Finance Manager - Apply by 2/17 for priority consideration

About The Kelsey

Based in San Francisco, operating nationally, we are a team of people with and without disabilities creating a disability-forward housing future. This means that we create housing solutions that center on disability access, inclusion and equity, and which open doors to more affordable homes and opportunities for everyone. We have 240 homes in our pipeline and lead policy, advocacy, and field-building initiatives to support market conditions to make inclusive housing the norm.

All new and existing team members are expected to embody our values in their everyday work:

• Disability-Forward: We bring our lived experiences as disabled people and allies to everything we do. We seek to create spaces where disability is a valued part of human identity and communities. We center access, practice interdependence, and value diversity.
• Intentional: We are thoughtful, curious, and deliberate. We deeply understand the systems impacting our work and willingly learn new strategies needed to advance our mission.
• Joyful: We value joy even as we undertake serious work and challenges. We create space for ourselves and our partners to experience community, fun, purpose, and happiness.
• Radically Inclusive: We are welcoming, care-centered, and accepting. We practice hospitality and foster belonging for all people in our community and networks, across their many identities and ideas.
• Groundbreaking: We pave new ways to understand and approach the work we do, unconstrained by status quo and stigma. We transparently and willingly share our knowledge with others to make more impact possible and open new opportunities.

About the Role

We are hiring a Finance Manager to join our Operations Team. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Finance Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of critical finance and administrative activities for The Kelsey. This includes working with a team of staff and contractors on budgets and financial reporting, contract and grants administration, and compliance, tax and audit. The Finance Manager will also support strategic, financial leadership implementing impact-focused financial systems, reports, processes, and solutions for the organization. This role does include some limited travel regionally and nationally.

The ideal candidate will be a highly organized tactician with a passion for implementing systems and processes that support the entire organization to achieve its mission. They will have a solid track-record of successfully managing, monitoring, and maintaining administrative and operational functions at a complex organization; possess a strong sense of initiative; and enjoy working in a collaborative environment.

For this role, you will lead:

Finance & Accounting

• Support the preparation of organizational financial reports (Budget vs. Actual, YTD Comparisons, monthly updates, etc.) for the CEO and Board
• Monitor monthly budget reports and collaborate on annual budget development
• Serve as the primary liaison with the external accounting firm to ensure smooth financial systems and management of day-to-day operations, such as AP and AR
• Oversee annual audit and 990s
• Ensure payroll local, state, and federal compliance and on-time completion
• Process employee reimbursements, stipends, and per diem payments
• Monitor and approve monthly credit card and expense reports
• Lead monthly budget check-in process with department and project managers
• Manage day to day bookkeeping, including AR and AP and reconciliations across accounts
• Manage implementation of appropriate fiscal internal controls, accounting policies and procedures
• Working with the Development Department, review and approve daily deposits of donor contributions including cash, checks, credit card and electronic transfers, and monthly reconciliations

Grants and Funding Administration

• Review and approve all grant billings, budgets, renewals budgets, cost allocation plan, reports, functional timesheets, etc. before submission
• Assist accounting contractors with tracking and monitoring expenses and proper expense allocations across multiple government and foundation grants, including managing the process for release of temporarily restricted net assets.
• Ensure compliance with government grants internal timeline, monitoring accuracy
• Serve as the internal expert for the full cycle of government and non-government grant cycle, with an emphasis on accounting and administration of funds and financial compliance
• Build and provide reports to fundraising, board, and executive team on fundraising status, pledge receivables, and grant expenditures

Housing Finance and Asset Management

• Oversee financial management of housing assets and development projects across the full lifecycle, including predevelopment, construction/rehab, lease-up, and stabilized operations.
• Prepare, review, and submit required project-level financial reports to lenders, investors, public agencies, and other external stakeholders in accordance with financing and regulatory requirements.
• Manage annual and ongoing compliance for affordable housing programs (e.g., LIHTC, HOME, HCD, local subsidies), including financial certifications, cost certifications, and required owner reporting.
• Oversee project billing and cost tracking, ensuring accurate allocation of development and operating costs by project, funding source, and cost category.
• Coordinate and support project audits, cost certifications, and funder reviews, serving as the primary finance liaison to auditors, syndicators, and public agencies.
• Work closely with development, asset management, and property management teams to ensure financial systems align with project operations and compliance requirements.
• Review and approve draw requests, lender reimbursements, and capital funding disbursements, ensuring timely and accurate submissions.

As the organization continues to evolve, duties or tasks may change without impacting the overall job description.

Within the first 3 months, as a Finance Manager you will take over ownership of accounting and financial systems. You will support the creation of strong new financial systems, lead internal updates, and align resources with the day to day needs of finance management.

Within the first 6 months, you will fully support financial reporting and finance strategy and be on track to owning these systems. Additionally, you will oversee grant administration, own housing finance strategy and reporting, ensure accurate expense tracking and reporting, and provide comprehensive reports to support fundraising and grant management efforts.

About You

We’re looking for someone with passion and drive to make an impact, be innovative, and collaborative in creating a disability-forward future. Ideal candidates will combine social service expertise with a passion for social change in housing. This role would be great for someone who has a disability-forward mindset, and who feels fulfilled by genuine dedication to understanding and meeting the needs of others. While not required, those with a background in housing or real estate finance are a plus.

The key traits that are most important in this role are:

• Deep understanding of financial management and process improvement with the ability to develop and implement impact-focused financial systems, reports, processes, and solutions.
• Intellectually curious, solutions-oriented problem solver who is comfortable digging into complex financial details, learning new systems and regulations quickly, and driving work to completion—while maintaining a clear understanding of the broader organizational goals, project outcomes, and mission impact.
• Experience overseeing nonprofit audits, ensuring compliance with regulations, managing financial reporting for grants and contracts, with high levels of trustworthiness and discretion.
• Demonstrated success in managing, monitoring, and maintaining administrative and operational functions including managing contractors and expert level experience In Quickbooks Online, MS Excel, Data analysis, MS Word and Google Workspace. Experience with Salesforce, Bill.com and Expensify is a plus.
• Proactive, entrepreneurial spirit with over 5 years of broad business and financial management experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
• Ability to work independently as well as multitask while maintaining excellent attention to details with strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Self-directed and resourceful, with a strong bias toward action and follow-through; able to navigate ambiguity, figure things out without complete information, and balance meticulous attention to detail with strategic thinking and execution.

The Kelsey is deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We believe social change happens when people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and identities come together with a common purpose. The Kelsey is built on the principles of equity, transparency and the power of human experience. Your work will improve the daily lives of real people. We need people with and without disabilities from diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and skill sets to live out our mission at The Kelsey. We strongly encourage people who have felt the impacts of the nation’s housing crisis to apply. This includes but is not limited to people most impacted by racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, classism, and other forms of oppression.

Compensation and Job Details

The salary range for this position is $72,000-$97,000, depending on experience. We are also open to exploring this as a part-time, salaried position, segmenting off key job-functions, for the right candidate.

This role is remote. Bay Area candidates would have the option for a hybrid role at our San Francisco office.

We encourage individuals to apply by Tuesday, February 17th, for priority consideration.

The Kelsey offers competitive benefits such as health coverage, 401k, vacation and family leave.