term disability, life insurance and generous paid time off. Employer contribution to a 401k retirement plan is offered after one year of employment.

Please apply by completing an application form (including contact information, cover letter, resume, and references) on PFI’s employment page at https://practicalfarmers.org/employment. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the final deadline of May 13, 2022. You will hear back about next steps in the hiring process by no later than May 20, 2022.

Download a PDF of the job description, duties & qualifications