Director of Finance

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation seeks a Director of Finance to play an essential role in managing all accounting and financial systems in support of current operations of the Children’s Science Center Lab and the capital project for the new Northern Virginia Science Center. The Director of Finance serves as a member of the leadership team, collaborating with fellow leaders to provide financial support to meet organizational goals. They manage relationships with banking institutions and external auditors, maintain fiscal records, ensure the organization adheres to defined accounting policies and procedures, and prepare and deliver high quality and timely financial reporting. The Director also supervises a part-time accounting staff member and shares the day-to-day accounting work with this team member.

This is a very exciting time for the organization as we are in the final phases of construction of the new Northern Virginia Science Center expected to open in mid-2027. In the coming year, the Director of Finance will work closely with the CEO to plan and implement the financial and administrative policy, procedure, and system changes needed for the organization’s transformation: the sunset of the Children’s Science Center Lab operations in Fairfax to the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation and moving to the new science center campus in Sterling. As a part of the larger public private partnership, the Director of Finance will coordinate and collaborate with finance staff at the Science Museum of Virginia and finance staff at their Foundation.

SPECIFIC JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Payroll & Benefits Accounting:

• Run the bi-weekly payroll within the Gusto payroll system, prepare monthly payroll and benefits allocations, and make entries into QuickBooks.
• Provide payroll reports to the leadership team to assist in managing and forecasting personnel budgets.
• Monitor payroll records within Gusto, including their filing of state and federal tax forms.

Budgeting & Financial Reporting:

• Support the management team in establishing the annual budget, monitoring actuals, and updating forecasts.
• Monitor capital project budget, actuals, and forecast in collaboration with the CEO.
• Provide monthly summary and departmental budget-actual reports from QuickBooks.
• Present quarterly financial reports to the Board of Directors in coordination with the Treasurer and CEO.
• Perform valuation of pledges and monitor pledges receivables with Advancement team members.
• Maintain restricted funds balances and coordinate release of funds with program staff and leadership.
• Maintain fixed asset inventory and prepare property filings and tax payments as needed.
• Manage year end activities: closing, accruals, collecting in-kind donation information, and more.
• Provide external auditors with necessary information for preparation of annual financial statements, in coordination with Treasurer and CEO; ensure timely completion of audit and filing of 990.

General Ledger & Accounts Payable:

• Oversee recording of earned revenue, contributed revenue, and expense transactions in QuickBooks.
• Ensure reconciliation of bank account transactions and balance sheet accounts on a monthly basis.
• Create recurring journal entries and reconciliation of related accounts as needed.
• Review processing of vendor invoice payments, corporate credit cards, and employee expense reports.
• Prepare checks and ACH transactions for CEO approval and signature.

Other Duties:

• Monitor and implement short-term investments (CDs, CDARs) with banking partners, working with Treasurer and Internal Affairs Committee to identify investment strategies for new operating reserves and endowment.
• Monitor accounting internal controls; identify opportunities to improve process effectiveness and efficiency.
• Work with program staff to monitor processing and collections of program fees via Altru/CRM reporting.
• Ensure financial forms requested by states & federal government are completed on time.
• Maintain orderly financial records, paper files and electronic files online using OneDrive and SharePoint.
• Other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting.
• 5+ years of non-profit accounting experience, including direct experience in coordinating annual audits for a non-profit organization.
• A proven leader and manager with 2+ years of experience in supervising accounting or finance staff.
• A high level of discretion and ethical values, very strong attention to detail, and excellent organizational skills.
• High proficiency in QuickBooks, Excel, and PowerPoint; knowledge of payroll systems.
• Proven ability to work independently and with a team, and to collaborate across multiple departments.
• Superior verbal and written communications skills and experience interacting with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders.
• A passionate advocate for hands-on STEM learning, committed to the organization’s mission and vision.
• An enthusiastic, energetic team member that enjoys working with diverse employees and volunteer teams.
• CPA preferred.

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage - 99% employer paid premiums for employees and 50% employer paid premiums for eligible dependents
• Employer paid Long-Term Disability and Short-Term Disability Coverage
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with partial matching (employees over 21 years of age)
• Paid Time Off (15 days, pro-rated in first calendar year of employment)
• Paid Holidays (10 standard, 2 floating) and Sick Leave Accrual
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Science Center membership with ASTC and ACM reciprocity to hundreds of museums around the U.S. and globe
• Business Casual Dress with exceptions for special meetings and events
• Credit Union Membership