Careers

Madison Country Day School, a PreK-12 International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, seeks a dedicated professional with an entrepreneurial philosophy as Director of Finance & Operations to begin on June 1, 2022.

Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of Finance & Operations will be a member of the school’s senior leadership team and serve as a hands-on strategic thinker with responsibilities to manage the financial and physical resources of the school in support of the Mission.

This position is responsible for the planning, control, accounting and reporting of income, expense, and contributed funds of the school. The Director of Finance & Operations manages all activities designated as business office responsibilities including but not limited to all accounting functions; employee compensation and personnel policies; city, state and federal government compliance; risk management and insurance; transportation; auxiliary services; and facilities leasing.

The Director of Finance & Operations generally attends all regular business meetings of the Board of Trustees, in order to provide full, accurate, and complete management and financial information as necessary to assist the board in meeting its fiduciary responsibilities. The Director of Finance & Operations also attends all Finance and Audit Committee meetings. The Director of Finance & Operations maintains professional relationships with the school’s banks, lawyers, auditors, insurance carriers, contractors, vendors, and government regulators.

The Director of Finance & Operations also assumes a leadership role for school operations with decision-making authority over a wide range of school operations. This includes all administrative policies, employee policies, non-curricular and non-disciplinary student policies, vendor, regulatory, facilities, and general school operations, under the direction of the Head of School.

Essential Responsibilities

FINANCE

• Prepares and reviews financial and budget statements to report to the Head of School, Board, and committees as appropriate.  Keeps Head and Board informed as to the financial condition of the school.
• Monitors all loans and indebtedness.

BUDGET

• Assembles preliminary annual budget from departmental requests and forecasts operating expense and income.
• Establishes need and priority of requests in consultation with the Head of School, department and division heads.
• Develops recommendations to Finance Committee for annual tuition increases, financial aid budget, and salary plan increments in consultation with the Head of School.
• Prepares annual budget proposal for the Finance Committee and the Board of Trustees’ review and approval.
• Ensures that all expenditures are consistent with the approved budget, or that deviation from the budget is approved in advance by the appropriate authority.

ACCOUNTING

• Responsible for establishing and maintaining appropriate procedures and controls for all financial systems
• Supervises business office activities involving payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash, and financial aid, general ledger, purchasing, employee benefit administration, taxes and other accounting systems.
• Ensures compliance with all government regulations including ADA, OSHA, IRS reporting.
• Supervises internal auditing of all financial and accounting systems.
• Coordinates relationship with the school’s independent auditors and supervises preparation of work papers for annual audit.  Responds to auditor’s administrative recommendations in management letter.

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Conducts background searches on new hires.
• Supervises maintenance and security of personnel records.
• Assists the Head of School and the Board of Trustees in establishing appropriate employee benefit programs.  Recommends changes to enhance benefits and/or reduce costs.
• Supervises the administration of benefit programs.
• Provides employee counseling regarding benefit programs available and methods by which employees may take advantage of such programs or file claims where appropriate.
• Ensures that the school’s personnel policies support its programs and that the school’s actions regarding hiring, compensation, training, promotion and separation conform to state and federal requirements.

OPERATIONS

• Develops, reviews, maintains, and communicates policies for a wide range of school operations.
• Manage the school’s food service programs.
• Manage various other Administrative staff that report to the Director of Finance & Operations. 
• Manage the school’s health office staff, policies and procedures.
• Continually identifies improvements for administrative school functions to better employee morale, improve parent and student satisfaction, and make school operations more efficient.

STUDENT BILLING & FINANCIAL AID

• Administers accounts receivable and financial aid.
• Responsible for oversight and collection of aged accounts receivable.
• Works with parents on financial issues relevant to their children’s enrollment at the school.
• In collaboration with the Director of Advancement and the Head of School, analyzes, reviews and approves individual financial aid awards.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• Works with insurance advisors and brokers to ensure that adequate, appropriate and cost effective insurance is in force, including public liability, property and casualty, directors and officers, and Workers Compensation.
• Coordinates with various government and insurance inspectors to ensure that the school is operating consistent with health and safety codes.  Ensures that violations are corrected in reasonable time and that necessary reports are filed in a timely manner.
• Advises the Head of School of any situations which might have adverse safety or legal consequences for the school.

AUXILIARY SERVICES

• Administers purchasing of books and supplies for all departments.
• Manages transportation contracts. 

All duties and responsibilities are intended to be illustrative only; actual job responsibilities may include other tasks, as assigned and appropriate.

Education, Experience Requirements

• Four-year financial or business degree.  Accounting/Finance degree and/or CPA certification preferred.   
• Accounting, finance, general management or equivalent experience with minimum of five years.
• Experience in managing independent school or similar nonprofit business operations preferred.

Essential Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities 

• Accounting
• Financial analysis
• Contract negotiation
• Verbal and written communication skills 
• Management of hourly personnel 
• Project planning and management 
• In-depth knowledge of G Suite and the ability to learn new accounting software
• Knowledge of school/nonprofit operations and confidentiality standards
• Ability to relate to and work closely with diverse school constituencies.

MCDS embraces and celebrates diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, or sexual identity in its hiring.

Madison Country Day School is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the School will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. MCDS does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, gender, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, hiring and employment practices, admission policies, scholarship and grant programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.