Senior Director, Finance

About this role

Senior Director, Finance

ABOUT US

UpStart accelerates growth, nurtures ideas, and advances new experiences for the Jewish community by connecting impact-driven entrepreneurs to expertise, community, and capital.

UpStart was founded over fifteen years ago with a sole focus: to accelerate the success of social entrepreneurs fueling a renaissance in Jewish life. Since then, we have invested in hundreds of ventures and their leaders while cultivating an ecosystem of institutional leaders and funders committed to Jewish community change.

INCLUSIVE HIRING COMMITMENT

UpStart is powered by Jewish wisdom, ethics, and values. We believe these elements of Judaism help shape diverse, inclusive, equitable, and vibrant communities. As such, we aspire to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that models a future that is more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just. Statistics show that women and structurally marginalized and/or underrepresented groups of people need to see themselves in almost 100% of the requirements in a job posting to apply. We welcome you to apply even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, as no one applicant ever does.

UpStart strongly encourages applications from individuals with varied identities and backgrounds, including people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQIA people, and people who come from low-income or working-class backgrounds. As an equal opportunity employer, all individuals are encouraged to apply without regard to race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, genetic information, medical condition, veteran status, or any other class protected under federal, state, or local laws.

POSITION SUMMARY

UpStart seeks a Senior Director, Finance to serve as the organization's senior finance leader. They will hold full ownership and direct accountability for the accuracy, integrity, and compliance of UpStart's financial reporting, including the month-end close process, annual audit, board and Finance Committee reporting, and financial controls environment. An external accounting firm performs day-to-day transaction processing and bookkeeping, and this role is responsible for overseeing, reviewing, and holding that firm accountable.

This role will report to the CEO and work closely with the Finance Committee as its primary staff resource, as well as with the Deputy CEO on organizational strategy and the Managing Director, Operations & Systems on operational execution.

This role is expected to travel up to 3 times a year for staff retreats and other events as needed.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Reporting & Close

• Own the monthly close process end-to-end: direct the external bookkeeping firm’s close activities, review and approve all deliverables before they reach leadership, prepare variance commentary with explanations sufficient for board-level review, and obtain CEO sign-off on the final monthly package

• Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reporting packages for the Finance Committee and the full board

• Maintain grant-level financial tracking, including award receipt, net asset classification, expense drawdown against grant budgets, and timely release from restriction in accordance with donor intent

• Ensure financial statements are GAAP-compliant and audit-ready at all times, not only at year-end

• Prepare and review the annual Form 990 in coordination with the accounting firm; reconcile 990 figures to audited financials before filing, ensure Part VII compensation disclosures, Schedule B, and functional expense allocations are reviewed and signed off by the CEO prior to submission

Audit & Compliance

• Own the annual audit process: manage the auditor relationship, prepare all PBC schedules, resolve open items, present findings to the Finance Committee, and coordinate execution of the management representation letter with the CEO

• Drive resolution of all prior-year audit findings with documented remediation evidence

• Maintain the internal controls environment; ensure the Accounting Manual is reviewed and updated annually following each audit cycle

• Ensure all disbursements carry documented approvals per policy; hold staff accountable to the standard

• Maintain restricted fund tracking at the project level: intake, classification, monthly balance review, and timely release from restriction

Outsourced Accounting Firm Management

• Serve as the primary point of accountability for the outsourced bookkeeping and accounting firm; reviewing all deliverables before they reach leadership or the Finance Committee, owning the chart of accounts structure in QuickBooks Online, and directing the firm on proper coding, class tracking, and account mapping

• Lead the transition from the current accounting firm to a new provider (Q2–Q4 FY27), including vendor selection, onboarding, and knowledge transfer

• Hold the firm accountable to SLA and quality standards; document performance issues; escalate to the CEO when warranted

Budget & Planning

• Partner with the Deputy CEO on the annual budget process; maintain the master budget workbook and consolidation across operating and fiscal sponsorship entities, develop and maintain a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast updated monthly and presented to the Finance Committee

• Manage fiscal sponsorship financial reporting as a distinct environment from operating financials, maintaining fund isolation across sponsored projects, tracking pass-through revenue and disbursements at the project level, calculating and reconciling admin fees, and producing financial reports for individual sponsored projects sufficient to support their programmatic and compliance needs

Internal Controls & Systems

• Design and maintain a controls environment sufficient to prevent and detect material misstatements, unauthorized disbursements, and grant misclassification; document the controls framework and assess it against findings each audit cyc

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