Chief Finance Officer (CFO)

About IRAP

The International Refugee Assistance Project (“IRAP”) is a dynamic and growing legal and policy advocacy organization that works to develop and enforce a system of legal and human rights for refugees and displaced people around the world. We are the leading organization providing free and comprehensive legal services to people in need of a safe place to live and a safe way to get there.

IRAP operates offices in the U.S. (New York City, Washington, D.C.), Jordan (Amman), Lebanon (Beirut), and Europe (Berlin). Our legal and advocacy teams work closely with a corps of pro bono lawyers from 75 leading law firms and multi-national corporations, and law students who have created 29 IRAP chapters across the United States and Canada. Through this work, we aim to assist refugees and other displaced people to find safe passage and to transform the landscape of refugee rights. IRAP has over 100 full-time staff members. We are a nimble organization staffed by an innovative and collaborative team that is committed to high standards of quality and close partnerships with our clients, peers, and colleagues.

IRAP believes that diversity is critical to fostering a strong workplace and serving our clients well. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experiences of displacement or marginalization and individuals whose identities are underrepresented in their profession.

About the Operations Department

IRAP’s Operations Department currently comprises sixteen team members across all of IRAP’s offices. The team sustains the work of our staff, interns, and volunteers through IT, finance, human resources, organizational culture, and administrative support. IRAP’s Operations team is growing to support significant expansion of IRAP’s work and impact in both current and new locations globally over the next five years.

Opportunity

IRAP is seeking an experienced non-profit financial professional to lead IRAP’s finance and compliance efforts as a full time or ¾ time CFO. In preparing for IRAP’s continued growth, the CFO will lead the assessment and continued improvement of existing financial systems to support effective planning, execution, and compliance of IRAP’s programs and operations. The CFO will be responsible for all aspects of financial reporting and forecasting, audits, and budgeting at IRAP and will report to the Chief Operating Officer. The CFO will supervise one existing staff member and assess additional hiring needs for the team. They will be proactive in communicating and educating team members across departments and respond to address questions and challenges in navigating financial and budgeting questions as they arise. The CFO will be a member of the Operations Coordinating Team and an important strategic advisor to the Executive Director and Leadership Team. They will bring a supportive and collaborative approach to working across all of IRAP’s departments and offices.

Areas of Leadership

Financial Management and Oversight:

• Supervise the Grants Manager (existing position) and hire and supervise a Finance Manager (new position) and other roles as IRAP grows.
• Manage audit, banking, and investment firm relationships.
• Manage and oversee relationship with outside accounting firm that performs monthly consolidation entries and monthly book closes (IRAP is currently working with Jitasa, a b-corp.)
• Assist staff at each office with the use of Quickbooks Online accounting software to ensure smooth global consolidation of books, including making journal entries and making adjustments to expense accounts as needed.
• Oversee all accounting activities including monthly closes, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, cash management, revenue and expense reporting, tax filings, audits, etc.
• Prepare & review clean financial reports and forecasts (monthly for key staff, quarterly for the board, annually for audit and donors).
• Lead annual budget process, ensuring it is timely, accurate, and meets the needs of all stakeholders and present the budget draft to the board for approval annually.
• Ensure department heads and IRAP leadership feel ownership and accountability to their own budgets by assisting with understanding monthly budget reports and producing additional reports as needed.
• With the Grants Manager, collaborate with development and program staff to ensure that grant budgeting and tracking is efficient, compliant, and properly restricted.
• Lead annual audit process and review audit schedules (prepare TRNA and functional expense statement, for example).
• Act as a signer on bank accounts and provide back-up to assist with making payments and transfers both domestic and international, as needed.

Financial Strategy & Systems:

• Lead strategic assessment and improvement of financial strategies and systems to reflect and prepare for IRAP’s continued rapid growth.
• Ensure that IRAP’s financial and investment policies honor its values, including principals of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, by thinking creatively and working transparently.
• Advise the ED, COO, and other key members of senior leadership on financial planning, budgeting, cash flow, investment priorities, and policy matters.
• Support the Leadership Team by helping to drive initiatives and meet goals of the organization set forth in the strategic plan. Continue the development of financial metrics (dashboards) to enable the senior leadership’s understanding of IRAP’s financial position, performance, risks, and opportunities. Evaluate and strengthen, where necessary, IRAP’s system of policies, internal controls, standards, and procedures.
• Serve as the management liaison to the Finance & Investment, and Audit & Risk Committees of the Board; effectively communicate and present financial information at committee and board meetings.
• Select and implement any new relevant finance software and work with tech team to maximize compatibility and integration across software packages and platforms.
• In partnership with the chair of the finance committee, manage relationships with third-party investment management firms and directly manage all accounting activities including monthly, quarterly, and year-end reconciliations related to IRAP’s investment portfolio to ensure asset values are appropriately reported.

Team Management and Support:

• Partner with Finance team members to develop clearly defined roles, processes, and measures of success that foster open communication and positive working relationships across the department and broader organization.
• Proactively communicate and educate team members across departments regarding their interactions with financial systems and practices and provide responsive support to enable their strong financial and programmatic decision-making.

Qualifications

• Financial Expertise & Leadership: Significant experience in financial leadership roles in nonprofit organizations with current and detailed knowledge of finance, nonprofit accounting, and financial management. Experience managing financial functions in a multinational or multi-site organization is preferred. Strong analytical skills and experience interpreting a strategic vision into an operational and financial model, with both strategic-level insight and high attention to detail for accuracy and compliance. Experience presenting and communicating complex financials to a wide variety of audiences, including a Board of Directors and the public.

• Systems and Change Management: Ability to create or improve upon effective financial systems in a growing organization and to remain flexible with changing needs as the organization expands. Orientation towards support and learning of team members as systems and processes change and to being of service to programs and centering people and impact. Working knowledge of data analysis and performance/operations metrics is also critical.

• Management & Organizational Leadership: Experience coaching and providing mentorship to a team with diverse levels of expertise. Successful track record of collaborative and proactive communication with staff who have varied levels of experience and knowledge of financial concepts and functions. The ability to simplify complex needs into understandable directions and solutions.

• Commitment to IRAP’s Mission and Values: An interest in, and commitment to the mission of IRAP. Commitment to and track record of impact in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Location: The candidate will work in one of IRAP’s offices (other than Europe) in New York City, DC, Amman, or Beirut, but remote candidates will also be considered.

Compensation & Benefits

The annual full-time equivalent salary range for this position is $143,370- $242,209 commensurate with experience and office location.

Benefits vary across office locations, and IRAP seeks to offer equitable and generous benefits to all employees. IRAP’s US benefits include fully paid family health, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k with a maximum employer match of 4% of salary, extensive PTO (20 vacation days, 5 personal days, 19 holidays and last week of the calendar year off), comprehensive leave time for sickness, disability and parenting (4 months of parental leave) as well as reimbursement for work from home equipment and generous opportunities for professional development.