Director of Finance

Arnold Ventures (AV) is a philanthropy that supports research to understand the root causes of America’s most persistent and pressing problems, as well as evidence-based solutions to address them. By focusing on systemic change, AV is working to improve the lives of American families, strengthen their communities, and promote their economic opportunity. Since Laura and John Arnold launched their foundation in 2008, the philanthropy has expanded, and AV’s focus areas include education, criminal justice, health, infrastructure, and public finance, advocating for bipartisan policy reforms that will lead to lasting, scalable change. The Arnolds became signatories of the Giving Pledge in 2010.

Position Overview

We are seeking a director to coordinate and assist with various finance and budgeting tasks related to external philanthropic efforts. This role will leverage existing partnerships and processes to review budget models at both departmental and grantee levels and perform other necessary analysis and reporting. The position is based in our Houston, Texas office and reports to the Vice President of Finance.

Core Responsibilities

• Partner with the VP of Finance to design tools, deliver training, provide guidance, and create templates that support cost-benefit analysis of AV’s grantmaking and related activities
• Review and assess prospective and active grantees’ and consultants’ budgets for reasonableness, accuracy and compliance with AV’s grant requirements, nonprofit laws, and industry standards
• Negotiate with grantees and consultants to achieve cost-efficient budgets
• Ensure complete documentation of all relevant financial and budgetary information for a given project is presented to the AV Board for approval, and attend Board meetings as needed
• Identify, research, organize, analyze and track relevant financial information and trends for potential and existing grants, consultants, and programmatic investments
• Provide support to AV team members and external partners to assess key financial considerations for grantmaking and related activities
• Develop annual programmatic budgets, in collaboration with AV team members, and assess actuals on a regular basis
• Identify process improvements for the Finance team to support the strategic goals of AV
• Work on various ad-hoc projects with Finance, programmatic, and operational teams

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business, or finance
• 10 years of accounting, business, or finance experience
• Mastery of Excel, Word, and other standard computer software
• Strong and effective financial, managerial, and negotiation skills
• Exceptional project management, time management, and organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills

The salary range for this position will be $140,000-170,000.

Benefits Overview

AV is committed to providing a robust and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our current benefits package includes 100% paid employee premiums for medical, dental, vision, basic life, and short- and long-term disability insurance; 20 days of paid time off, 16 paid holidays (including a winter break from December 24 to January 1), a hybrid policy that includes four days in office and one flexible day for remote work, and a summer schedule with alternating Fridays off beginning on Memorial Day and ending on Labor Day; paid parental leave; a 401k retirement savings plan with an employer match, profit-share contribution, and immediate vesting; pre-tax transit benefits; a professional development stipend; a charitable giving stipend; and an employee assistance program.

Our Culture and Core Values

Our culture seeks to inspire and empower our people to innovate and develop bold ideas that will help AV achieve lasting impact. Our culture, and the core values that support it, should create an environment that spurs our team to think outside the box, feel comfortable pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and signal confidence in our team’s ability to make change happen through our philanthropic efforts. Although not an exhaustive list, below you’ll find examples of AV’s work culture.

• We are adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity
• We are intellectually curious, open-minded, objective, humble, collegial, and receptive to feedback
• We are action-oriented with strong self-direction and self-motivation skills with the ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects
• We are able to interact confidently and collaboratively with team members and navigate relationships with external experts, government leaders, advocates, and individuals

AV’s values reflect who we are as an organization, help us accelerate our strategic goals, strengthen our resolve, anchor us to our mission, and guide our decision-making. The successful candidate will also demonstrate the following core values that inspire the AV team to make a difference.

• Respect for Ourselves & Others
• Audacious Action
• Collaborative Engagement
• Depth of Thought
• Clear Communication

AV is an equal opportunity employer, committed to an inclusive workplace. We are seeking applicants from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of experiences and perspectives. Candidates who have been impacted by the systems we are seeking to change are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, military/veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.