Lead - Finance

• Location: Remote, with a preference for candidates based within GMT-5 to GMT+3 to support collaboration with colleagues and advisors in Europe and North America. Candidates must be based in a country where R-Cities can employ them, either directly through one of its entities or through Employer of Record arrangements.
• Reports to: Co-Managing Director, Programs & Operations
• Direct reports: Manager - Finance & Accounting (recruited in parallel)
• Contract: This is a long-term position. Contract type and term depend on the employment arrangement. Full-time, 40 hours per week.
• Salary: Competitive and location-adjusted
• Closing date: Monday, 17 August 2026, 10.00 CET. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

About R-Cities

The Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities) supports over 100 cities across more than 40 countries, helping them withstand, adapt, and thrive amid 21st-century challenges. Building on over a decade of work begun with The Rockefeller Foundation, R-Cities partners with governments, communities, and funders to address acute shocks and chronic stresses, delivering programs that strengthen climate resilience, equity, public health, and sustainability. It operates through a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a Netherlands-based Stichting.

About the Operations & Finance Team

The Operations & Finance Team enables delivery of R-Cities' mission by providing financial stewardship, operational support, compliance oversight, and organizational infrastructure across a complex, globally distributed organization, and is strengthening the internal finance function to support informed decision-making and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

The role

As Lead - Finance, you build and lead R-Cities' global finance function through a period of transition, consolidation, and growth. You own financial strategy, planning, and reporting across R-Cities' entities, a US 501(c)(3), a Netherlands foundation, and, within a structure undergoing consolidation, entities in Singapore and Mexico, and you lead the shift from external providers to a stronger in-house function.

The complexity lies less in the scale of the roughly USD 5.5 million budget than in directing strategy, planning, and financial oversight across multiple entities, currencies, and regulatory frameworks, and in building a durable in-house function while it is still forming. You work closely with the leadership and the Board on financial strategy and governance, setting financial direction while, during the current build, staying close to the detail.

How the role is set up today

R-Cities is building its finance function in-house after relying on external providers. You bring controller-level oversight in-house and supervise the Manager - Finance & Accounting, recruited in parallel, who runs accounting operations, the close, controls, compliance, and audit coordination.

What you will do

Strategic financial leadership and planning

You own:

• Financial strategy and multi-year plans aligned to organizational and programmatic priorities, with the Co-Managing Directors and the Board.
• Clear financial objectives and decision-ready insight for leadership and the Board.
• The annual budgeting process across all entities and programs.
• Multi-year projections, scenario planning, and cash flow forecasting.
• Monitoring against budget, variance analysis, and timely recommendations.
• Budgeting frameworks and tools that give program and operations leads ownership of their budgets.

You contribute to:

• Organizational strategy, business planning, and cross-functional decisions as a senior member of the leadership group, bringing financial risk awareness.

Grant finance and compliance

You own:

• Financial oversight of R-Cities' restricted grant portfolio, ensuring donor, contractual, and regulatory compliance.
• Stronger grant budgeting, reporting, and forecasting, with program and practice leads.
• Timely, accurate, high-quality financial reporting to funders and partners.
• Continuous improvement of grant financial controls, processes, and documentation.

You contribute to:

• Program and proposal costing, owned by practice and program leads, keeping proposals financially sound and compliant.

Financial operations, reporting, and systems oversight

You own:

• Oversight of accounting operations and the close, run by the Manager: review and approval of transactions, payroll, and draft management accounts.
• Compliance with US GAAP, Dutch accounting standards, and nonprofit requirements across entities.
• The general ledger: revenue and expense recognition, restricted and unrestricted fund balances, and inter-entity transactions.
• Consolidated reporting and final management accounts, dashboards, and KPIs, built on the Manager's drafts.
• Controller-level oversight R-Cities currently sources externally, brought in-house.
• Finance systems development, including Sage Intacct at configuration and controls level, with the Manager.

You contribute to:

• Program-level financial tracking with practice and program leads, resolving discrepancies.

Risk, treasury, audit, and statutory compliance

You own:

• Financial risk management, the internal control framework, and the organization's financial policies across all entities and grants.
• Cash, liquidity, and reserve management, banking relationships, and investment balances, safeguarding solvency.
• Audit and statutory oversight, including the external audit relationship and sign-off.
• Tax compliance across jurisdictions, including US filings (Forms 990, 1099) and Dutch corporate tax and VAT, with external advisors.
• Compliance with federal, state, and international regulatory requirements and donor agreements.

You contribute to:

• Board-level governance and risk oversight, advising on financial risks, controls, and mitigation.

Team leadership and building the in-house function

You own:

• Supervision, development, and support of the Manager, and building a small finance team over time.
• The move from reliance on external providers to a stronger in-house function.
• Oversight of external accounting, payroll, audit, and advisory relationships.
• A collaborative, service-oriented finance function embedded in planning and decision-making, not back-office.

What success looks like in the first year

By the end of your first year, you will have stabilized and strengthened R-Cities' core finance function, with reliable systems, controls, and reporting across all entities and the Manager well supported. You will have established discipline around budgeting, forecasting, and grant finance, delivered a multi-year financial outlook for leadership and the Board, brought controller-level oversight in-house, and positioned R-Cities for long-term financial sustainability.

What you bring

You are an experienced finance leader who can set strategy while staying close to the detail during a build phase, owning finance across several entities and partnering with leadership on financial direction.

Essential:

• Senior-level experience (typically 8+ years) leading finance in mission-driven or nonprofit organizations, with an emphasis on grants and restricted funding.
• Strong understanding of full grant or project lifecycles, including budgeting, reporting, compliance, and audit.
• Experience across multiple legal entities and jurisdictions, familiar with US and/or Dutch nonprofit regulatory environments and confident across both.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing accounting operations, financial reporting, audits, and statutory filings.
• Track record of leading and developing finance staff and building capacity in transitioning organizations.
• Strong strategic thinking, financial modeling, forecasting, and scenario planning, translating complex information into clear insight.
• Experience supporting organizational change, growth, or transition, such as scaling, bringing functions in-house, or entity set-up or restructuring.
• Comfortable advising leadership and Boards and explaining financial concepts to non-finance audiences, funders, and auditors.
• Fluent in English, written and verbal.

Valued:

• Degree in finance, accounting, or a related field; advanced degree or professional qualification preferred.
• Experience strengthening financial systems; Sage Intacct or a comparable cloud-based ERP a strong advantage.
• Familiarity with Dutch foundation (Stichting, ANBI) and/or US 501(c)(3) compliance, including Forms 990 and 1099.
• Experience with grant and donor compliance, including EU-funded programs.
• Dutch language at any level.

Additional information

Given the global nature of the organization, this role calls for flexibility to work across time zones with colleagues, advisors, and partners, and may involve occasional international travel to support audits, team collaboration, and partner engagement. R-Cities offers a competitive, location-adjusted package commensurate with qualifications, experience, and local market conditions. Employees are engaged through local employment arrangements and receive the statutory benefits applicable in their country of employment, alongside additional benefits supporting wellbeing, professional development, and flexible remote working.

How to apply

Interested candidates are invited to submit a CV outlining relevant experience, together with a cover letter explaining their interest in the role and how their experience aligns with the role.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we encourage candidates to apply early. The deadline for applications is Monday, 17 August 2026, 10.00 CET. Shortlisted candidates can expect a multi-stage selection process, which may include interviews with members of the leadership team, a practical exercise or case study, and reference checks.

If you have questions about the role, please reach out to Lenny de Jong, Senior Manager - Global Operations (careers@resilientcitiesnetwork.org).

Equal Opportunity Employer

R-Cities is committed to equitable and inclusive recruitment practices. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and lived experiences, and we strive to create a fair and respectful selection process for all applicants.

R-Cities provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which we operate.