Director, Finance & Administration

Harvard Hillel

Location: On Site, Harvard Hillel  |  Cambridge, MA

Employment Status: Exempt salaried staff member

Reporting: Jason Rubenstein, Executive Director 

Salary Range: $100,000 - $120,000

Role Overview

The mission of Harvard Hillel is to be a Jewish home, both physical and virtual, on the Harvard University campus. Harvard Hillel welcomes all students to experience the variety of Jewish identity, tradition, practice, values, culture, and community and to inspire and enable connections on campus and beyond. Harvard Hillel students find meaningful connections and friendship while engaging in unique opportunities to make Jewish thought and culture integral in the life of the University.

The Director, Finance & Administration (Director) reports to the Harvard Hillel executive director who has been in the role less than two years. As a team, they will engage effectively with internal and external constituent groups around operational excellence at Harvard Hillel. The Director will move easily between strategic decision-making, governance requirements, and the everyday tactical coordination and planning that brings operational priorities to fruition. The Director serves as an empathetic and collaborative leader and coach, where operational excellence and a positive engagement around organizational culture is as important as rigorous monitoring of systems and process.

The Director’s role will ensure effective and consistent financial integrity and compliance of this 501(c)(3) institution. Working closely with the executive director, chief of staff, and other stakeholders, the Director will oversee the planning, coordination, and tracking of institutional annual goals against budget. The Director will serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the executive director and staff on organizational priorities, strategic goal setting, and effective project coordination in relation to designing and meeting budget goals.

Key to the success of the Director’s role is to add capacity to the executive director to support the transformation of the institution and its future. In year one, the Director will actively engage with colleagues and outsourced providers to modernize financial budgeting systems, tracking and reporting. A goal in year one will also be to design a financial planning and analysis tool that is right-sized for the institution, in preparation for a capital project to renovate the historic Rosovsky building and to support the institution’s journey to scale.  Over time, a successful Director in this role will help reshape Harvard Hillel—its building and its operations, to move the organization forward.

Anticipated accountabilities are outlined below. The Director will be expected to actively surface and collaboratively design projects and address anomalies to ensure work moves forward effectively and efficiently.

What You’ll Do

Annual Planning & Financial Management

• Accounting, Banking, Benefits, Insurances, Payroll: accountability for ensuring an annual cycle, with relevant systems, tracking, and reporting designed and implemented to record and reflect on the overall fiscal health of the organization.
  • Lead annual budget cycle: engaging with budget holders and other colleagues to establish and coordinate an effective budget planning process and reporting tools to support budget holders’ ability to manage and track their budgets and cashflow. At minimum, monthly and quarterly budget reviews, cash flow management and reporting, and ad-hoc tracking and issue resolution as needed. Ensure organizational priorities are visible, clear, and actionable in relation to budget monitoring and tracking. Lead communications in relation to annual budget cycle process and the obligations of contributors. Serve as a trusted colleague and coach around budget management, accountability, and tracking in relation to finance and budgets.
  • Lead annual cycle of audited financial statements and filings: engage with external providers to oversee and actively manage the timely scheduling and delivery of an annual audit; delivery of a 990, and to meet an annual schedule of filing obligations.
  • Annual Insurances: engage with a broker and others to manage insurance obligations for this 501(c)(3) organization.

Board of Directors Operations

• Working closely with the chief of staff and executive director, and Board committees, plan and coordinate audit, finance, and risk related committees and reporting to meet timely Board reporting and meetings. Serve as the staff liaison for finance, audit, and risk related committee meetings and discussions.
• Support committee development, structures, and governance principles and processes to