Senior Accountant

Job Title: Senior Accountant

Salary range: $89,250 - $105,125

Location: Denver, CO

Work environment: Hybrid (at least two days per week in the office)

The Organization

Gates Family Foundation celebrated its 78th anniversary in 2024. Since its creation, the Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in grants, with another nearly $60 million committed to impact investments in recent years. Representing a partnership of family and community representatives, the Foundation maintains a strong commitment through its grantmaking and other strategic efforts to four key areas:

• Education: Expanding access to educational opportunities for all children in Colorado.
• Natural Resources: Supporting land and water conservation, forest and watershed health, and management and protection of Colorado’s natural resources.
• Community Development: Addressing the root causes of economic inequality and inequitable community development.
• Informed Communities: Ensuring all Coloradans have access to trustworthy, rigorous, fact-based local news and information about important civic issues.

In recent years, the Foundation has sought to increase its impact through more creative approaches to grantmaking, an expanded impact investing program, additional staffing and expertise, and an increased focus on convening, partnering, and where appropriate, leading in the community. Climate impact has become a lens through which all Foundation grantmaking, investments, and activity are viewed, and since 2018, the Foundation has made an intentional commitment to advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts internally and through its grantmaking and impact investing.

To learn more about Gates Family Foundation and its programs, visit the Foundation’s website at www.gatesfamilyfoundation.org.

The Position

Gates Family Foundation is seeking a Senior Accountant to join a team of 13 other staff members across programs, learning and evaluation, finance, and grants management. Reporting to the Controller, this role will execute critical accounting and financial administration functions to ensure that the Foundation meets its financial responsibilities with responsiveness, precision, and compliance. Specific responsibilities will include:

Accounting Operations and Administration

• Providing ownership and oversight of key tasks across accounts payable, expense processing, ledger and reconciliation, and cash flow management
• Execute established processes and procedures with fidelity while identifying opportunities for process optimization
• Build trusted relationships with colleagues across the organization, offering a blend of service, clarity, and accountability to the team
• Collaborate with various consultants and vendors to ensure smooth financial operations, including the Foundation’s bank representatives, benefits broker, 403B administrator, and others
• Record journal entries for all monthly activity and prepare monthly bank and investment reconciliations
• Reconcile and record leasing income and property management expenses from the Foundation’s office building
• Track and maintain records of the Foundation’s personal property
• Process bi-monthly accounts payable for operating and administrative expenses and monthly credit card expenses and expense reimbursements, ensuring timely, accurate and complete recording and payment of expenses
• Process bi-monthly grant payments (check issuance, reporting and record keeping) for all foundation funds, collaborating with the grants administration team to ensure timely, accurate and complete recording and disbursement of grants
• Support the Controller in the preparation of quarterly financial statements, including account level analysis and forecasting
• Engage with peer networks of foundation financial officers to remain current on sector trends and legal finance developments affecting the Foundation

Investment Accounting

• Record and reconcile monthly investment activity, including public equities and private equity holdings
• Record investment activity, mainly private equity calls and distributions, of robust private equity portfolio activity weekly to ensure timely and accurate information for cash flow planning
• Work closely with investment manager and custodian to reconcile monthly and quarterly market values across asset classes
• Process disbursements and repayments for Program Related Investments (PRIs)
• Record contributions to family funds as needed

Annual Audit and Budgeting Support

• Support the Controller and independent auditors in gathering all documents necessary to support the annual audit process, preparation of financial statements, tax returns, and internal controls documentation
• Support the Controller in the development of the annual operating budget, including preparing reports, account level analysis, and forecasting

Payroll & Benefits

• Process bi-monthly payroll using a third-party provider
• Support benefits administration (including vacation and sick leave, medical, FSA, HRA and retirement programs), to include maintaining paperwork for enrollments, disenrollments, invoicing and reconciliations

Qualifications

Ideal candidates will bring:

• At least five years of relevant accounting experience, including experience across a wide range of functions within accounting and finance administration such as ledger management, accounts payable, payroll and benefits processing, reconciliations, and cash flow tracking
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with meticulous attention to detail and the ability to track and manage multiple priorities with accuracy and timeliness
• Excellent process and technical abilities, with the aptitude to quickly learn new software systems and identify opportunities for process improvement and efficiency
• A self-starting work style, with a high degree of personal accountability, integrity, and follow-through
• A collaborative and service-oriented approach, with a strong team orientation and the ability to work effectively across departments and with external partners
• Public accounting experience is preferred
• Knowledge of accounting and tax principles relevant to nonprofit organizations, and ideally to private foundations
• Familiarity with investment accounting, particularly for private equity holdings, is preferred
• CPA certification is a plus
• Proficiency with accounting systems and financial tools, including experience with online bill pay platforms; familiarity with Sage Intacct and Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is a plus

Working at Gates Family Foundation

Currently, staff are expected to be in the Foundation’s downtown Denver office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The balance of the week is flexible and each team and team member is free to decide what approach is optimal. This position is expected to occasionally travel within the state for quarterly board meetings, as well as occasional out-of-state travel for continuing education opportunities.

Gates Family Foundation offers a comprehensive benefits package and paid parental leave. Our work environment is characterized by a culture of collaboration, a commitment to continuous learning, and an inclusive environment that empowers staff to bring their unique perspectives and skills to the work. We place heavy emphasis on the following values:

• Respect – We seek out diverse perspectives and listen with humility and a spirit of learning.
• Creativity – We harness all resources to find new approaches, support experimentation, and drive systemic, lasting solutions.
• Engagement – We partner, convene, collaborate, and lead to catalyze transformative change.
• Place – We are deeply rooted in Colorado, with a long-term commitment to its people, communities, and civic capacity.
• Equity – We support communities that have faced barriers by creating pathways to opportunity.

To Apply

To apply, please complete our online application (https://forms.gle/Yrg5H68hsu5CUxgr8). We will accept applications through June 8th, 2025, and we encourage early submissions. The application asks for a resume and, in place of a cover letter, responses to the following questions in 250 words or less:

1. What compels you about the work of Gates Family Foundation, and about this position specifically?
2. What past experiences have best prepared you for this role?
3. What professional values are most important to you? How have those values shaped your behavior and decisions in your career so far?

Gates Family Foundation believes that diverse teams lead to better solutions, creative thinking, and greater depth in experiences and perspectives. We strive in our hiring to ensure that our candidate pool is diverse in terms of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, lived experience, socioeconomic background, physical or mental ability, origin, and religion. Research suggests that people who have historically lacked power and experienced barriers to opportunities are more likely to self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes they have the skills and the drive necessary to succeed here to apply for this role.

Gates Family Foundation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.