For over 40 years ArtsConnection (AC) has been one of New York City’s most comprehensive arts education organizations with programs in the performing, visual and media arts. We provide arts education that taps into students’ individuality and creativity to help them forge new pathways to navigate their education and future, while building critical thinking, creative problem solving, heightened self-esteem, literacy and strong communicative abilities. Programs are led by 140 racially, ethnically and culturally diverse teaching artists whose distinctive and varied artistic perspectives inspire, guide and support students. Each year, AC partners with NYC public schools (grades pre-K through12) across the five boroughs, providing artist residencies, professional development for teachers and artists, and family arts events. Out-of-school-time (OST) Teen Programs link the city’s cultural resources to the developmental and educational needs of teens, while providing space for artistic expression, experiential learning, career and leadership development. Our work, while rooted in New York City, has been an award-winning and sought-after model on a national scale.

We are intentionally building a path towards equity by:

• Using the arts as a platform to imagine an alternative future
• Integrating the processes developed by the organization-wide Community Care-Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Committee and understanding that we all have a place in this work
• Identifying and uplifting the assets that exist within our community of young people, artists, educators and arts leaders/administrators
• Transforming policies, procedures, practices, and programs (e.g., shifting our artist and staff hiring processes to be more equitable)

Reporting to the Executive Director, and serving as a member of the executive team, the Deputy Director of Finance will lead the development, management, and execution of ArtsConnection’s financial strategy on the heels of a rigorous strategic planning process and during an exciting time of organizational growth. They will be responsible for financial strategy and compliance. The Deputy Director will oversee the management and implementation of financial functions at ArtsConnection including but not limited to preparing, reviewing, and tracking organization and department budgets, and overseeing cash flow. The Deputy Director of Finance will also serve as a partner and supporting member of the Board Finance Committee ensuring that the Board of Directors clearly understands the organization’s financial health and sustainability as well as their role in this.

They will supervise a Finance Associate and the Director of Finance overseeing the team’s day-to-day responsibilities They will work with the Deputy Director of Strategic Operations to address HR and legal matters, facilities, and administration; support program-specific budget operations; and provide budgets for Development Department fundraising proposals and reports.

FINANCE

• Serve as financial advisor to the Senior Leadership Team, and Board, providing recommendations and creating a long-term strategy for ArtsConnection’s financial growth and stability based on strategic financial analysis, forecasting, and modeling.
• Own all finance functions, including accounting, internal control, reconciliation, journal entries, payroll, monthly close procedures, and other regularly recurring financial operations.
• Lead month-end and fiscal year end closing process
• Lead the preparation of the annual budget and multi-year budgets aligned with our strategic goals, train staff on budgeting as needed and effectively communicating the overall budget to full staff.
• Build business models and use forecasting tools that allow for long-term scenario planning and real-time decision-making that maximize ArtsConnection’s impact and revenue, and ensure long term sustainability.
• Manage resources and oversee business operations in accordance with the approved budget, and effectively communicate variances and critical issues to the Executive Director and senior leaders.
• Lead the annual audit, liaising with external auditors and accountants to ensure GAAP compliance, including leading the preparation and filing of annual financial statements, tax form 990, and all necessary financial filings.
• Ensure the integrity, accuracy, and usefulness of all financial reports, including budget-to-actuals and financial reports for the Board, funders, government agencies, internal decision-makers, and for grants management processes, including the tracking of restricted funds.
• With the Director of Finance, negotiate, monitor, and manage all external vendor and banking relationships, including timely payment of all vendor invoices
• Work closely with program directors to ensure optimal use of available resources and timely submission of budget modification requests
• Implement clear financial policies and procedures that maintain effective internal checks and balances with proper segregation of duties amongst teams
• Continually assess the efficiency of financial processes and procedures, making improvements as needed; including the strategic investment in and implementation of technology, outsourced fee-for-hire services, etc.
• Supervise bi-weekly staff and artist payroll
• Monitor employee benefits with Deputy Director of Strategic Operations
• Ensure that all financial issues (payment errors, etc.) are documented and resolved in a timely manner
• Identify, analyze, and communicate any budget variances and work across teams to address any significant differences. This includes helping teams to pivot and create new revenue-generating and or expense-decreasing strategies, if needed.
• Create, at minimum, quarterly organizational financial reports for the Board of Directors, including budget-to-actual Profit & Loss reports, Balance Sheets, cash flow projections, and a summary of key financial developments.

CROSS DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION

• Provide Development team with specific budgets, as needed, for funding requests (grant applications and reports etc.) for all types of funders. I.e. corporate, foundation, government
• Working closely with the Executive Director, Deputy Director for Strategic Operations and Development team, develop financial plans and strategy to support organizational growth and sustainability; setting clear, measurable, values aligned goals and financial performance metrics
• Ensure all financial practices are transparent to the full staff team and public, meet the highest standards of integrity, and comply with accounting industry standard practices
• Manage budgets, and budget narratives for funding proposals, reports, and budget modifications and extensions

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated experience and results with similar responsibilities to those listed above.
• 5+ years experience managing staff in a non-profit environment preferred with experience in accounting and broad-based financial management.
• Ability to translate financial concepts to – and to effectively collaborate with — programmatic and fundraising colleagues who do not necessarily have finance backgrounds.
• Confidence with accounting software, MS Office (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint in particular), Google Suite, and comfortable learning and optimizing new systems; experience using Blackbaud Financial Edge a plus.
• Experience with and understanding of the importance of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access in all decision-making that is outlined in our EDIA Values Statement
• Dynamic, innovative strategic thinker and leader
• Highly organized with strong oral and written communication skills
• Able to work in cross-functional teams
• Knowledgeable, passionate about, and experienced in the arts, public education, and/or youth development a plus

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Salary: $115,000-$130,000
Hours: 35 hours per week
Benefits include: Paid vacation, sick/personal leave, holidays and bonus days
Employee Health, Life, Vision, and Dental Insurance Flexible Spending Plan, 403(b) retirement plan

In-person attendance required/minimum 1 day per week: including Thursdays (pending any external extenuating circumstances); attendance at occasional school programs, and/or evening and weekend events required.

In accordance with NYC Department of Education requirements, all ArtsConnection employees must be fingerprinted

Resume and Cover letter to: wattsr@artsconnection.org. No calls please.